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>> The U.S. war in Iraq
wages on with no letup in

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sight. The Wisconsin Army
National Guard has more

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than 400 troops on the
ground in Kuwait and Iraq,

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and were praised for their
value to the mission by the

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U.S. commanding general. As
to potential domestic

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threats, late this week,
Senate Democrats once again

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blocked Department of
Homeland Security funding,

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which Republicans pounced
on. We asked Wisconsin U.S.

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senators about that issue
and the war itself. When we

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spoke with them just ahead
of that DHS funding vote.

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We start with Democratic
Senator Tammy Baldwin.

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Thanks very much for being
here.

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>> Thanks for having me.
>> So you voted this week

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in favor of a war Powers
resolution to block future

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U.S. military action in
Iran. It failed mostly on

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party lines. But describe
why you voted for it.

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>> Look, first of all,
Americans have been clear.

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They do not want another
forever war in the Middle

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East. They want Congress
and this president to be

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focused on needs at home,
addressing the high cost of

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things like groceries,
housing, child care, and

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health care. And this
president, in fact,

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promised that he would
bring foreign wars to an

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end, not start them. Let me
be very clear. This is a

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war of choice. The US and
US interests were not under

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attack, nor were we under
imminent threat of attack.

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And because of that, this
is a war of choice. And the

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president needed to go to
Congress to get

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authorization. It is an
illegal war because of his

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failure to do that. I voted
to bring this to an end and

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and would note, though,
that it is the proponents

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of this war who bear the
burden of getting

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congressional authorization
for it, and they have

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failed to do that. The
Constitution makes it the

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responsibility of Congress,
who represent the people to

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declare war. And that has
not happened. And instead,

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we are spending billions of
dollars each day in this

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war, and we're losing the
lives of our troops,

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including six who have lost
their lives in this

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conflict so far.
>> You say that Iran poses

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a real threat. Then why not
take decisive action to

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thwart them?
>> I took decisive action

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in 2015 when I voted for
the Iran nuclear deal. I

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believe that this dangerous
and murderous regime should

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never have a nuclear weapon.
And that 2015 Iran nuclear

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deal reined in their
nuclear program. Diplomacy

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is the way to address this.
Sadly, when President Trump

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took office in his first
term, he ripped up the Iran

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nuclear deal and let that
program continue unfettered

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by intrusive international
inspection. That was a very

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bad mistake on President
Trump's part, and has led

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to Iran continuing with its
nuclear program, its

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ballistic missile program.
So that's the way we rein

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them in is through
diplomacy, hard diplomacy,

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but through diplomacy, not
war.

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>> Does it matter that the
administration's

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justification for the
strikes was changing in the

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early days?
>> It matters significantly

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that from almost hour to
hour, there was a new

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reason why the Trump
administration said it was

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contemplating military
action and then engaging in

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it. So a few weeks ago,
reacting to the uprising

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within Iran against the
regime and their economic

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situation, President Trump
said, we're contemplating

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military action to support
those protesters. A few

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weeks later, he was talking
about the nuclear program.

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Then he was talking about
the ballistic missile

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program. Then he was
talking about regime change.

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What is crystal clear is
that this is a war of

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choice, and that this
administration has

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articulated no specific
reason or strategy or exit

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strategy, which is
something that we need to

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hear from this
administration.

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>> What are your utmost
concerns about this war?

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>> Look, I think that this
is something that could

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become a regional war. It
already is. Let's be clear

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in in response to to our
attacks, along with the

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Israeli strikes, Iran has
sent drones and ballistic

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missiles to countries all
across the region. This is

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exactly what this president
promised to get us out of,

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not get us into. And I'm
very worried about the loss

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of life, both civilian
allied troops as well as

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our troops, and the
exorbitant expense that

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this will cost to have such
a military operation

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continue on, maybe for
weeks, maybe for months.

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I'm very, very worried
about it. And it also means

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that this this president's
attention is once again

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somewhere else. Venezuela
boats in the Pacific and

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Caribbean. Now Iran, his
focus is not on the

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concerns of Wisconsinites
every day, concerns like

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the high cost of things and
barely being able to get by.

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>> What is your message to
men and women from

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Wisconsin National Guard
now serving as part of this

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war mission?
>> My message to those

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serving in theater, but
also those serving their

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country, is thank you for
your service and we will do

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our best to make sure that
service is and make sure

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that the war that is
ongoing becomes something

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that is the subject of
congressional debate, so

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that the people of this
nation, your parents, your,

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your families have a say in
whether we continue this or

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not.
>> In June, when the when

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the US launched strikes
against Iran, there was a

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public facing heightened
threat alert for inside the

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US. Now I see that the
National Terrorism Advisory

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System says due to the
lapse in federal funding,

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its website will not be
actively managed. What is

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your response to that?
>> So Democrats are moving

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forward to make sure that
the Department of Homeland

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Security operations are
funded, except for ICE

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operations and Border
Patrol operations, because

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they have shown themselves
in our neighboring state of

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Minnesota, as well as other
states, to be acting as a

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rogue agencies, and they
need to be reined in. But

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we're offering Republicans
the opportunity to fund all

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other activities of the
Department of Homeland

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Security, except for Ice
and Border Patrol.

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>> We leave it there.
>> We leave it there.