Michigan Rep. Slotkin Wants to ‘Force Conversation’ with War Powers Resolution
Slotkin is now in the national spotlight, leading congressional efforts to check Trump’s use of force in Iran.
Amid growing tensions and aggressions between the U.S. and Iran, one of Michigan’s own members of Congress has taken a leading national role in an effort to counter the president’s seemingly cavalier attitude toward foreign policy in the Middle East.
Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) is a former CIA analyst and Shia militia expert who served three tours in Iraq focusing on Iranian-backed militias. She is also a former senior Pentagon official focused on the region.
“My husband was in the Army, my step daughter is in the Army, my son-in-law is in the Army. If we’re going to war, we should be having a conversation about that in Congress.” – Rep. Elissa Slotkin
Her concerns about the decision to kill Iran’s top general grabbed national attention, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi tasked her with leading the House effort to limit the presidents power to wage attacks against Iran that could lead to an all-out war. Slotkin’s War Powers Resolution passed the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday with bipartisan support. The resolution requires President Trump to seek the Authorization for Use of Military Force before taking the country into a protracted war with Iran.
“It was trying to force a conversation,” says Rep. Slotkin on Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson. “My husband was in the Army for 30 years, my step daughter is in the Army, my son-in-law is in the Army. If we’re going to even potentially have the option for them to be going into armed conflict, potentially in another war, we should be having a conversation about that in Congress.”
Slotkin says she had extensive experience with now-slain Iranian general Qassem Soleimani during her career at the CIA and the Pentagon.
“I’ve literally been watching that guy and his nefarious activities my entire adult career,” she says.
But Slotkin says, without a conversation between Congress and the White House and a clear strategy moving forward, the decision to kill Soleimani could move us in a direction toward war with Iran.
Click on the player above to hear Rep. Elissa Slotkin alk about Iran and PFAS legislation.
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