Attack on Iran: Long Island's representatives in Congress split along party lines

WASHINGTON — Long Island and other key New York congressional representatives Saturday were divided along party lines over the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran and President Donald Trump’s call for the Iranian public to seize control over their Islamic leadership.

Republicans rallied behind Trump and his “Operation Epic Fury,” while Democrats were largely critical of his unilateral action without first making a case to the American people or obtaining approval from Congress, a route some branded as unconstitutional.

Some lawmakers worried this could be the start of a second extended U.S. engagement in a Middle East conflict in 25 years, risking American deaths, without Trump having yet articulated a clear long-term strategy. As of Saturday afternoon, it was not clear if or when Trump might brief Congress or further address the American people beyond his statement on Truth Social announcing the attack and then a later message saying Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike.

Rep. Tom Suozzi of Glen Cove broke with many of his fellow Democrats by offering qualified support for Trump's actions. But unlike many Republicans, he said Trump “must also seek congressional authorization consistent with the War Powers Act.”

While the president briefed congressional leadership before the strikes and has committed to briefing the full Congress, Suozzi said, “The president must clearly define the national security objective and articulate his plan to avoid another costly prolonged war in the Middle East.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the Senate — which is away from Washington during the weekend — should quickly return to session “and reassert its constitutional duty by passing our resolution to enforce the War Powers Act.” He is referring to a separate bipartisan resolution to block Trump from the use of U.S. military forces against Iran without congressional authorization.

“Iran must never be allowed to attain a nuclear weapon, but the American people do not want another endless and costly war in the Middle East when there are so many problems at home,” Schumer said. Strategic clarity is needed, he said, and, “Unfortunately, President Trump’s fitful cycles of lashing out and risking wider conflict are not a viable strategy.”

Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) said he supported the action as “a necessary step to defend American lives and interests and to confront a regime that has long funded the killing of Americans from Beirut in 1983 to more recently in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

He said the operations are geared to holding Tehran accountable “for its decades of destabilizing conduct and attacks on U.S. forces,” to make clear that America will not tolerate a nuclear-armed theocracy and to empower the Iranian people “by creating conditions for them to reclaim their destiny and build a future rooted in liberty and engagement with the world.”

Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said, “America stands with our military. America stands with Israel.”

He added: “The Iranian regime is the world’s top state sponsor of terrorism and has been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans.”

Garbarino noted the congressional standoff over a Department of Homeland Security funding bill that has frozen some of that agency’s operations in a fight over immigration enforcement tactics. “As we face a heightened threat landscape” amid hostilities with Iran, Garbarino said “it is more important now than ever” the department gets its funding and operates at “maximum readiness.”

Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) said Iran is "the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, brutally oppresses its own people, and can never be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.

"However, the Administration must adhere to the law and should immediately consult the full Congress on major military action in Iran," she said in a statement.

New York’s junior senator, Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, said no one disputes that the Iranian regime is a “brutal dictatorship” or that it is a destabilizing threat to the United States and its allies. But she said “no one should be comfortable with Congress giving President Donald Trump a blank check for war at taxpayers’ expense.”

“Congress should return to session immediately to vote on a war powers resolution,” Gillibrand added. “The president lacks the constitutional authority — and in my opinion, the temperament and judgment — to act in such a reckless fashion."

A key Republican congressman said the Trump administration worked to negotiate a diplomatic solution with the Iranian regime to end their nuclear ambitions, but that resulted in no concessions and unrealistic demands. 

“I support the president's decision to strike Iran,” said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-Pearl River), who represents a New York City suburban district in the lower Hudson Valley and chairs the House’s Middle East and North Africa subcommittee. As for Khamenei's death, Lawler said: "His leadership was defined by aggression abroad and oppression at home and today, it has officially ended. The world is safer as a result of his death. We now have a chance for lasting peace in the Middle East.”

The top House Democrat, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, of Brooklyn, said Iran is a “bad actor” but that if Iran’s nuclear program was “completely and totally obliterated,” as Trump boldly proclaimed in June, “there should be no need to strike them now.”

Jeffries also faulted Trump for failing to seek congressional authorization prior to striking Iran, and without what he called   “exigent circumstances.” He said it’s left American troops vulnerable to Iran’s retaliatory actions. “We pray for the safety of the men and women of the U.S. military as they have been put into harm’s way in a dangerous theater of war,” Jeffries said.

Jeffries and his top House Democratic Caucus leaders have scheduled a Zoom conference call with rank-and-file members set for 8 p.m. Sunday to discuss Trump’s military actions in Iran.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said that despite the dogged efforts of the president and his administration, the Iranian regime has refused the diplomatic off-ramps that would peacefully resolve these national security concerns. “I commend President Donald Trump for taking action to thwart these threats,” he said.

 On Long Island for an event Saturday, Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D-Ga.) referenced the attack in a speech that touched on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s words about militarism.

"We have to do all we can to make sure that we press our country to live up to our ideals of peace, that we help our country to understand that he was right when he said that mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind,” Warnock told a crowd of about 600 people at Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity's Black History Month celebration in Bethpage. Gillen also attended the event, hosted by the Eta Theta Lambda chapter of the fraternity.

"The American people deserve to have a voice through its representatives before dragging us into what could yet again be a very long and protracted and deadly conflict," Warnock said. "We deserve a debate about something as solemn as war.”

Olivia Winslow contributed to this story.