WASHINGTON – This morning, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) joined MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ to discuss an op-ed he wrote in Sunday’s Philadelphia Inquirer about the need to responsibly pay for the war against ISIS.

Watch video of the interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-6ulPmCp_A&feature=youtu.be

Excerpts from the interview are below:

“As we look back at the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States charged into war in Afghanistan against the Taliban and al Qaeda that had attacked the United States in 2001, and Iraq against Saddam Hussein, with no conversation, no serious thought given to how we would pay for those wars, both the very long term human costs of caring for and supporting our veterans who personally bear the scars and sacrifices of battle and with no thought of putting the cost of those two wars on America’s credit card and thus burdening children and grandchildren of the cost.”

“As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and Appropriations Committee, I'm trying to raise my hand and saying we're not doing our job in congress. President Obama sent us an AUMF, that’s Washington-speak for a request for a declaration of war against ISIS, all the way back in February, and we have not taken it up, debated it and passed it. We owe that to our veterans and to those serving in the conflict against ISIS but we also need to stand up and say: “How are we going to pay for it?”

“All the previous wars as you referenced, before Iraq and Afghanistan, had a dedicated war surtax, and I think that’s one way we could fairly pay for it, with a small surtax that exempted active duty military families and veterans, but there are other ways we could pay for it. We just can’t keep going without even discussing it.”

“There are a whole lot of outrageous statements being made, very aggressive, very bellicose statements being made by Republican Presidential candidates, and by my colleagues in the Senate about how much they would do, how aggressive they would be…I think if they also had to vote to fund the cost of the wars they’re threating to expand, it would create somewhat of a speed bump.  It would force us to debate not just the strategy of the war against ISIS, which we need to more seriously contemplate, but it would also force us to look at the cost – short term and long term – of the conflict we are already well into against ISIS.”

“If we’re going to have critics of President Obama’s strategy in Syria and Iraq, then we ought to do our job and debate strategy, and debate authorization, and do the role that the founders imagined for Congress.”

“We can’t have a country where Congress fails to do its Constitutional duty simply because we have an election…I do think if we bring this up in committee, enough responsible Senators will step up and make compromises, and we will end up with a meaningful authorization.  At the very least, I think we owe it to those we’ve sent into harm’s way, who are currently serving in Iraq and Syria, to know that we’ve got their back and that we authorize the actions that they’re taking.”

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