Fil-Am Congressman Bobby Scott, Democrats condemn US attack on Iran

LOS ANGELES – Filipino American Congressman Robert “Bobby” Scott Saturday condemned the Trump administration’s overnight attack on Iran, calling it an illegal action taken without authorization from Congress.

“The Constitution is clear. The decision to go to war requires Congressional authorization,” Scott said in a statement.

“President Trump was elected on a promise to end forever conflicts and regime change wars. He has done the opposite.”

Rubble remains in the aftermath of an Israeli-U.S. strike in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Amir Kholousi, ISNA)

Scott acknowledged that the Iranian regime “has brutalized their own people” and funded terrorist groups throughout the Middle East, but said the operation risked drawing the US and its  allies into a wider conflict.

“We know from the failures of the 2003 War in Iraq what can happen when we lack a clearly defined endgame that prevents the US from being drawn into another quagmire,” said Scott, the first American with Filipino ancestry to serve as a voting member of Congress.

Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action

Scott, a Democrat, said that with then-President Barack Obama successfully negotiating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015, the US reached a diplomatic solution that would have avoided war and prevented Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

He said the agreement was broadly supported by the international community and Iran was complying until President Trump withdrew the US from the JCPOA in 2018.

“We would not be in this mess now if the President had not withdrawn from that agreement,” he added. “There were renewed talks with Iran that showed a diplomatic path remained open which President Trump abandoned in favor of military hostilities that put American lives in danger.

The US military, with support from Israel, carried out large-scale strikes on targets within Iran early Saturday, hitting the capital city of Tehran the hardest but also striking several other cities and reportedly killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei.

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Khamenei’s death was reported by Israel and multiple US and international news outlets. He had been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, making him the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East. He was previously president of Iran from 1981-89.

Iranian officials said one strike killed dozens of people at a girls school.

Counteroffensive

Iran launched a counteroffensive, attacking Israel and US.military bases located in allied Arab nations across the region, including in the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq and Jordan.

Many of the missiles launched at Israel were intercepted by that country’s air defense system.

“The United States military is undertaking a massive and ongoing operation to prevent this very wicked, radical dictatorship from threatening America and our core national security interests,” President Donald Trump said in a message to the nation on Saturday. “We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground.”

The president accused Iran of attempting to rebuild its nuclear program after the US carried out a massive attack on it last summer that Trump said at the time had left the program “completely and totally obliterated.”

The United Nations Security Council called a meeting for Saturday to address the situation.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), said House Democrats plan to force a vote soon on limiting Trump’s war powers in Iran.

Democrats protest the attack

Some members of the Southland’s Democratic congressional delegation were quick to protest the attack.

“The self-proclaimed `Peace President’ just dragged the United States back into war in the Middle East,” said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles). “Despite rising inflation, ongoing nationwide job losses, and mounting questions about his health, Trump is launching a war against Iran without authorization from Congress and approval from the American people.”

Kamlager-Dove is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“Today is a sad and dangerous day for the men and women of our military and their families, as the president starts another potential war in the Middle East with Iran,” said Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-San Pedro). `

Barragan called on House Speaker Mike Johnson to immediately call on Congress to return
to Washington to debate and vote on the matter.

Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Whittier) urged Republicans to join Democrats in defending the Constitution and “protecting our troops from this reckless president.”

Rep. Gil Cisneros, D-Covina, said Iran is has suppressed its people and supported terrorism around the world, but “our military forces do not belong to the president to use on a whim, or because he doesn’t agree with the pace of negotiations.”

Rep. Derek Tran (D-Garden Grove,) who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, said Trump’s decision to launch unilateral strikes against Iran is “a dangerous overreach of executive power.”

“By bypassing Congress, this Administration has not only ignored the law but has also sidelined the American people in a decision that puts the lives of our service members at immediate risk,” he said.

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