Senator Durbin Introduces Iran Amendment to AMTRAK bill

What do Iran and AMTRAK have in common? Well, nothing until today. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) went to floor during the debate of the AMTRAK bill and said he was upset about the administration's assertions regarding Iran. He said he wanted to be clear that Congress has not in any way authorized the use of military force against Iran. Durbin then offered a nonbinding Resolution "Affirming that any offensive military action taken against Iran must be explicitly approved by Congress before such action may be initiated." He assumed it wouldn't be allowed to be voted on the AMTRAK bill, so his intention is to offer as a seperate resolution. I'll post more information when it is available in the Congressional Record tomorrow.

Update: A colleague just emailed me a very clever response to this. He said: "Quite appropriate as Iran is a train wreck waiting to happen, just like AMTRAK." I couldn't agree more.