JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Veterans are among the Mississippians asking Sen. Roger Wicker to stop support of the war in Iran. <\/p>\n
A group has gathered hundreds of signatures petitioning the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee to take action. <\/p>\n
Members of Mississippi United chanted before going into the federal courthouse Friday to deliver a letter to Wicker\u2019s office, requesting an immediate congressional investigation and public hearings on the war in Iran. <\/p>\n
The organization has 620 Mississippi signatures outlining concerns from a lack of congressional approval and allies\u2019 support to costs in military lives and equipment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think that President Trump is overreaching his actual authority in starting this thing and we\u2019re concerned that it\u2019s gonna cost us in treasure and lives,\u201d said organization member and Vietnam War U.S. Army veteran George Hollingsworth.<\/p>\n
Four veterans were among the group of about 15 people. <\/p>\n
U.S. Army veteran Bill Gray said the senator needs to find out exactly why America is involved in the war.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe president\u2019s kind of winging it and, based on what he said about just having a feeling, that\u2019s no reason to start bombing foreign countries,\u201d said Gray.<\/p>\n
Eight members of the group presented the letter and signatures to a staff member in Wicker\u2019s office. The senator was not in his Jackson office.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are three co-equal branches of government for a reason and Congress has oversight authority over all of this,\u201d said Mississippi United founder Kathleen O\u2019Beirne. \u201cAnd they have control over the purse strings and they\u2019re supposed to have control over declarations of war, but Sen. Wicker himself and just about all the other Republican members of Congress just abdicated their responsibility, their authority over a declaration of war.\u201d<\/p>\n
No staff member was available when a request for comment was made. An intern said the request would be delivered.<\/p>\n
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