Not a single Democratic member of the Senate has lent their support to a Republican-driven congressional effort to praise the U.S. military and intelligence community members who helped carry out the successful strike that killed Iranian terror leader Qassem Soleimani.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and 42 of his GOP colleagues in the Senate earlier this week forwarded a resolution honoring American military and intelligence community members who helped conduct the raid that killed Iran's chief terror mastermind.
The resolution is structurally identical to the 2011 Senate resolution praising former president Barack Obama for the operation that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. At that time, all 100 Democratic and Republican members of the Senate joined to support that resolution.
But that is not the case with President Donald Trump's operation to kill Soleimani. No Senate Democrat has voiced support for the resolution.
"At a time when partisanship and political differences threaten to divide us, President Trump and his administration should be commended for bringing an end to Qassem Soleimani, a terrorist responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people across the Middle East, including at least 603 American service members," Cruz said in a statement. "Just as we did in 2011 following the killing of Bin Laden, it is my hope my colleagues in the Senate will come together once again to honor all those involved in this successful mission to defend America's national security interests and eliminate a terrorist mastermind."
The Soleimani resolution, which has Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as a chief cosponsor, praises those Americans who put their lives on the line to gather the intelligence needed to strike the Iranian terrorist.
The resolution "declares that the death of Qassem Soleimani represents a measure of justice and relief for the families and friends of the hundreds of American men and women who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, the men and women around the world who have been killed by other IRGC‐[Quds Force]‐sponsored attacks, the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and the intelligence community who have sacrificed their lives pursuing Qassem Soleimani."
Democrats' refusal to endorse the resolution is a mark of the hyper-partisanship that has plagued Congress since Trump took office.
One senior GOP source who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon described Senate Democrats' behavior as shameful.
"Democrats complain whenever Republicans accuse them of Trump Derangement Syndrome," said the source, a veteran Republican political operative who works on foreign policy. "Here you have a clear case where they hate Trump so much that they won't even commend American troops for killing one of the world's worst terrorists, which is what the resolution is about. They're literally deranged."