The Iran War Has a Body Count. The Pentagon Just Made It Harder to See.

I am writing as your constituent to demand that you act immediately to defund unauthorized military operations against Iran and enforce full congressional accountability for a conflict that threatens domestic infrastructure and service members' lives. Decisions of war and peace belong strictly to Congress under Article I of the Constitution. Executive military action without prior legislative authorization undermines our constitutional framework while placing American forces directly in harm's way. The human cost and domestic risks continue to mount rapidly: - High Casualty Toll: According to the Defense Casualty Analysis System, 757 U.S. service members have been wounded and 18 killed since hostilities began on February 28—exceeding 770 total casualties in a war Congress never voted to authorize. - Obscured Reporting: The Pentagon recently created a broad "Overseas Operations" category while temporarily removing records of killed and wounded personnel. This lack of transparency hides conflict-specific links and obscures the true scale of casualties. - Critical Infrastructure Vulnerabilities: Joint advisories from CISA, the FBI, and the EPA confirm that Iranian-affiliated cyber actors are actively targeting internet-exposed operational technology in U.S. municipal water and wastewater facilities across multiple states. Local utilities are being forced into manual operations to prevent catastrophic failures. When the executive branch waging an unauthorized war results in military casualties and cyber threats to local public utilities, Congress must reclaim its power. I urge you to take three immediate legislative actions: 1. DEFUND UNAUTHORIZED OPERATIONS: Prohibit any funding for ongoing military strikes or hostilities against Iran in upcoming defense appropriations and the NDAA without explicit congressional authorization. 2. FORCE WAR POWERS & CASUALTY ACCOUNTABILITY: Force a floor vote on invoking the War Powers Resolution and mandate that the Department of Defense restore transparent, conflict-specific casualty reporting. 3. FUND WATER INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY: Appropriate emergency federal grants directly to local municipalities to secure, update, and air-gap the Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) that have been specifically compromised by Iranian-affiliated cyber actors in these recent attacks. Reclaim Congress's authority over war, insist on honest casualty reporting, and protect our critical infrastructure.