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Congressman Cohen Says Congress Shouldn’t Give $70 Billion More for a Failed War in Iran While Trump Refuses to Pay Taxes on His Crypto Earnings

July 22, 2026

In a floor speech, tells Trump: “Bring your chips to the table.”

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) went to the House floor this morning to make a speech condemning the Donald Trump-Pete Hegseth war against Iran and its exorbitant expense.

In his remarks, he said in part:

“Mr. Hegseth said we have spent $37 billion on an unnecessary – he didn’t say ‘unnecessary war’ -- but it is an unnecessary and failed war in Iran: $37 billion and we’ve lost 17 soldiers. He says he’s going to ask for another $70 billion to fight this unnecessary and failing war. We resolved…the fact that we can stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon when Barack Obama was president and negotiated a treaty. Right now, we don’t know if they’ve moved the enriched uranium outside the place where it was buried underneath a mountain or not. I suspect they might have. 

“So it’s a failed war. I’ll be willing to vote for a bill that has $70 billion in it when President Trump pays his share by paying his taxes on the $2.2 billion he earned last year mostly in crypto which cost people who bought crypto a billion dollars; that’s what they lost. When Trump pays his share, I’ll pay my share, and vote for it. But I won’t vote for it otherwise. President Trump: Bring your chips to the table.”

See the entire speech here.

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