Local representatives react amid classified Congressional briefing on Iran - WFMZ.com

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other members of the Trump administration addressed Congress on Tuesday to discuss the causes of the conflict in Iran.

"The president amassed [40,000], [50,000], 60,000 members of our military,” said Democratic U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean (PA-4).

In just a matter of days, the supreme leader of Iran has been taken out, along with most of the Islamic regime.

"I'm pleased that the ayatollah, that Khomeini, is no longer in power, don't get me wrong, but there was a diplomatic path to peace that this president decided to tear up,” Dean said.

"The president is well within his constitutional authority to do what he has done, and it is entirely consistent with the history of former presidents for at least four decades,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson.

So why did Trump attack Iran in a joint mission with Israel?

"The buildup of their missiles was so important and so serious that the president of the United States, this president, thought that it was a great enough threat that we needed to act,” Johnson said.

Republican Congressman Dan Meuser (PA-9), echoing Johnson, expressed support for war in a recent Fox Business interview.

"We don't want the No. 1 terrorist state in the country, in the world, to have a bomb, that's murdering its people, that is an imminent threat to the U.S., and what about the regional countries?" Meuser said.

Dean said she is concerned for U.S. citizens stuck abroad in danger zones.

"What was the plan by the State Department for all of that?” Dean questioned. “They are being forced to stay put, seek shelter and try to figure out safe passage.”

Rubio said, "It will be a variety of methods: charter flights, military flights and transports, expanded commercial opportunities and in some cases land routes that will allow them to go to neighboring countries who might have open airports."

Dean said some of those people stuck there are from our region.

"We have literally had, I think, at least five individual inquiries about folks who are stranded in different countries,” she said.

Tuesday’s briefing was a classified Congressional hearing.