{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.smith.senate.gov/u-s-senator-tina-smith-seeks-answers-on-hegseths-role-in-dismantling-militarys-civilian-harm-prevention-guard-rails-in-advance-of-iran-war/", "U.S. Senator Tina Smith Seeks Answers on Hegseth\u2019s Role in Dismantling Military\u2019s Civilian Harm Prevention Guard Rails in Advance of Iran War", "2026-04-20", "2026", "2026-04", "Democrat", "Senate", "MN", "Tina Smith", "S001203", "www.smith.senate.gov", "tinasmith", "https://www.smith.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) joined nine senators in seeking answers on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth\u2019s role in weakening civilian harm prevention programs and the catastrophic civilian impacts of President Trump\u2019s war in Iran. Since the start of President Trump\u2019s illegal war in Iran, attacks on civilian infrastructure have led to more than 1,700 civilian deaths, along with strikes on more than 20 schools and a dozen health care facilities.\n\n\u201cThe high human toll of this war reflects the administration\u2019s broader disregard for the strategic, legal, and moral imperative to minimize civilian harm.,\u201d wrote the lawmakers. \u201cWe call on the administration to immediately end the war in Iran and fully restore Congressionally authorized programs and staffing to mitigate civilian harm.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are concerned that these were all preventable tragedies\u2026This is a concerning pattern and raises questions about whether the administration is upholding international law and the laws of war,\u201d wrote the senators.\n\nThe Senators called on DoD to answer questions about reported attacks on two separate elementary schools in Iran that killed more than 170 people, most of them children.\n\nPrior to the war, Secretary Hegseth made deep cuts to the military\u2019s civilian harm mitigation and response (CHMR) programs, fired personnel at DoD\u2019s Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, and slashed CHMR staff at the U.S. combatant commands \u201cby more than 90 percent.\u201d All the cuts were reportedly made over the objections of veterans organizations and top military officials, including admirals, generals, and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.\n\n\u201cWe are also concerned that your leadership is further harming the credibility of our armed forces, exacerbating threats to civilians and U.S. servicemembers alike,\u201d wrote the senators.\n\nSecretary Hegseth has mocked \u201cstupid rules of engagement\u201d and threatened to offer \u201cno quarter, no mercy for our enemies\u201d in Iran, which would violate international law and the military\u2019s own Law of War Manual.\n\n\u201cThese statements not only harm civilians and undermine established standards, but also endanger U.S. servicemembers with greater risk of reciprocation and erode good order and discipline,\u201d warned the senators.\n\nSenior military officials in the Trump administration agree that mitigating civilian harm is vital for national security. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby wrote to Congress that, \u201cit is in the U.S. national interest, as well as morally right, to seek to reduce civilian harm to the degree possible.\u201d During his confirmation, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine said that combatant commanders who incorporated CHMR personnel into planning \u201csee positive impacts from the program.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour attempts to gut DoD\u2019s civilian harm institutions contradicts more than a decade of bipartisan consensus and DoD-led reforms, initiated during the first Trump administration,\u201d noted the senators.\n\n\u201cThe importance of protecting civilian life to the greatest extent possible is central to effective military operations and differentiates the United States from our adversaries\u2026We call on the administration to immediately end the war in Iran, fully restore Congressionally authorized programs and staffing to mitigate civilian harm,\u201d concluded the senators.\n\nThe lawmakers asked Hegseth to explain the cuts to civilian harm programs and explain what steps the Pentagon is taking to protect civilian lives in Iran by May 4, 2026.\n\nSenators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and Peter Welch (D-VT) also signed letter.\n\n###", 1, "2026-04-21T05:46:59Z", "2026-04-21T05:48:34Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.smith.senate.gov/u-s-senator-tina-smith-seeks-answers-on-hegseths-role-in-dismantling-militarys-civilian-harm-prevention-guard-rails-in-advance-of-iran-war/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.6058549992740154, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}