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AMSTERDAM, NY — Congressman Paul D. Tonko (NY-20) released a statement following the increasingly unhinged threats of violence from President Trump against the people of Iran:

“The President of the United States is publicly threatening to commit genocide.

“This is not hyperbole or wordsmithing, his exact words were “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

“I fear for our nation. This is not who we are. For generations, the United States has striven to be that shining city on a hill — advancing values of freedom, democracy, human rights and shared prosperity around the globe. Our greatest generation fought and died in the fields of Europe and across the vast Pacific to stem the tide of fascism and the genocidal dictators it enabled. When confronted with the abysmal horrors of the Holocaust, we vowed with one clear voice “never again.”

“We cannot fall prey to indifference or apathy, believing that the President’s words are mere idle threats. He is the Commander in Chief of the most powerful military the world has ever seen. He has already launched an illegal war of choice against a country that posed no imminent military threat to the United States.

“We must take his words at face value, and when we do, there is only one clear conclusion: this is genocidal talk from an unhinged madman President.

“For love of country, for the freedoms we cherish and for the values we hold dear, the House must immediately reconvene and vote to impeach Donald Trump.”