Tampa congresswoman Kathy Castor says the war in Iran 'needs to come to an end'

Tampa congresswoman Kathy Castor is calling on the war in Iran to "come to an end."

This comes as the U.S. military announced on Friday that a KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq — killing all six crew members. According to the Associated Press, Tampa-based U.S. Central Command said the crash followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in "friendly airspace" and that the other plane landed safely.

Three out of the six who died were connected to the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa and Sumpter Smith. The rest were out of an Ohio Air National Guard base in Columbus.

According to the AP, at least 13 American service members have died as of Friday, and over 100 have been wounded. Seven of the 13 members were killed in combat.

READ MORE: All 6 U.S. crew are dead after a military aircraft goes down in Iraq

This is part of the U.S. and Israel's Operation Epic Fury, which launched on Feb. 28. According to CENTCOM, this is "to dismantle the Iranian regime's security apparatus, prioritizing locations that posed an imminent threat."

"We're on plan to defeat, destroy, disable all of their meaningful military capabilities at a pace the world has never seen before," U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said during a press conference on Friday.

'Don't understand the endgame'

The operation is being run out of Castor's district at CENTCOM. Friday on "The Florida Roundup," Castor said she does not support America's military involvement and is worried about the effects.

"We don't really understand the cost. We don't understand the endgame, and if we're going to spend billions and billions of taxpayer dollars, I would rather see them invested here at home where folks are really grappling with an affordability squeeze driven by the tariffs, the vote in Congress to eliminate ACA [Affordable Care Act] credits and electric bills," Castor said.

She added that she felt there was no justification made by President Donald Trump for the war and that there was no debate in Congress about it.

READ MORE: Iran strikes were launched without approval from Congress, deeply dividing lawmakers

"It's clear now this may not be making us more safe," Castor said. "Certainly, Iran is a malign actor in the world. I don't shed a tear. We should return to diplomacy. But no, at this point in time, without a real endgame and justification, it's very difficult to support this continuing."

The White House wrote in an X post on March 12 that the objectives of Operation Epic Fury are to destroy the Iranian regime's missile arsenal, eliminate its Navy, ensure Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon and end the threat posed by "its terrorist proxies."

Concerns over gas prices

Gas prices have increased since the war began. According to the AP, the war has closed the Strait of Hormuz, blocking a significant portion of the world's oil.

"And as the world is seeing, they are exercising sheer desperation in the Straits of Hormuz, something we're dealing with. We have been dealing with it and don't need to worry about it," Hegseth said.

Federal gas taxes are around 18.4 cents per gallon. U.S. lawmakers have introduced legislation to suspend this tax through Oct. 1. When asked if Castor would support this suspension, she said what needs to happen is that the war "needs to come to an end."

"The energy markets are in turmoil. That is just eye-popping. Volatility in price spike here in Tampa, St. Pete this morning — regular was about $3.79," Castor told host Tom Hudson. "We're bracing for even higher electric bills because we are so overly reliant on gas to produce electricity in the state of Florida."

Trump said on social media that increases in oil prices help generate more money for the country and that his priority is stopping Iran from having nuclear weapons.

"The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money. BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World," Trump wrote.

Castor said any suspension of the federal tax would undermine the ability to pay for transportation projects across the country.

"I don't know that you want to put that off any longer. We're already grappling with higher costs due to tariffs for those kind of projects," Castor said.

Why Castor is against offshore drilling

Last fall, Trump proposed opening up areas in the Gulf — including some near Florida — for more offshore energy drilling.

Castor was part of the Florida congressional delegation that sent a letter to the president opposing the plan. This was a bipartisan effort that included U.S. Sen Rick Scott and U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody — both Republicans.

READ MORE: Florida's congressional delegation asks Trump to stop new offshore oil drilling

Castor said she still opposes the idea.

"Oil drilling in the Gulf is a direct threat to Florida's economy — our natural environment. We don't need it," Castor said. "We are the largest oil and gas producer in the world right now. There are many places in the Gulf that have current leases that have gone untapped. It's too risky."

There was also a piece of legislation last November that would have allowed the national petroleum industry to come up with recommendations to increase capacity to refine oil into gasoline here in the U.S. Castor voted against it.

"Because we're way too reliant on oil and gas. We have got to begin to be serious about the transition to cheaper, cleaner energy," Castor said.

She supports helping bring in solar and wind resources and emphasizing electric vehicles.

"We would be in a whole lot better place today if we were continuing on that transition rather than doubling down on fossil fuels that are fueling the higher costs, whether it's insurance, more intense hurricanes, pollution — I just think that we have got to stop," Castor said.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. This story was compiled from interviews conducted by Tom Hudson for "The Florida Roundup."
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