Statement on War Powers Resolutions, H. Con. Res. 61 and H. Con. Res. 64
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 61 and H. Con. Res. 64, war powers resolutions that direct President Trump to remove the U.S. military from hostilities in the Caribbean and against Venezuela unless explicitly authorized by Congress.
Since September 2nd, the Trump administration has conducted 25 military strikes on vessels in the Western Hemisphere which they claim to be carrying narcotics. At least 95 people have been killed in these strikes. None of these strikes has been authorized by Congress and I have publicly called for them to cease because I believe them to be unlawful extrajudicial killings.
The footage of the strike on September 2nd, which I have viewed in a classified setting, is deeply alarming and calls into question the Trump administration’s respect for the laws of armed conflict. I have called on our leadership at the Pentagon to immediately release the strike video in its entirety so that the American public understands what President Trump has ordered in the Caribbean without any authorization from Congress. Congress has a responsibility to fully investigate not only the September 2nd strike but the Trump administration’s entire operation in the Caribbean and should take testimony from Secretary Hegseth, U.S. Special Operations Commander Admiral Frank Bradley, and retired U.S. Southern Commander Admiral Alvin Holsey.
Beyond these strikes, the Trump administration has spent months conducting a large-scale military buildup in the Caribbean but has completely failed to explain the rationale to Congress. A military posture that includes a carrier strike group is wildly disproportionate to the goal of prosecuting counter-narcotics missions. The financial costs of Operation Southern Spear are significant and will likely run into billions of dollars. Keeping a carrier strike group on station longer than planned will result in additional maintenance costs, as well as unforeseen accidents, as we just saw with the USS Harry Truman’s high operational tempo while deployed in the Middle East. It is unfortunate that the Department of Defense has failed to provide the Appropriations Committee with a full account of operational costs in SOUTHCOM and a projection of what future costs may be incurred. Military units supporting Operation Southern Spear are incurring a different type of cost, lost time training for missions that they would have undertaken had they not been diverted to the President’s unauthorized activities in SOUTHCOM.
President Trump has also made several public comments about the potential for U.S. military forces to be used to remove Nicolás Maduro from power in Venezuela. President Trump has even directed the seizure of oil tankers in the region to apply pressure in Venezuela. As a Member of Congress who voted against authorizing the disastrous Iraq War, I believe that a war to enact regime change in Venezuela would be a catastrophic decision. That is why these two war powers resolutions are so critically important. President Trump and his administration are out of control. The Constitution grants Congress the power to declare war and authorize military action. Because Congress has not done so in this case, the military activities directed by President Trump in SOUTHCOM are unlawful. Congress must prevent President Trump from dragging the United States into another disastrous regime change war that the American people do not support.
It is time for every Member of Congress to go on record and stand with the Constitution instead of President Trump’s executive overreach. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of these two war power resolutions. I yield back.