Washington, DC -- Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today delivered the following remarks, as prepared, while co-leading a bipartisan House Member classified briefing on the Trump administration’s military operations into Venezuela to extract Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.  

“I will keep my remarks brief to allow ample time for questions, but I want to thank our briefers for being here and acknowledge the professionalism with which our service members and intelligence community executed their mission on January 3. 

“As we now know, President Trump ordered the use of U.S. military force to invade a sovereign nation without authorization from Congress. This action was not taken to address an imminent threat to the United States, nor to advance a democratic transition in Venezuela. Instead, it reflects a dangerous worldview—one in which the United States claims the right to impose its will across the hemisphere, echoing the same logic Vladimir Putin uses to justify aggression against his neighbors. 

“Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have raised serious concerns about whether this military operation and subsequent nation-building exercise is in the best interest of the American people. We look forward to hearing the administration address those concerns directly. 

“The administration also owes us in this room and the American people a clear and honest explanation of its actual objectives in Venezuela, which have shifted from drugs to regime change to controlling a country and its oil. 

“Finally, there is a legal burden on the administration to demonstrate that this incursion responded to an imminent threat to the United States sufficient to justify placing U.S. service members in harm’s way. Thank you again for being here.”