Washington, DC -- Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today delivered the following remarks on the floor during debate on House Concurrent Resolution 64, a War Powers Resolution Rep. McGovern introduced to prohibit the Trump administration's hostilities against Venezuela.
Full remarks as prepared:
"As I said earlier today on this floor, during the debate on my War Powers Resolution to end this administration’s extrajudicial strikes on boats in the Western Hemisphere, those bombings are not about drugs. If the administration did want to stop drugs, Trump would not have pardoned the former President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, or Ross Ulbricht, who operated the Silk Road drug marketplace. He wouldn’t be seizing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Or threatening CIA operations, blockades, and ground strikes on Venezuela.
"It’s not about drugs, it’s about regime change, and it’s about oil. That’s not just me saying that. It’s Trump himself saying it. It’s President Trump’s Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, who said Trump wants to, and I quote, 'keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle.' And it relies on the magical thinking that military force can bring democracy in Venezuela or anywhere else.
"But his chief of staff also conceded, as any reasonable person with any knowledge of the constitution should, that if Trump, quote, 'were to authorize some activity on land, then it’s war, then [we’d need] Congress.'
"On that, she’s right. Congress would need to pass an Authorization for the Use of Military Force if Trump wanted to put boots on the ground or conduct military strikes on Venezuela. And for that, Republicans in Congress would need to cast their vote on whether to commit U.S. armed forces to an open-ended conflict their constituents certainly do not want.
"Trump ran on ending forever wars, but now he’s forgotten what they are. What his own Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth characterized as, quote, 'interventionism, undefined wars, regime change, and feckless nation building.' Yet with Venezuela, Trump is provoking a new war right in our backyard and threatening to destabilize an entire region.
"And let’s be clear...claiming a war with Venezuela will be quick and easy – that’s a fantasy. Maduro is by no means a good guy. He lost his last election and has violently repressed the Venezuelan people to stay in power against their democratic will. But to think that if the U.S. military just chases him out, then Venezuela’s military and armed groups around the country will welcome democracy with open arms is naive at best.
"This administration has no plan for the day after. It has no strategy. And if Members do not vote for Mr. McGovern’s War Powers Resolution, they are signing their name to everything that comes after: a forever war in our own hemisphere. A quagmire the likes of Vietnam, in a country twice the size of Iraq, for a length of time unknown.
"How many billions of taxpayer dollars would be spent so Pete Hegseth can cosplay as a wartime general? How many U.S. servicemembers would make the ultimate sacrifice so Donald Trump could do in Latin America what Vladimir Putin does in Europe?
"The power over matters of war and peace is Congress’ most solemn duty, given in the Constitution of the United States. Votes like this are our most consequential, literally about life and death. And if history has taught us anything, wars are easy to start, but incredibly difficult to end. The choice you make on this vote will carry a long tail. What will the downstream effects be of destabilizing a country, an entire region? Anyone who tells you they know is lying.
"What we do know is the American people do not want this. That is unequivocal. Even President Trump’s supporters do not understand why he would do this. I ask you all again, listen to your constituents, and do not tie yourself to a warmongering decision that itself is a sinking ship.
"Thank you. I reserve the balance of my time."