It’s good to see Sen. Tim Kaine’s War Powers Resolution passing the US Senate today, on a 52-47 vote – all Democrats voting yes, all Republicans except for Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, and Todd Young voting no (Steve Daine’s didn’t vote). Unfortunately, the chances of this being taken up in the Republican-controlled U.S. House, let alone being PASSED over there, are very low. And the chances that Trump would sign this are zero. Still, good for Sen. Kaine for trying to rein in this out-of-control, reckless, lawless administration…
Prior to the vote, Sen. Kaine spoke on the floor of the US Senate, where he said:
“I want to state very clearly that I do not challenge nor does this resolution challenge the execution of a valid arrest warrant against Nicholas Maduro. That valid arrest warrant bringing him to justice in the United States will be good for America and good for Venezuela. And we do not challenge that. And in fact, under the War Powers Resolution, I’m not even sure that the execution of an arrest warrant, even if accompanied by a military escort, would rise to the level of hostilities that would allow such a challenge. And I certainly wouldn’t be calling it up for a vote on the floor. But this is obviously bigger than the initiation of an arrest warrant. From the beginning on September 2nd, the striking of Venezuelan boats in open waters, the amassing of naval assets around Venezuela, the president’s authorization of covert activity, the seizure of ships, the coordinated attack of the 150 aircraft that not only extracted President Maduro and his wife, but also bombed sites around the countries. This is bigger than an arrest warrant. More than 200 enemies have been killed. US troops have been injured, two are still hospitalized. And now we understand after the hearing yesterday and what’s been made public, this will go on for a long period of time. The seizure of oil, the dictation of terms about elections and the politics of Venezuela will go on for years. This is not an attack on the arrest warrant, but it is merely a statement that going forward, US troops should not be used in hostilities in Venezuela without a vote of Congress as the Constitution requires.
The second point I’ll make, Mr. President, is this. We’re all humans in this place and one of the things we try to do is minimize votes that we might regret. And it’s impossible to eliminate those. We’re humans and we cast thousands of votes even in a single term in the Senate. And there will be some we might look back on and feel like, oh, maybe we should have done this differently. The most likely vote where regret would be most painful is a vote on matters of war. And I just want to assure my colleagues, here is something I can guarantee you: no one has ever regretted a vote that just says, ‘Mr. President, before you send our sons and daughters to war, come to Congress.’ That is a vote that no one has ever regretted and no one will ever regret.”
KAINE, SCHUMER & SCHIFF APPLAUD SENATE ADVANCEMENT OF BIPARTISAN WAR POWERS RESOLUTION TO PREVENT ILLEGAL WAR WITH VENEZUELA
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), and U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) applauded the Senate’s advancement by a 52-47 vote of their bipartisan War Powers Resolution to block the use of the U.S. Armed Forces to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela unless authorized by Congress. The Senate is expected to continue voting on the measure next week.
“Maduro’s arrest is good for the U.S. and Venezuela. If President Trump had left this at his arrest, I wouldn’t have called up this vote. But the President’s claims that the U.S. will run Venezuela for years makes it clear that his plans go way beyond Maduro,” said Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. “This war is clearly illegal because it was launched without the debate and vote by Congress the Constitution requires. With today’s vote—after months of congressional leadership refusing to hold a single public hearing about this war—the Senate sends a clear message: we will not accept that. Now, the Senate moves closer to actually debating the merits of military action in Venezuela in full view of the American public. Every senator needs to go on the record.”
“For months, the Trump administration has dodged accountability and obfuscated their intention and plans in the Caribbean and Venezuela. Now Congress has taken a concrete step to stop Trump’s folly and reassert their constitutional authority in foreign conflicts,” said Leader Schumer. “Donald Trump seems content to drag our country and American families into an endless war with no plan, no transparency, and nothing but wishful thinking. But today, Democrats and Republicans came together to begin to stop this madness and advance the War Powers Resolution.”
“Today, the U.S. Senate took an important and bipartisan step in exercising its constitutional war powers and putting constraints on further military action in Venezuela,” said Schiff. “Now, we can advance a critical and full debate on the Senate floor. The progress of this War Powers resolution to the full Senate, reflects the Senate’s deep concern over the Administration’s plans to ‘run’ Venezuela and profit off its oil industry. If the administration believes it is the country’s interest to deploy service members to secure the oil resources of another country, it should seek Congressional authorization to do so. We have all too much experience in getting mired down in foreign exercises in regime change and nation building, and the American people want us to focus on problems at home.”
