WASHINGTON, D.C. – In remarks from the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) raised alarm about President Trump’s mobilization of National Guard troops, warships, and fighter jets to the Caribbean and urged Congress to enforce the War Powers Act before the United States embarks on another unauthorized war. The Senator emphasized that the Trump Administration has not provided Congress with adequate information about its recent military strikes in the region and demanded transparency and accountability for attacks that have killed nearly 100 people.
“The question is: why are our warships, a carrier group, and support assets in the Caribbean? They are not there for drug interdiction. The reason they’re there is obvious, and it’s even acknowledged. President Trump wants Maduro gone. He wants regime change,” said Senator Welch. “As the President masses our forces for a war—as he and his associates have explicitly stated is one in which their goal would be the elimination of the Maduro regime—the President continues to refuse to come to Congress and seek Congressional approval for a military action, as is required under the War Powers Act.
“All of us as elected members of the United States Senate have vested in us, under the Constitution Article I, the responsibility and exclusive authority to declare war. Let us all accept our duty and demand that the executive be transparent, be accountable, and comply with the provisions of the War Powers Act and come to Congress for our approval of the military action that is clearly underway.”
Watch Senator Welch’s full remarks below:
Read Senator Welch’s remarks as delivered here.
Senator Welch has urged Congress to reassert its constitutional authority and pass new legislation to prohibit the unauthorized use of U.S. Armed Forces in hostilities in Venezuela. The Senator also expressed strong opposition to the President’s mobilization of the Vermont Air National Guard, alongside thousands of other U.S. military units, to support Operation Southern Spear.
In October, Senator Welch voted in support of a War Powers Act Resolution led by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to stop Trump’s unconstitutional attacks in the Caribbean Sea and urged the Senate to question President Trump’s legal authority to take the United States to war. Senator Welch also led every Senate Judiciary Committee Democrat in demanding answers from the Department of Justice about the legality of military actions ordered by President Trump that have now killed at least 99 people in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.
###