[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 209 (Thursday, December 11, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H5805]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            VENEZUELAN STRIKES AND CONGRESSIONAL WAR POWERS

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to sound the alarm for our 
Republic and our Constitution.
  Every one of us here in Congress swore a solemn oath to protect and 
defend our Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. We 
did not give any President a blank check for war.
  President Trump is over his skis. Article I of our Constitution, the 
first power the Founders saw fit to forge into the foundation of our 
Nation, gave Congress the power to declare war and send our troops into 
battle. No one person can send our brave sons and daughters into 
conflict on a whim.
  Instead, what have we witnessed? We have witnessed a dangerous, 
aggressive build-up of U.S. military power in the Caribbean.
  Where is the money coming from to do that? What is it being taken 
from? Lethal strikes against vessels off the coast of Venezuela are 
increasing. Then the Secretary of Defense allegedly gave an order to 
kill everybody on a boat. What is the legal authority under which those 
orders were given?
  These strikes both are an escalation abroad and a direct attack on 
our U.S. Constitution here at home. Congress must reassert its 
constitutional authority to authorize the funds to pay for war.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly supported this year's national defense bill. 
We must conduct vigorous oversight to halt this executive branch 
unilateral war-making. Our soldiers deserve us to do that.

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