[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 211 (Monday, December 15, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S8701]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ALL SENATORS BRIEFING

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now on the all-Senators briefing tomorrow 
morning: Senators, tomorrow morning, will attend a briefing by 
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on 
the latest developments in the Caribbean, including getting to the 
bottom of what happened during the September 2 boat strikes.
  I have been calling on Secretary Rubio to provide an all-Senators 
briefing on these important topics since October, and I am pleased he 
has finally--finally--heeded our call. I expect him and Secretary 
Hegseth to come tomorrow prepared to answer tough questions from 
Senators about what exactly is going on with our forces in the 
territory surrounding Venezuela. The Senate also demands to see the 
full and unedited tapes showing exactly what happened during strikes on 
the alleged drug boat on September 2.
  Last week, I asked the Secretary of Defense point blank if he would 
provide the video of the boat strikes to every Senator. A simple yes 
from Secretary Hegseth would have been sufficient because, frankly, 
asking for the tapes is not a crazy request; it is basic oversight--
something Senators are certainly entitled to see. It is part of our 
responsibility as Senators. But the Secretary hedged and said he needed 
more time to study this issue. More time? More time to study exactly 
what? It has been 3 months. What the hell is there to study? What is 
there to study? I made this request to the Secretary a week ago, and, 
to date, he has still not provided access to all Senators.
  So, ahead of tomorrow's briefing, we need to be clear about one 
thing: Every single Member is entitled to see the full, unedited video 
of what happened during the series of strikes on September 2. Anything 
less than full access for every Senator would be unacceptable.
  If Secretary Hegseth continues to conceal the truth, then what 
exactly is he trying to hide? Maybe he needs more time to study what he 
should hide and what he shouldn't hide. That would be totally wrong, 
inappropriate, and dishonest.
  We also need immediate answers about what on Earth Donald Trump is 
planning to do in Venezuela. You get different answers all the time and 
no clear understanding by the American people of what he is up to and 
what his goal is. How far will he go? Will he get us into an endless 
war? We have thousands of troops on our largest aircraft carrier in the 
Caribbean but zero--zero--explanation for what Donald Trump is trying 
to accomplish.
  Americans do not want to get our troops ensnared in another endless 
war, and the risk for war will only get worse the more a belligerent 
Donald Trump acts off the coast of South America.
  Just this weekend, a U.S. Air Force tanker jet had a near-midair 
collision with a JetBlue Airbus flying to the United States. The Air 
Force tanker reportedly did not have its transponder on, of all things, 
and flew right through the Airbus's flightpath, forcing it to climb to 
avoid a crash--a near miss.
  A near miss with this commercial flight should serve as a warning. 
All it takes is one accident, one moment of miscommunication with 
Venezuela, and things can spin out of control in an instant. That is 
exactly what the American people do not want to see. We have seen that 
happen in the past; that one incident can lead to an endless war.

  So, tomorrow, Secretaries Rubio and Hegseth owe Senators some pretty 
big answers to some very important questions about what is happening in 
the Caribbean. What are their goals? What are their plans? What are 
their limits? Anything less than full transparency and candor from the 
two Secretaries will be unacceptable to the Senate and to the American 
people.

                          ____________________