[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 213 (Wednesday, December 17, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S8825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Venezuela

  Mr. WELCH. Mr. President, I thank my esteemed colleague from 
Louisiana.
  The United States is on the brink of a war, a war of regime change in 
Venezuela. President Trump has amassed an armada of U.S. warships, 
fighter planes, and Special Forces off the coast of Venezuela.
  Around 15,000 military personnel are in the region, and that includes 
Special Forces, marines, and specialized units. Reports indicate that 
13 warships are operating in the Caribbean right now, and that includes 
the USS Gerald Ford carrier group and several amphibious assault ships. 
And more than 100 advanced aircraft have been deployed and are being 
deployed. That includes F-35s from the Vermont Air National Guard.
  The President has also deployed combat rescue units, the types of 
specialists that can rescue pilots who are down in hostile territory. 
And the President himself has said that the attack could come very 
soon.
  So 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 are there is obvious, and it is even 
acknowledged.
  President Trump wants Maduro gone. He wants regime change. The 
President has said himself that Maduro's days ``are numbered.''
  His Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, said that the President ``wants to 
keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle, and people way 
smarter than me on that say that he will.''
  When Secretary Rubio was asked a few weeks ago if the Venezuelan 
Government should be concerned about the massive military buildup in 
the Caribbean he said that ``they don't have a government. There's an 
illegitimate regime that's basically a narcotrafficking organization 
that's empowered itself.''
  All of us revile Maduro. He is a tyrant. He has tortured and jailed 
political opponents. His policies have bankrupted his very wealthy 
country, driving millions of Venezuelans to flee their homes.
  Yet we face two questions: First, should the United States go to war 
for the purpose of changing a regime we despise?
  Second, can the President--any President--through his unilateral 
actions, plunge our country into a war for the purpose of changing 
regimes and do that without coming to this Congress for approval under 
the War Powers Act?
  We have had experience with wars to change regimes we despise. The 
Iraq war was sold confidently by its promoters as a simple operation. 
Our troops would be welcomed as liberators. We remember that, and we 
know how that ended. True, it only took weeks for America's superior 
firepower to topple Saddam Hussein's regime.
  But that was only the beginning. The war in Iraq unleashed decades of 
instability, ushering in revolutionary, violent, Islamic insurgencies 
across the region. And, of course, the war in Afghanistan took only a 
handful of Special Forces troops and targeted airstrikes to lead to the 
quick fall of the Taliban regime. But it also dragged our country and 
many of our allies into our longest war, fighting a 20-year insurgency.
  In each case, it was easy to topple the regime, but what followed was 
tremendously terrible for our soldiers and our taxpayers. Those wars 
cost the United States and our allies the lives of 10,000 of our brave 
soldiers. It cost us trillions of dollars, and we are still paying for 
that.
  The Executive has two obligations, and the Congress must demand 
compliance. First, the administration owes us transparency.
  In the buildup of our military presence, the administration has 
ordered the extrajudicial killings of nearly 100 civilians in 
international waters. That they were alleged drug dealers or drug 
couriers does not give the President the authority to direct the 
military to attack.
  The administration has provided absolutely no information to Congress 
about these attacks, who was killed, or the basis of the attacks; nor 
has it released the video of the recent attack in which survivors were 
killed in a second strike; nor has the administration made public the 
classified legal opinion upon which it relies to justify its actions.
  Members of Congress, including me, have had an opportunity to read 
that opinion, which I found woefully unconvincing. But since it was 
classified, I can't discuss it. My view, release that opinion to the 
American people. My view, release that video to the American people.
  Second, as the President masses our forces for a war, as he and his 
associates have explicitly stated, it is one in which their goal would 
be the elimination of the Maduro regime. The President refuses to come 
to Congress and seek congressional approval for a military action, as 
is required under the War Powers Act.
  All of us--all of us as elected Members of the U.S. 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.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.

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