Directing the Removal of United States Armed Forces From Hostilities Within or Against Venezuela That Have Not Been Authorized By Congress--

Floor Speech

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Ms. DUCKWORTH. Mr. President, next week marks the anniversary of my Alive Day. That is the anniversary of the last day I ever woke up, laced up my boots, and climbed into my Black Hawk helicopter; the day when an RPG shot my helicopter out of the Iraqi sky; the day that I could have died; the day that I probably should have died but didn't, thanks to the courage of my buddies who risked their lives to save my own.

So I come here this afternoon, battle wounds and all, not because I am scared of war--I am not; been there, done that; got the t-shirt. Titanium legs don't buckle, by the way. What I am scared of, however, is that the United States is stumbling into an armed conflict because of a five-time draft dodger who is using our military to pretend to be a tough guy on the world stage.

What I am troubled by is that a man who was never brave enough to serve in uniform himself seems to care more about thumping his chest than keeping our troops out of danger. What I am worried about is that Donald Trump's obsession with making America great again is making Americans less safe again.

Two months ago, without even seeking congressional approval, the Trump administration began carrying out airstrikes against boats in international waters near Venezuela, claiming he was targeting fentanyl traffickers and drug cartels. Since then, without due process, dozens of people have been killed in these strikes.

What he is doing is un-American, unconstitutional, and downright dangerous--dangerous for our servicemembers whom he is placing at greater risk of retaliation, dangerous for Americans who should be afraid that Trump is using military might to kill people without due process or proper evidence, and dangerous for our democracy if we keep speeding down this path.

Bringing the force of the U.S. military down on drug traffickers is both ineffective and unwise, as drug trafficking is fundamentally a law enforcement matter, not a military one.

This is yet another instance of Donald Trump wildly abusing our military, trying to blur the lines between our servicemembers and law enforcement. We saw it when he sent the National Guard to intimidate peaceful protesters in Los Angeles or when he similarly threatened Chicago and Portland before he was stopped by the courts. We have even seen it in this Capital City, where I am speaking today, when he forced troops to carry rifles around the quiet streets of our Nation's Capital.

Now we are witnessing it stretch from DC to the Caribbean Sea as Trump is, once again, unilaterally--and unconstitutionally--using our troops however he sees fit, rule of law be damned.

To put what he has done another way, the President has ordered repeated military strikes against civilians without congressional oversight, and he has claimed that such military action is justified because he himself, in his ultimate wisdom, has deemed these civilians to be criminals, which leaves us to ask: What is to stop him from arguing that anyone he dislikes deserves the same treatment? What is to stop him from naming any of his enemies as a terrorist, then unilaterally deciding to use the military to hunt them down without congressional consent?

To be clear, I will never ever support trafficking illegal drugs into this country. I believe we should use the might of law enforcement to track down drug traffickers, but that is not why we are here today.

Why I am here is to sound the alarm on the incredibly slippery slope that Donald Trump has set us careening down. Even if the administration can actually give us proof that those killed on board were all criminals, well, then they should have been apprehended by law enforcement and tried in the judicial system. That is how ``law and order'' works.

But Trump doesn't seem to care. In his world, he is a judge, jury, and executioner. In his mind, the justice system can be discarded at will. The military is his plaything, with fewer and fewer guardrails to keep the rest of us safe. He believes there are no checks on his power--no checks at all--other than the ones going into his own pockets, signed by his rich friends.

The United States exists today because a few brave patriots saw a tyrant who cared more about the gold in his coffers than the people in his colonies, and then our Founders decided to form a more perfect Union where enforceable guardrails would check executive greed. They pushed those chests of tea into Boston Harbor; they fought a revolution; they did the hard, messy work of forging a democracy because they knew that a man who believes he wields all the power but fears no consequences is a danger to those who fall under his rule.

While Donald Trump may be a wannabe King rather than a Monarch by blood or title, what was true then is true now: He doesn't seem to care that his strikes are clearly escalatory actions that will only harden our enemies, put our troops in greater danger, and our families at greater risk of retaliation.

He does not care that this campaign is draining military resources, hurting its readiness, and wasting untold sums of taxpayer money.

He probably isn't aware of the second- and third-order security consequences of his decisions. He probably doesn't even know that already, because of his decisions, a Marine Expeditionary Unit has been forced to relocate to SOUTHCOM, leaving our troops in Europe and the Middle East without the emergency support they rely on in worst case scenario moments, leaving our troops there hanging.

He just wants to look strong, and he doesn't care that, in the process, he is making our Nation weaker.

Look, I first ran for Congress so that when the drums of war started beating, I would be in a position to make sure that our Nation's leaders fully consider the true cost of war, not just in dollars and cents but in the sacrifices of our heroes and their families. Now, with those drums beginning to echo once more, I am here today to, once again, keep my promise because, sadly, worryingly, infuriatingly, Trump has already started a conflict and now seems intent on expanding it.

He has already threatened land strikes against Venezuela, with seemingly no concern over the fact that only Congress--this body, not the President--has the authority to declare war.

We are the ones tasked with deciding when and how we send our troops into combat. We are the ones the Constitution charged with that most solemn duty. And, today, we are the ones who must be the adults in the room because Trump is, yet again, acting like a toddler throwing a tantrum on a playground, acting as if obeying the law is optional, acting as if the Constitution is nothing more than a yellowing piece of paper that he can rip up at will.

Those are just some of the many, many reasons why, today, I am voting yes on the resolution to block the administration from continuing to illegally use military force within or against Venezuela.

This should not be a partisan issue. No matter if you are a factory worker pulling double shifts or the President of the United States, no one is above the law. No matter if you are struggling to pay rent or your name is plastered in fake gold on the front of a building on Fifth Avenue, no one can overrule the Constitution.

Listen, if the Trump administration actually believes there is an ongoing credible threat of armed conflict, then they must bring their case to Congress and give the American people a say through their elected representatives. They must respect our servicemembers enough to prove why war is worth turning more moms and dads into Gold Star parents. And they must testify about what the end state of these military operations would actually look like.

Then, when their case has been made, when Congress's debate is done, we should vote. After all, it is our duty. It is the least we owe to the warriors who deserve to know why we are putting them in harm's way.

On Veterans Day, I am sure we will see Donald Trump wrap himself in the flag in the morning, but you can be sure that he will have found a way to abandon our troops again by the afternoon because Trump has made a habit of giving our troops the middle finger.

Well, I am sure as hell not going to let him get away with that. So as many times as is necessary, I am going to keep coming back to this Chamber. I am going to keep raising my voice and keep demanding what is actually in our Nation's best interest because I don't make decisions of war and peace based on how tough I want to look on Truth Social.

As I celebrate my Alive Day next week, I am going to do my damnedest to make sure other troops get to come home to their families too. It is just one small way I can honor those buddies who saved my life, every other veteran, and all those still in the uniform of our great Nation today.

If only this five-time draft dodger hadn't cried ``bone spurs'' when his Nation needed him the most, then maybe he would understand the first thing about what it means to actually honor those who serve.

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