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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Mr. WELCH. Mr. President, I strongly support this resolution.

I do want to say thank you to Senator Kaine.

Senator Kaine, I think I speak for you and I think I speak for every Member of the Senate: Senator from Illinois, you are wonderful.

It is so amazing what she did.

As an enlisted person in combat, the injuries you suffered, the devotion that you have to your fellow servicemembers, the indomitable spirit you have of solidarity with them, and then the credibility you bring to this discussion about the importance of the role of the legislature to make the decisions about whether you and your fellow citizens, the folks who made the decision to step forward and serve our country--whether we, as elected representatives, have the responsibility to make the decision whether they have to go into harm's way--you have inspired us every day.

If you are ordered to go, you go; you report for duty. The Commander in Chief makes the decision. But if it is about a decision to go to war, we, the U.S. Congress, have the obligation to make that decision. And nobody has more credibility in making that case than you do.

And both of you have already stated the factual predicate here that we are engaged in hostilities. We have 10 percent of our Navy out there. The President is saying that he is going to do land strikes and then changing his mind on it. But, you know what, he is also asserting what there is--that we all share as a real concern--and that is, any kind of drugs coming into this country, we are all appalled by it and want to do everything that we can to stop it.

But what is at stake here is the Constitution and the constitutional provision that the people who are elected and directly accountable--the House of Representatives and the Members of the U.S. Senate--who have to make that decision where we know, when it is made to go to war, there will be people like Senator Duckworth, who say: I am ready. I am ready.

We have that responsibility. It can't be the arbitrary action of any single individual, including the President of the United States. So what is at stake here is preserving the accountability that has so weakened as the Congress itself has delegated so many of our responsibilities to the Chief Executive. It is a terrible development in our democracy where the checks and balances that were essential to the well-being of our country, with the tug-of-war that goes on in every generation about what is the right policy; the tug-of-war that goes on in every generation with competing efforts to get more power in either the judiciary, the executive, or the Congress; the checks and balances system that we have where a check we have, as U.S. Senators, is the right to make that decision whether the citizens of this country--the citizens that we serve--are going to be put in harm's way.

So we couldn't have a better advocate than a person who herself made that decision to stand up for America, to defend our country, put herself in harm's way, who inspires us every day with her incredibly positive attitude despite these incredible injuries that none of us-- none of us can imagine what it is like.

You are so special.

It is amazing to be her colleague, isn't it? It really is.

But what you are speaking about is so profoundly moving to me because you understand better than any of us ever can how significant a decision it is to go to war. You experienced it. You have seen, as you call them, your ``buddies'' who have experienced it. You have paid a price yourself. You have seen the price that others have paid. You have seen the nobility and the patriotism of those folks who do serve us in the services, and you take really seriously the obligation that we have to make that profound decision on--yes or no--should we go into war.

So I want to thank you, and Senator Kaine, I want to thank you, because there is no more important thing for this Congress to do than to reassert its responsibility--to accept our responsibility for the powers that were delegated to the U.S. Congress, particularly about whether we do or don't go to war.

I so appreciate this resolution. I believe it is one of the most important acts that we can assert: to reestablish that we will defend the constitutional obligation--obligation--to bear the burden of making these very, very difficult decisions about whether this country goes to war.

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