All Senators Briefing
Floor Speech
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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.
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