Venezuela

Floor Speech

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Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I have spoken before; so I am going to be very brief. And then I am going to call up the business of the Senate, this War Powers Resolution.

Two points. In the aftermath of the briefing yesterday, I have had good conversations with colleagues, and many of them have asked me about the distinction between the execution of a valid arrest warrant and a larger military operation.

I want to state very clearly that I do not challenge, nor does this resolution challenge, the execution of a valid arrest warrant against Nicolas Maduro. That valid arrest warrant bringing him to justice in the United States will be good for America and good for Venezuela. We do not challenge that.

In fact, under the War Powers Resolution, I am not even sure that the execution of an arrest warrant, even if accompanied by a military escort, would rise to the level of hostilities that would allow such a challenge, and I certainly wouldn't be calling it up for a vote on the floor.

But this is obviously bigger than the initiation of an arrest warrant.

From the beginning, on September 2, the striking of Venezuelan boats in open waters, the amassing of naval assets around Venezuela, the President's authorization of covert activities, the seizure of ships, the coordinated attack of 150 aircraft that not only extracted President Maduro and his wife but also bombed sites around the country--this is bigger than an arrest warrant.

More than 200 enemies have been killed. U.S. troops have been injured. Two are still hospitalized. And now we understand, after the hearing yesterday and what has been made public, that this will go on for a long period of time. The seizure of oil, the dictation of terms about elections and the politics of Venezuela will go on for years.

This is not an attack on the arrest warrant, but it is merely a statement that, going forward, U.S. troops should not be used in hostilities in Venezuela without a vote of Congress, as the Constitution requires.

The second point I will make is this: We are all humans in this place, and one of the things we try to do is minimize votes that we might regret. It is impossible to eliminate those.

We are humans, and we cast thousands of votes even in a single term in the Senate. There will be some we might look back on and feel like: Oh, maybe we should have done this differently.

The most likely vote where regret would be most painful is a vote on matters of war.

And I just want to assure my colleagues: Here is something I can guarantee you. No one has ever regretted--no one has ever regretted--a vote that just says: Mr. President, before you send our sons and daughters to war, come to Congress. That is a vote that no one has ever regretted, and no one will ever regret.

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