Senator Murray: “It is outrageous for a President who is tanking our economy here at home to suggest that the American taxpayer spend a fortune to ‘run’ another country while doing nothing to make life better in America. I opposed the war in Iraq from the outset—and the parallels here are glaring. I will similarly oppose any war in Venezuela. I refuse to put the lives of servicemembers at further risk, and I refuse to saddle our children with yet another costly war for no good reason.”
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement in response to President Trump unilaterally launching a regime change war in Venezuela, where he ordered strikes on multiple military targets in the country and seized Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela along with his wife Cilia Flores.
“The American people didn’t ask to start a war with Venezuela. They didn’t ask for an indefinite and costly occupation of another country and they didn’t ask for ‘boots on the ground,’ their sons and daughters put in harm’s way. All they asked for were lower prices at the grocery store. Only Congress can authorize war and I absolutely will not support a large-scale military conflict in Venezuela or a dangerous and expensive occupation. What the President has done is unconstitutional, reckless, and will have far-reaching effects well beyond last night’s strikes.
“The President has provided no legitimate justification for these unauthorized strikes nor any kind of long-term strategy for how he will deal with the fallout of this slapdash regime change—and he must now explain his unhinged statements that we will ‘run’ Venezuela. The American people can see for themselves how dishonest and cynical this entire venture is—we’re supposed to believe drug trafficking warrants the use of military force to topple a foreign government in one instance and then merits a full pardon for the former President of Honduras who was lawfully convicted of the same crime? And we should all be eyes wide open about the potential for self-enrichment and corruption by the Trump administration when it comes to profiting off Venezuela’s oil. This is not about law and order, because if it were, Trump wouldn’t have withheld these plans from Congress, and it is not about actually helping Americans suffering from drug addiction.
“Maduro is a corrupt and oppressive dictator—that much has always been clear. But what stops China or Russia from making similar claims about foreign leaders they don’t like and then using military force to overthrow them? This kind of careless use of military force threatens serious global instability—and none of that is good for Americans here at home.
“There needs to be serious oversight and accountability here. Trump administration officials must come before Congress and publicly explain their rationale and—importantly—just what exactly they think happens next here. Republican leaders should not just shrug their shoulders and let the President bomb whoever he wants on hardly more than a whim—they must join Democrats in pressing for serious accountability and insisting that the use of military force be authorized by Congress.
“If this escalates into a prolonged conflict of any sort, you can bet it won’t be Trump’s family putting their lives on the line—the American people do not want to be dragged into another costly foreign war with no real justification. It is outrageous for a President who is tanking our economy here at home to suggest that the American taxpayer spend a fortune to ‘run’ another country while doing nothing to make life better in America. I opposed the war in Iraq from the outset—and the parallels here are glaring. I will similarly oppose any war in Venezuela. I refuse to put the lives of servicemembers at further risk, and I refuse to saddle our children with yet another costly war for no good reason.”
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