A memo was circulated by nine Democratic state representatives, led by Representative Ismail Smith-Wade-El.
Following President Trump’s military action in Venezuela and capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro, several Democratic Pennsylvania state representatives have proposed a resolution “opposing unconstitutional military action.”
After a special military operation in Caracas, Maduro was captured by U.S. forces and transported to New York City. The Trump Administration plans to prosecute Maduro for his alleged role in drug trafficking.
The proposed resolution “reaffirms Congress’s exclusive war-making authority, declares that unauthorized military action violates U.S. law, urges the president to seek congressional approval for any continued or future hostilities, and urges Congress to take all necessary and prudent actions to hold the executive branch accountable to its obligations and duties to the American people,” according to a memo circulated by Representative Ismail Smith-Wade-El.
Representatives Nikki Rivera, Tarik Khan, Heather Boyd, Tarah Probst, Arvind Venkat, Lisa Borowski, Tim Brennan, and Paul Friel joined Smith-Wade-El in circulating the memo to all members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
The memo describes the resolution as a “defense of constitutional checks and balances, democratic oversight, and the rule of law.”
“We are gravely concerned with the cost to human life, our moral standing as a nation, and our economic futures, all leveraged in favor of violating the sovereignty of a foreign nation as an apparent pretense for seeking control of its natural resources,” said the memo, in reference to concerns that the Trump Administration is seeking to control oil in Venezuela.
The administration has defended the operation as being in the best interest of United States national security, both in terms of securing oil production and in ending drug trafficking to the United States.
Venezuelans around the world have celebrated the capture of Maduro and the end of his dictatorship regime.
