Thank you to the nearly 40 undersigned advocacy groups including Demand Progress, Credo Action, Vote Vets, Center for Economic Policy and Research, Common Defense, Peace Action, Democracy for America and many others that have signed our coalition letter to urge House Leadership to support Rep Cicilline’s HR1004 – the Prohibiting Unauthorized Military action in Venezuela Act. See the full list below. To view the PDF click here. We sent it off to Reps Pelosi, Hoyer, Engel, and several other members of the FL delegation on March 13th, 2019.
As mentioned in our letter, National Security Adviser John Bolton has publicly stated that “in this administration, we’re not afraid to use the word Monroe Doctrine,” has clutched documents referring to a proposal to deploy “5,000 troops to Colombia,” and has argued that “it will make a big difference to the United States economically if we could have American oil companies really invest in and produce the oil capabilities in Venezuela.” Secretary Pompeo explicitly endorsed regime change in a recent statement: “No food. No medicine. Now, no power. Next, no Maduro.”
With more and more examples of provocative rhetoric coming from the Trump Administration, Congressional support for this legislation is critical. There truly is no military solution to the crisis in Venezuela and Congress must do everything in its power to prevent another U.S. military intervention overseas. Thanks again to all of you for being advocates for peace and congressional war authority.
Hassan El-Tayyab, co-director at Just Foreign Policy
March 13th, 2019
Dear Speaker Pelosi:
We write to request your support for the bipartisan measure, H.R.1004 – Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela Act, introduced by Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island. We respectfully ask that any floor consideration of legislation addressing the crisis in Venezuela include H.R. 1004, a critical safeguard against unconstitutional U.S. military action. The newly elected Democratic majority of the House of Representatives must make explicit in its first step of developing and adopting legislation on Venezuela that the Congress will serve as an effective counterweight to the militaristic and anti-refugee policies of the Trump Administration.
As you know, U.S. officials in charge of policy toward Venezuela, such as Elliott Abrams, have pursued a strategy of provocation and confrontation. President Trump has publicly declared that all options, including U.S. military force, are on the table. Former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe recounted that in 2017, President Trump argued that Venezuela is the “country we should be going to war with. They have all that oil and they’re right on our back door.”
National Security Advisor John Bolton has publicly stated that “in this administration, we’re not afraid to use the word Monroe Doctrine,” has clutched documents referring to a proposal to deploy “5,000 troops to Colombia,” and has argued that “it will make a big difference to the United States economically if we could have American oil companies really invest in and produce the oil capabilities in Venezuela.” Secretary Pompeo explicitly endorsed regime change in a recent statement: “No food. No medicine. Now, no power. Next, no Maduro.”
Senator Marco Rubio, in turn, is widely reported to be Trump’s “Shadow Secretary of State” on Latin America and “Ouster in Chief” for Venezuela. Rubio’s open efforts to stoke conflict prompted Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to scuttle bipartisan Venezuela-related legislation due to an impasse with Senator Rubio over Senator Menendez’s attempts to insert a clause prohibiting unauthorized use of force.
We applaud your leadership as Speaker of the House in reasserting Congress’s sole authority over war and peace under Article I of the Constitution to bring an end to the unauthorized U.S.-Saudi military campaign in Yemen, including the historic passage of H.J.Res. 37, which, like Cicilline’s H.R. 1004, invokes the War Powers Resolution of 1973.
We ask for your commitment in ensuring that Congressional war powers be unequivocally exercised, without delay or hesitation, in the case of Venezuela through House adoption of H.R. 1004. Administration officials and members of Congress who seek to involve the United States in military action to overthrow the government of Venezuela have a constitutional obligation to present their case to both chambers of Congress and have the people’s duly elected representatives carefully debate and vote on whether to authorize any such proposal.
Respectfully,
Action Corps
Action Corps NYC
Alliance For Global Justice
Alianza Americas
Antiwar.com
Baltimore Peace Action
Bay Area for Bernie
CODEPINK
Chicago Area Peace Action
Chicago Area Peace Action – Loyola
Chicago Area Peace Action – DePaul
CASA
Center for Economic Policy and Research
Center for Popular Democracy
Common Defense
CREDO Action
Demand Progress
Defending Rights and Dissent
Democratic Socialists of America NYC
Democracy for America
Economics for Everyone
Fair Immigration Reform Movement: FIRM
Freedom Forward
Just Foreign Policy
New Hampshire Peace Action
Massachusetts Peace Action
Peace Action Network of Lancaster, PA
Peace Action New York State
Peace Action
Peace Justice Sustainability Florida
Peace Home Campaigns
Olympia Venezuela Anti-Intervention Coalition
Our Revolution – Northern Virginia
St George’s Episcopal Church, Hawthorne, CA
VoteVets
Western Mass Venezuela Solidarity Coalition
Col. Larry Wilkerson, Professor at William and Mary College
Yemeni Alliance Committee
Yemen Freedom Council
CC: Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (MD-5)
Rep. Eliot Engel, Chair, House Foreign Affairs Committee (NY-16)
Rep. Al Lawson (FL-5)
Rep. Stephanie Murphy (FL-7)
Rep. Darren Soto (FL-9)
Rep. Val Demings (FL-10)
Rep. Charlie Crist (FL-13)
Rep. Kathy Castor (FL-14)
Rep. Alcee Hastings (FL-20)
Rep. Lois Frankel (FL-21)
Rep. Ted Deutch (FL-22)
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23)
Rep. Frederica Wilson (FL-24)
Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (FL-26)
Rep. Donna Shalala (FL-27)