{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.welch.senate.gov/welch-thanks-vermont-airmen-for-loyal-service-promises-to-continue-pushing-back-on-trumps-illegal-strikes-and-march-to-war-in-the-caribbean/", "Welch Thanks Vermont Airmen for Loyal Service, Promises to Continue Pushing Back on Trump's Illegal Strikes and March to War in the Caribbean", "2025-12-12", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "VT", "Peter Welch", "W000800", "www.welch.senate.gov", "welch", "https://www.welch.senate.gov/category/press-release/page/", "scraper", "Pentagon orders mobilization of Vermont\u2019s 158th Fighter Wing to Caribbean as Trump ramps up conflict with Venezuela\n\nBURLINGTON, VT \u2013 U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today released the following statement on the deployment of the Vermont Air National Guard\u2019s 158th Fighter Wing to support Operation Southern Spear:\n\n\u201cI want to thank our brave airmen for their faithful service to Vermont and the United States\u2014and acknowledge the difficulty of leaving their families at home this holiday season. You have my full respect and gratitude.\n\n\u201cAt the same time, I strongly oppose President Trump\u2019s mobilization of the Vermont Air National Guard alongside thousands of other U.S. military units in what appears to be a relentless march to war. An undeclared war against the Venezuelan regime would be illegal under our Constitution. If this president\u2014or any president\u2014wants to start a war with Venezuela, which has not attacked us and is not a source of the fentanyl that is killing Americans, then he needs to seek authorization from Congress, as the authors of the Constitution intended.\n\n\u201cOne of the gravest decisions Congress can make is to authorize the U.S. military to attack a sovereign nation\u2014in this instance, a sovereign nation that has not attacked us. I will continue to urge my colleagues\u2014Democrats and Republicans\u2014not to cede our constitutional authority for a war of choice based on lies.\u201d\n\nSenator Welch recently spoke on the Senate Floor urging Congress to reassert its constitutional authority and pass new legislation to prohibit the unauthorized use of U.S. Armed Forces in hostilities in Venezuela. In October, Senator Welch voted in support of a War Powers Act Resolution led by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to stop President Trump\u2019s unconstitutional attacks in the Caribbean Sea and urged the Senate to question President Trump\u2019s legal authority to take the United States to war. Senator Welch also led every Senate Judiciary Committee Democrat in demanding answers from the Department of Justice about the legality of military actions ordered by President Trump that have now killed at least 87 civilians in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.welch.senate.gov/welch-thanks-vermont-airmen-for-loyal-service-promises-to-continue-pushing-back-on-trumps-illegal-strikes-and-march-to-war-in-the-caribbean/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.9727149046957493, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}