Adriano Espaillat: “let us make two things clear today, the things that I think are eminently important and that perhaps could find…”

“let us make two things clear today, the things that I think are eminently important and that perhaps could find consensus in this Chamber on both sides of the aisle. In fact, I believe even most countries across the world would agree with those two things, maybe even the United Nations and the Organization of American States could agree with that, and I am confident even the Vatican could agree with that, and that is that Nicholas Maduro was not the legitimate president of Venezuela. The Venezuelan people were neither free nor prosperous during his corrupt regime. Here is another truth, Mr. Speaker, that in no way conflicts with this first one: The President of the United States must come to Congress before ordering a military engagement against any country. Mr. Speaker, you cannot uphold the rule of law by breaking it. You cannot protect or abide by the Constitution by assaulting it. Again, so there is no confusion between these two positions, Nicolas Maduro was not a legitimate President, and unauthorized military action is illegal without the consent of Congress. With Nicolas Maduro now in the rearview mirror, we must look forward and craft policies that support a free and democratic future for Venezuela and policies that return war powers to the United States Congress, as enshrined in the United States Constitution.”