Oct. 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate is poised to take up a bipartisan bill aimed at preventing the Trump administration from launching a full-on war with Venezuela over alleged ties to the international drug trade.
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., filed the bill Thursday to stop the administration from starting a war with Venezuela as U.S. forces attacked another alleged drug boat. The move also comes after Trump earlier this week said he authorized the CIA to operate inside Venezuela and mused about potential strikes on land, statements that followed the fifth strike against an alleged drug-running vessel in the Caribbean.
The bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., which the Senate would have to vote on within 10 days, would be the second that Kaine and Schiff have put forth to prevent a war.
Last week, a similar bill sponsored by Kaine and Schiff failed to pass the Senate, 48-51, even with the support of Paul and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, according to NPR.
"The American people do not want to be drawn into endless war with Venezuela without public debate or a vote," Paul told reporters. "We ought to defend what the Constitution demands -- deliberation before war."
