Schiff: "We have seen all too often in our history, great hopes, great expectations about what we could do, what we could accomplish through the use of military force or economic coercion to change a regime and change the character of that regime and build a society, a democratic society. And ultimately, it is our servicemembers who have paid such a dear cost when those hopes and expectations ran into the reality on the ground."

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), joined Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) to highlight the pivotal step the Senate took in advancing their resolution, introduced alongside Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), that would prevent the President from using military force against Venezuela without authorization by Congress.

The resolution advanced 52-47, receiving the support of five Republican Senators. The Senate will debate the measure next week. Senator Schiff spoke on the Senate Floor prior to the vote.

Download the Senator's remarks HERE.

Read the full transcript of his remarks as delivered below:

Thank you, Leader Schumer. And thank you Senator Kaine for your extraordinary leadership on this issue. Like Senator Kaine, I've long been interested and involved in this issue in the House of Representatives trying to reform or repeal existing authorizations to use force that had long outlived their purpose.

We have seen Congress's power to declare war, to refuse to authorize military action atrophy, and sadly, we have seen an atrophy in both Democratic and Republican administrations. So, today's vote was very significant. We will now have a full debate on the Senate Floor over the use of U.S. military force in what began as arguably an effort to interdict drug smuggling boats. That was the ostensible purpose of the military campaign. And either that wasn't the real purpose, or we had an extraordinary degree of mission creep, because this now appears to be far more about oil than it does about drugs.

But in either case, the reality is Congress has not authorized military action to Venezuela. And the idea that we are now going to run this country of so many millions without having to put boots on the ground, that we are going to somehow oversee a transition over a period of time without putting our servicemembers further at risk seems highly improbable, to say the least.

Even if we were to only put a diplomatic presence on the ground that presence must be protected, and we can see the number of troops growing even without that initially being the intention. Now, if the administration believes, as it evidently does, that risking servicemembers to procure oil of another country is worth the risk, then let them put that to a vote. Let them come to Congress. Let them seek an authorization to use military force in that way. But given the administration has committed not to engage in regime change and not to engage in new wars, but rather to put America first - what is happening seems directly contradictory to what the President promised.

So, I'm looking forward to the full debate that we have next week. I hope it is really the beginning of the debate, as Senator Kaine was saying, it's time to move this out of the SCIF and into the public light.

Let them come and make the case for the use of military force this way. We have seen all too often in our history, great hopes, great expectations about what we could do, what we could accomplish through the use of military force or economic coercion to change a regime and change the character of that regime and build a society, a democratic society. And ultimately, it is our servicemembers who have paid such a dear cost when those hopes and expectations ran into the reality on the ground.

So, I'm very grateful to Senator Kaine for his leadership on this issue. Been proud to work with him on it, and very much looking forward to a full and comprehensive debate. I think, as the President's pledges that we will stay there for years continue, Republican concern will continue to grow. And all of us understand that the votes we're casting now, we will be held to answer for depending on future events. And so again, my thanks to Senator Kaine and the Leader for your work and the support on the issue.

Background: In December, Senators Kaine, Paul, Schiff, and Schumer filed this War Powers resolution to block military action against Venezuela after President Trump said that military operations targeting Venezuelan land targets would begin "very soon." Schiff, Kaine, and Paul previously introduced a bipartisan resolution to prevent the use of military force within or against Venezuela, but it fell short of passage by just two votes. Schiff and Kaine also introduced, in September, a similar measure focused on repeated military strikes in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that the Trump administration has carried out without congressional authorization, killing dozens of unknown individuals. A majority of Senate Republicans blocked the resolution in October.

In December, Senate Republicans blocked the Senator's attempt to pass legislation that would require the Trump administration to publicly release the video of the strikes on shipwrecked survivors following boat strikes in the Caribbean conducted September 2nd.

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