,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #ccdd  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,december #d1  
#bjbe,mr4 ,merkley 7for himself1 ,mr4   
,kaine1 and ,mr4 ,van ,hollen7          
introduced the following bill2 which was
 read twice and referred to the         
,committee on ,foreign ,relations  ,a   
,,bill  ,to prohibit the unauthorized   
use of ,united ,states ,armed ,forces in
 hostilities with respect to ,venezuela4
  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be    
cited as the ,prohibiting ,unauthorized 
,military ,action in ,venezuela ,act of 
#bjbe4  #b4 ,prohibition on use of      
,united ,states ,armed ,forces to       
conduct hostilities with respect to     
,venezuela  7a7 ,prohibition ,none of   
the funds appropriated or otherwise made
 available for the ,department of       
,defense1 or for any other department or
 agency of the ,united ,states          
,government1 may be used to conduct     
hostilities with respect to ,venezuela1 
except-- 7#a7 pursuant to a specific    

statutory authorization enacted after   
the date of the enactment of this ,act2 
or  7#b7 pursuant to a congressional    
authorization consistent with section   
#b7;c7 of the ,war ,powers ,resolution  
7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #aeda7;c774  7b7 ,rules  
of construction ,nothing in this section
 shall be construed to prevent the      
,united ,states from-- 7#a7 acting to   
defend itself or its citizens from an   
armed attack or the threat of an        
imminent armed attack2  7#b7 acting to  
defend the ,united ,states ,armed       
,forces or ,united ,states personnel    
from an armed attack2  7#c7 conducting  
lawful counternarcotics operations that 
do not constitute hostilities2 or  7#d7 
providing humanitarian assistance to the
 people of ,venezuela4  7c7 ,hostilities
 defined ,in this section1 the term     
hostilities means any situation         
involving any use of lethal or          
potentially lethal force by ,united     
,states forces1 whether such force is   
deployed remotely and irrespective of   

the intermittency thereof4  7d7         
,relation to the ,war ,powers           
,resolution ,nothing in this section    
supersedes any requirement of the ,war  
,powers ,resolution 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #aeda
 et seq474