Congress on Dec. 4 hosted classified briefings on a deadly U.S. strike of an alleged drug boat in the South Caribbean in September that killed two survivors of a previous strike, leaving lawmakers split in their reactions to the Trump administration’s increasing military buildup near Venezuela.

Navy Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley testified to lawmakers that War Secretary Pete Hegseth did not give a “kill them all” order in the strike, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told reporters on Dec. 4 after leaving a classified briefing.

Bradley was joined by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine for classified briefings as Congress scrutinizes the U.S. military buildup near Venezuela.

Cotton, who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the admiral “was very clear that he was given no such order, not to give no quarter or to kill them all.”

“He was given an order that, of course, was written down in great detail, as our military always does,” Cotton said. “There’s no vocal order either.”

The top Senate Republican said that in his view, all the strikes on alleged drug boats in the South Caribbean, including the one that hit two survivors of a previous strike, “were entirely lawful and needful.”

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the leading Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters on Dec. 4 that what he witnessed on video in the classified briefing he attended “was one of the most troubling things” he’s seen in his time in public service.

“You have two individuals in clear distress without any means of locomotion, with a destroyed vessel, were killed by the United States,” Himes said.

In response to the concerns, Cotton said, “I didn’t see anything disturbing about it.”

“What’s disturbing to me is that millions of Americans have died from drugs being run to America by these cartels,” Cotton told reporters.

“What’s gratifying to me is that the president has made the decision, finally, after decades of letting it happen, that we’re going to take the battle to them, and we’re going to continue to strike these boats until cartels learn their lesson that their drugs are no longer coming to America.”

Lawmakers are increasing pressure on Hegseth and the Pentagon after the September strike. Democrats are urging the Trump administration to release any videos it has of the operation.

The ongoing congressional investigation is seeking to determine whether the Department of War acted lawfully, as some legal experts have suggested the attack could have been criminal if survivors were specifically targeted.

While defending the strikes, Cotton pointed out that in one example, “survivors actually were shipwrecked and distressed and not trying to continue on their mission, and they were treated as they should be, as non-combatants.”

A reporter asked Cotton whether he agreed with Himes, who had said after viewing the video that it looked as if the survivors were simply trying to get back on the boat and could not have conducted further operations.

“Jim may disagree with the entire operation,” Cotton said. “He may be OK with drug boats running to America, or at least thinking that it’s an effective tactic to interdict them. I just disagree with that.”

During President Donald Trump’s Cabinet meeting on Dec. 2, Hegseth said he was not in the room when the second strike was approved.

“I watched that first strike live,” Hegseth told reporters at the White House. “As you can imagine, at the Department of War, we’ve got a lot of things to do ... so I moved on to my next meeting.”

Ryan Morgan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.