[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1049 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1049

  Calling for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to be designated a 
                      state sponsor of terrorism.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 13, 2008

  Mr. Mack (for himself, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Pence, Mr. Mario Diaz-
Balart of Florida, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. McHenry, Mrs. Bono Mack, Mr. McCaul 
  of Texas, Mr. Westmoreland, and Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                           on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Calling for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to be designated a 
                      state sponsor of terrorism.

Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 1566 defines ``terrorism'' as 
        criminal acts committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily 
        injury, the taking of hostages with the purpose to provoke a state of 
        terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular 
        persons, or to intimidate a population or compel a government or an 
        international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act;
Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 1566 calls upon all Member 
        States, including the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, to prevent these 
        terrorist acts and to punish appropriately those individuals or groups 
        responsible for committing such acts;
Whereas the Inter-American Convention Against Terrorism of the Organization of 
        American States commits all State parties to establish domestic 
        regulatory institutions that eradicate the financing of terrorist 
        offenses, cooperate with fellow signatories to control borders, provide 
        mutual legal assistance in counterterrorism efforts and prosecution of 
        terrorist offenses, and conform to all other stipulations of the 
        convention designed to prevent, punish, and eliminate terrorist 
        offenses;
Whereas Venezuela signed the Inter-American Convention Against Terrorism on June 
        3, 2002, and ratified the convention on October 22, 2003;
Whereas, for more than 40 years, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia 
        (FARC) has carried out bombings, mortar attacks, kidnappings, extortion, 
        guerrilla warfare, and drug trafficking targeting Colombian and United 
        States political, military, and economic interests as well as foreign 
        citizens;
Whereas sources indicate the FARC kidnapped a total of 6,877 Colombian and 
        foreign citizens between 1996 and January 2008, including three United 
        States defense contractors who are currently being held hostage, and 
        killed a total of 3,240 people between 2003 and January 2008;
Whereas the FARC has been listed as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the 
        United States since 2001;
Whereas reports indicate that ties between high-level Venezuelan officials and 
        the FARC date back to August 1999, when letters signed by high-level 
        aides of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez revealed that the Venezuelan 
        Government had offered fuel, money, and other support to the FARC;
Whereas, in January 2008, President Chavez praised the FARC as ``a real army'' 
        and ``an insurgent force with a political project'', and called upon 
        foreign governments to cease referring to the FARC as a terrorist 
        organization;
Whereas seized documents from a Colombia-led raid against the FARC on March 1, 
        2008, suggest evidence of $300,000,000 in payments to the FARC from the 
        Venezuelan Government, high-level contacts by the FARC with officials 
        from Ecuador and Venezuela, and efforts by the FARC to obtain 50 
        kilograms of uranium;
Whereas these documents reportedly reveal agreements between the Venezuelan 
        Government and the FARC to release hostages in exchange for the 
        promotion of FARC by President Chavez as a legitimate army and 
        insurgency, rather than as a terrorist organization;
Whereas section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979, section 40 of the 
        Arms Export Control Act, and section 640A of the Foreign Assistance Act 
        of 1961 stipulate that a designated state sponsor of terrorism is one 
        ``that repeatedly provides support to acts of international terrorism'';
Whereas, since 2001, in each Annual Country Report on Terrorism, the Department 
        of State has cited the ability of the FARC and the Colombian National 
        Liberation Army to use the Venezuelan border area for cross-border 
        incursions and regard Venezuelan territory near the border as a safe 
        haven;
Whereas, on September 15, 2005, President George W. Bush decertified Venezuela 
        regarding counter-narcotics cooperation because Venezuela had ``failed 
        demonstrably'' to stem the flow of hundreds of tons of cocaine and other 
        illegal narcotics;
Whereas a 2007 Drug Enforcement Administration report linked nearly half of all 
        designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations around the world, including 
        the FARC, to narcotics trade;
Whereas, in May 2006, the Department of State determined, pursuant to section 
        40A of the Arms Export Control Act, that Venezuela was not cooperating 
        fully with United States antiterrorism efforts;
Whereas terrorist groups in Colombia have been found to be in possession of 
        weapons belonging to official Venezuelan stocks and facilities;
Whereas President Chavez has established strong relationships with Iran, Cuba, 
        Syria, and North Korea, all state sponsors of terrorism;
Whereas according to the Annual Threat Assessment of the Director of National 
        Intelligence, released on February 5, 2008, Venezuela has greatly 
        increased its cooperation with Iran and expressed a willingness to 
        cooperate with that country on nuclear energy;
Whereas Venezuela has concluded nearly 200 bilateral agreements with Iran on 
        military cooperation, the sharing of intelligence, establishing direct 
        civilian airline flights between Caracas and Tehran, expanding financial 
        cooperation, and initiating cultural exchanges, among others;
Whereas, in February 2006, the chairman of the Iranian legislative body 
        announced an offer to assist Venezuela with a nuclear program;
Whereas, in March 2006, President Chavez defended Iran's development of a 
        capacity to enrich uranium, which many observers believe is part of a 
        nuclear weapons program, despite several United Nations Security Council 
        resolutions requiring Iran to halt its enrichment program;
Whereas Venezuela was one of only three members of the 35-country board of the 
        International Atomic Energy Agency to vote against referring Iran to the 
        United Nations Security Council for violations of its obligations under 
        the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty;
Whereas Venezuela reportedly has large deposits of uranium ore in the Guiana 
        Shield region;
Whereas according to United States intelligence officials, Iran possesses the 
        potential to use its close relationship with Venezuela to facilitate the 
        smuggling of people, drugs, and weapons into the Western Hemisphere 
        through terrorist proxy groups;
Whereas section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act defines ``international 
        terrorist acts'' as those that aid or abet the proliferation or 
        acquiring of nuclear weapons or material or those that aid or abet the 
        production, collection, or use of chemical, biological, or radiological 
        weapons;
Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 commits all Member 
        States, including Venezuela, to enforce effective measures to prevent 
        the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons; and
Whereas the activities of supporters and financiers of terrorist organizations 
        in the Western Hemisphere constitute a severe threat to the United 
        States and its allies and interests: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the United States House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of 
        Venezuela for its state-sponsored support of international 
        terrorist groups;
            (2) encourages the President to direct the United States 
        Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS) 
        to--
                    (A) urge OAS Member States to designate the 
                Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) a 
                terrorist organization if such Member States have not 
                already done so;
                    (B) move for a declaration at the next meeting of 
                OAS Member States that calls on countries to 
                systematically deny use of their respective territories 
                by a terrorist or terrorist organization; and
                    (C) propose a convention to prevent the 
                proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological 
                weapons within the Western Hemisphere, using United 
                Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 as a model, 
                and urge all OAS Member States to sign and ratify such 
                a convention;
            (3) directs the Secretary of State to work with the 
        countries of the Western Hemisphere to ensure the effective 
        implementation of--
                    (A) the Inter-American Convention Against 
                Terrorism, to prevent the spread and financing of 
                international terrorist acts within the Western 
                Hemisphere and to counter any efforts of countries in 
                the Western Hemisphere to provide support for terrorist 
                acts;
                    (B) the United Nations Security Council Resolution 
                1540, to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, 
                chemical, and biological weapons; and
                    (C) the United Nations Security Council Resolution 
                1566, to halt the spread of global terrorism and to 
                promote greater cooperation among United Nations Member 
                States to implement counterterrorism measures;
            (4) calls upon the Government of Venezuela to immediately 
        renounce all support and ties to terrorist organizations, 
        including the FARC and the Colombian National Liberation Army; 
        and
            (5) urges the United States Government to designate 
        Venezuela as a state sponsor of terrorism.
                                 <all>