[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 645 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 645

    Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the Parliamentary 
        elections to be held in Venezuela on September 26, 2010.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 24, 2010

 Mr. Ensign submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                   the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the Parliamentary 
        elections to be held in Venezuela on September 26, 2010.

Whereas both the United States and Venezuela were among the 21 original members 
        that founded the Organization of American States on May 5, 1948;
Whereas both the United States and Venezuela joined the other 34 Organization of 
        American States member nations and approved and accepted the Inter-
        American Democratic Charter on September 11, 2001;
Whereas Article 1 of the Organization of American States Inter-American 
        Democratic Charter states the peoples of the Americas have a right to 
        democracy and their governments have an obligation to promote and defend 
        it;
Whereas Article 4 of the Organization of American States Inter-American 
        Democratic Charter states transparency in government activities, 
        probity, responsible public administration on the part of governments, 
        respect for social rights, and freedom of expression and of the press 
        are essential components of the exercise of democracy;
Whereas Article 57 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela 
        guarantees the right of all citizens to freely express their thoughts 
        and opinions;
Whereas Article 106 of the Charter for the Organization of American States 
        establishes ``an Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, whose 
        principal function shall be to promote the observance and protection of 
        human rights and to serve as a consultative organ of the Organization in 
        these matters'';
Whereas the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights report entitled Democracy 
        and Human Rights in Venezuela, published February 24, 2010, found that 
        the government of President Hugo Chavez employs the punitive power of 
        the state to intimidate or punish people inside Venezuela on account of 
        their political opinions;
Whereas the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights report entitled Democracy 
        and Human Rights in Venezuela found that conditions do not exist for 
        human rights defenders and journalists to be able to freely carry out 
        their work in Venezuela;
Whereas the Department of State declared on November 29, 2009, that the United 
        States ``commends the Honduran people for peacefully exercising their 
        democratic right to select their leaders in an electoral process that 
        began over a year ago'';
Whereas, prior to the election in Honduras, President Chavez announced on 
        Venezuelan state television that he put the military of Venezuela on 
        alert in response to the removal by the people of Honduras of Chavez's 
        ally Manuel Zelaya;
Whereas the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights report entitled Democracy 
        and Human Rights in Venezuela concluded that constraints on freedom of 
        expression and the right to protest peaceably and the existence of a 
        climate hostile to the free exercise of dissenting political 
        participation contribute to the weakening of the rule of law and 
        democracy in Venezuela;
Whereas, on June 14, 2010, the Department of State described an arrest order 
        issued by the government of President Chavez for the owner of 
        Venezuela's last remaining independent television station as ``the 
        latest example of the government of Venezuela's continuing assault on 
        the freedom of the press'' and urged Venezuela to ``honor its commitment 
        under the Inter-American Democratic Charter to uphold the principle that 
        respect for human rights, including freedom of the press, is essential 
        to representative democracies''; and
Whereas the people of Venezuela will hold parliamentary elections on September 
        26, 2010: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) the people and Government of the United States support 
        the right of the people of Venezuela to free and fair elections 
        as guaranteed by the Organization of American States Democratic 
        Charter;
            (2) the people and Government of the United States support 
        the right of the people of Venezuela to the freedom of speech, 
        the freedom of assembly, and their right to freely express 
        their political views as guaranteed by the Organization of 
        American States Democratic Charter; and
            (3) the people and Government of the United States 
        summarily reject any effort by President Chavez to invoke the 
        punitive power of the state to intimidate or punish the people 
        of Venezuelan who exercise their right to express their 
        political opinions, their right to assemble, and their right to 
        vote in a free and fair elections.
                                 <all>