[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 851 Engrossed in House (EH)]

<DOC>
H. Res. 851

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                    September 27, 2016.
Whereas the deterioration of basic governance and the economic crisis in 
        Venezuela have reached deeply troubling levels, which in turn have led 
        to an unprecedented humanitarian situation in Venezuela where millions 
        of people are suffering from severe shortages of essential medicines and 
        basic food products;
Whereas Venezuela lacks more than 80 percent of the basic medical supplies and 
        equipment needed to treat its population, including medicine to treat 
        chronic illnesses and cancer as well as basic antibiotics, and 85 
        percent of pharmacies are at risk of bankruptcy, according to the 
        Venezuelan Pharmaceutical Federation;
Whereas, despite the massive shortages of basic foodstuffs and essential 
        medicines, President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro has rejected repeated 
        requests from the majority of members of the National Assembly and civil 
        society organizations to bring humanitarian aid into the country;
Whereas the International Monetary Fund assesses that, in Venezuela, inflation 
        reached 275 percent and the gross domestic product contracted 5.7 
        percent in 2015, and further projects that inflation will reach 720 
        percent and the gross domestic product will contract an additional 8 
        percent in 2016;
Whereas Venezuela's political, economic, and humanitarian crisis is fueling 
        social tensions that are resulting in growing incidents of public 
        unrest, looting, and violence among citizens;
Whereas these social distortions are taking place amidst an alarming climate of 
        violence as Caracas continues to have the highest per capita homicide 
        rate in the world at 120 per 100,000 citizens, according to the United 
        Nations Office on Drug and Crime;
Whereas the deterioration of governance in Venezuela has been exacerbated by 
        widespread public corruption and the involvement of public officials in 
        illicit narcotics trafficking and related money laundering, which has 
        led to indictments by the United States Department of Justice and 
        ongoing investigations by the United States Department of the Treasury 
        and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration;
Whereas domestic and international human rights groups recognize more than 85 
        political prisoners in Venezuela, including United States citizens 
        Francisco Marquez and Josh Holt, opposition leader and former Chacao 
        mayor Leopoldo Lopez, Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni, Caracas Mayor Antonio 
        Ledezma, former Zulia governor Manuel Rosales, and former San Cristobal 
        mayor Daniel Ceballos;
Whereas, in December 2015, the people of Venezuela elected the opposition 
        coalition (Mesa de Unidad Democratica) to a two-thirds majority in the 
        unicameral National Assembly, with 112 out of the 167 seats compared 
        with 55 seats for the government's Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela 
        party;
Whereas, in late December 2015, the outgoing National Assembly increased the 
        number of seats in the Supreme Court of Venezuela and confirmed 
        magistrates with the Maduro Administration and, thereafter, the expanded 
        Supreme Court has blocked four legislators, including 3 opposition 
        legislators, from taking office;
Whereas the Supreme Court has repeatedly issued politically motivated judgments 
        to overturn legislation passed by the democratically elected National 
        Assembly and block internal legislative procedures;
Whereas, in 2016, President Maduro has utilized emergency and legislative decree 
        powers to bypass the National Assembly, which, alongside the actions of 
        the Supreme Court, have severely undermined the principles of separation 
        of powers in Venezuela;
Whereas democracy is failing in Venezuela, the Maduro government controls the 
        presidency, a majority of the municipalities, the Supreme Court, the 
        military leadership, the state-owned oil company (PDVSA) leadership, and 
        most of the media;
Whereas the former Presidents of Spain, Panama, and the Dominican Republic have 
        pursued dialogue between President Maduro and the National Assembly;
Whereas, in May 2016, Organization of American States Secretary General Luis 
        Almagro presented a 132-page report outlining grave alterations of the 
        democratic order in Venezuela and invoked Article 20 of the Inter-
        American Democratic Charter, which calls on the OAS Permanent Council 
        ``to undertake a collective assessment of the situation'';
Whereas the countries of Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, 
        Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, United 
        States, and Uruguay called on the Venezuelan Government in June 2016 to 
        ``guarantee the exercise of the constitutional rights of the Venezuelan 
        people and that the remaining steps for the realization of the 
        Presidential Recall Referendum be pursued clearly, concretely and 
        without delay'';
Whereas, in June 2016, at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Justin 
        Trudeau of Canada and President Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico, President 
        Barack Obama stated, ``Given the very serious situation in Venezuela and 
        the worsening plight of the Venezuelan people, together we're calling on 
        the government and opposition to engage in meaningful dialogue and urge 
        the Venezuelan government to respect the rule of law and the authority 
        of the National Assembly.''; and
Whereas, at the joint press conference with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and 
        President Pena Nieto, President Barack Obama continued, ``Political 
        prisoners should be released. The democratic process should be respected 
        and that includes legitimate efforts to pursue a recall referendum 
        consistent with Venezuelan law.'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) expresses its profound concern about widespread shortages of 
        essential medicines and basic food products faced by the people of 
        Venezuela, and urges President Maduro to permit the delivery of 
        humanitarian assistance;
            (2) calls on the Government of Venezuela to immediately release all 
        political prisoners, including United States citizens, to provide 
        protections for freedom of expression and assembly, and to respect 
        internationally recognized human rights;
            (3) supports meaningful efforts towards a dialogue that leads to 
        respect for Venezuela's constitutional mechanisms and resolves the 
        country's political, economic, social, and humanitarian crisis;
            (4) affirms its support for OAS Secretary General Almagro's 
        invocation of Article 20 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter and 
        urges the OAS Permanent Council, which represents all of the 
        organization's member states, to undertake a collective assessment of 
        the constitutional and democratic order in Venezuela;
            (5) expresses its great concern over the Venezuelan executive's lack 
        of respect for the principle of separation of powers, its overreliance 
        on emergency decree powers, and its threat to judicial independence;
            (6) calls on the Government of Venezuela and security forces to 
        respect the Constitution of Venezuela, including constitutional 
        provisions that provide Venezuelan citizens with the right to peacefully 
        pursue a fair and timely recall referendum for their President this 
        year;
            (7) stresses the urgency of strengthening the rule of law and 
        increasing efforts to combat impunity and public corruption in 
        Venezuela, which has bankrupted a resource-rich country, fuels rising 
        social tensions, and contributes to elevated levels of crime and 
        violence;
            (8) urges the President of the United States to provide full support 
        for OAS efforts in favor of constitutional and democratic solutions to 
        the political impasse, and to instruct appropriate Federal agencies to 
        hold officials of the Government of Venezuela accountable for violations 
        of United States law and abuses of internationally recognized human 
        rights; and
            (9) urges the President to continue to stand in solidarity with the 
        Venezuelan people by urging the Maduro government to--
                    (A) hold a fair and free recall referendum by the end of 
                this calendar year;
                    (B) release all political prisoners, including United States 
                citizens, from prison;
                    (C) adhere to democratic principles; and
                    (D) permit the delivery of emergency food and medicine.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.