[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 259 Engrossed in House (EH)]

<DOC>
H. Res. 259

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                      December 7, 2017.
Whereas in Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro controls the Presidency, a 
        majority of the municipalities, the Supreme Court, the military 
        leadership, and the leadership of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), and 
        has gutted the National Assembly of the power it constitutionally holds;
Whereas in late October 2016, Venezuela's state courts and National Electoral 
        Council, which are comprised of political allies of President Maduro, 
        halted efforts to hold a referendum pursuant to provisions of the 
        Venezuelan constitution to recall President Maduro, thereby denying the 
        Venezuelan people the ability to pursue a democratic solution to 
        Venezuela's crisis;
Whereas Venezuela's National Electoral Council postponed elections for governors 
        and mayors scheduled for December 2016 and has not set a date to 
        reschedule these elections;
Whereas there have been several attempts at dialogue between President Maduro 
        and the opposition over the past year, which have all failed to yield 
        tangible results;
Whereas the Government of Venezuela continues to silence its citizens through 
        political arrests, with more than 444 political prisoners currently in 
        jail;
Whereas Joshua Holt, a United States citizen, remains imprisoned in Venezuela 
        with no due process, and four postponed hearings to date;
Whereas in its 2016 report, Venezuela's Violence Observatory assessed a 
        widespread use of firearms by criminals and increased use of violence by 
        police and military officials, contributing to a homicide rate of 91.8 
        per 100,000 residents, making Venezuela one of the most violent 
        countries in the world;
Whereas police and military raids have led to widespread allegations of human 
        rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, mass arbitrary 
        detentions, torture, forced evictions, and arbitrary deportations;
Whereas Venezuela is immersed in a deep economic crisis, with shortages of basic 
        food supplies and medicines, and inflation estimated to top roughly 
        1,600 percent in 2017, according to the International Monetary Fund;
Whereas the Venezuelan military controls the production and distribution of 
        basic food supplies, which has enabled corruption, fraud, and food 
        trafficking, and exacerbated shortages throughout the country;
Whereas deteriorating conditions in health care persist, with the World Health 
        Organization estimating that there are shortages of 75 percent of 
        necessary medications and medical supplies, up from 55 percent in 2014 
        and 67 percent in 2015;
Whereas a recent survey - conducted jointly by the Central University of 
        Venezuela, the Andres Bello Catholic University and the Simon Bolivar 
        University - found that almost 75 percent of Venezuelans lost an average 
        of at least 19 pounds in 2016 as a result of a lack of proper nutrition 
        amidst the country's economic crisis;
Whereas the country is facing increasing outbreaks of previously eradicated 
        diseases, such as malaria and diphtheria;
Whereas the Health Ministry in Venezuela published an epidemiological bulletin 
        in May 2017 (the first since 2015), showing a 30 percent increase in 
        infant mortality, a 66 percent rise in maternal mortality, and a 76 
        percent increase in malaria cases;
Whereas the deteriorating conditions in Venezuela have prompted tens of 
        thousands of Venezuelans to flee to countries throughout the Western 
        Hemisphere, including Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Panama, Peru, and 
        the United States, which threatens a wider refugee crisis in the region;
Whereas there were 18,000 asylum requests from Venezuelans seeking to enter the 
        United States in 2016, which according to United States Citizenship and 
        Immigration Services was the highest number of requests made by any 
        nationality last year;
Whereas the Government of Venezuela has regulated and reduced the number of 
        local and international media outlets with opposing views, including CNN 
        en Espanol following its broadcast of a report alleging that Vice 
        President Tareck El Aissami was directly linked to a ring of fraudulent 
        Venezuelan passports provided to foreigners including known members of 
        the terrorist organization Hezbollah;
Whereas, on February 13, 2017, the Department of the Treasury's Office of 
        Foreign Assets Control designated Venezuela's Vice President Tareck 
        Zaidan El Aissami Maddah as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker 
        pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act for playing a 
        significant role in international narcotics trafficking, and imposed 
        sanctions on Mr. El Aissami and froze his assets in the United States;
Whereas, on March 23, 2017, fourteen Member States of the Organization of 
        American States (OAS) published a joint statement calling for the 
        Government of Venezuela to hold elections, restore the constitutional 
        powers of the National Assembly, and release political prisoners;
Whereas, on March 28, 2017, the OAS Permanent Council agreed by a vote of 20 in 
        favor, 11 against, 2 abstentions, and 1 absent/nonvoting Member States 
        to move forward in discussing the situation in Venezuela;
Whereas, on March 28, 2017, the Supreme Court of Venezuela stripped opposition 
        leaders of the National Assembly of their parliamentary immunity and 
        began to take steps to consider prosecuting them for treason;
Whereas, on March 29, 2017, the Venezuelan Supreme Court seized power from the 
        democratically elected National Assembly and nullified the legislative 
        branch's ability to function;
Whereas, on March 31, 2017, in the first major break of a sitting Venezuelan 
        public official, Venezuelan Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz affirmed 
        the Supreme Court's actions ``had broken constitutional order'';
Whereas, on March 31, 2017, Venezuelan citizens took to the streets protesting 
        the Supreme Court's breach of power;
Whereas, on April 1, 2017, the Supreme Court reversed its earlier decisions 
        taking over the National Assembly's legislative powers and stripping the 
        legislators of their parliamentary immunity;
Whereas, on April 26, 2017, the Government of Venezuela announced its intent to 
        withdraw from the OAS;
Whereas on May 1, 2017, President Maduro announced a national vote to create a 
        Constituent Assembly to rewrite the Venezuelan Constitution of 1999, 
        which OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro stated (in testimony before the 
        Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate on July 19, 2017) was 
        ``imposed by decree without the people and against the people, setting 
        the will of the dictatorship above the popular will expressed through 
        universal and direct vote'';
Whereas, on May 2, 2017, the Department of State stated, ``We have deep concerns 
        about the motivation for this constituent assembly, which overrides the 
        will of the Venezuelan people and further erodes Venezuelan democracy'';
Whereas peaceful protests by Venezuelan citizens since March of 2017 have been 
        met with violence from Venezuelan authorities that has caused 100 
        deaths;
Whereas, on May 17, 2017, the United Nations Security Council met to discuss the 
        humanitarian crisis in Venezuela;
Whereas, on May 18, 2017, the Department of the Treasury announced United States 
        sanctions against eight Venezuelan Government officials, all members of 
        Venezuela's Supreme Court, pursuant to Executive Order No. 13692, for 
        their responsibility in issuing a number of rulings that ``interfere 
        with or limit the National Assembly's authority'' and that ``limit the 
        ability of the National Assembly to conduct its constitutional duties'';
Whereas, on May 23, 2017, President Maduro signed a document formally 
        establishing the terms for electing members of a Constituent Assembly, 
        presenting the proposed body as a way to rewrite the Constitution;
Whereas, on June 2, 2017, President Maduro pledged to hold a referendum on the 
        proposed new constitution;
Whereas, on June 20, 2017, the OAS General Assembly meeting was held in Cancun, 
        Mexico, where a resolution regarding the precarious situation in 
        Venezuela failed to gain the votes needed for passage;
Whereas Venezuela's Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz is being legally pursued 
        for defying President Maduro, with the Supreme Court banning her from 
        leaving the country and freezing her assets;
Whereas, on July 8, 2017, opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez was released from 
        prison but remains under house arrest;
Whereas, on July 16, 2017, more than seven million people cast votes in a 
        popular consultation to reject the Constituent Assembly;
Whereas, on July 19, 2017, Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, issued a 
        third report on the crisis in Venezuela which documented the violations 
        of the constitution and systemic violations of human rights by the 
        Government of Venezuela and calling for the immediate suspension of the 
        Constituent Assembly, the cessation of violent repression, the opening 
        of a channel for humanitarian assistance, and the release of political 
        prisoners;
Whereas, on July 20, 2017, the government-controlled Venezuelan Supreme Court 
        annulled the process of the appointment of judges by the opposition-
        controlled National Assembly;
Whereas, on July 30, 2017, the Government of Venezuela convened the Constitutent 
        Assembly, which, on August 18, 2017, assumed lawmaking powers to 
        supersede Venezuela's legitimate National Assembly; and
Whereas the Constituent Assembly voted to remove Luisa Ortega Diaz from her 
        position of Attorney General on August 5, 2017, and to replace her with 
        Tarek William Saab, who was sanctioned by the United States Department 
        of the Treasury on July 26, 2017, along with 12 other current and former 
        senior officials of the Government of Venezuela: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) urges the Government of Venezuela to heed the calls of the 
        international community without delay to hold free, fair, and open 
        elections, release all political prisoners, including United States 
        citizens, respect the constitutional rights of the National Assembly, 
        and open a channel for international humanitarian assistance and 
        medicines;
            (2) urges Organization of American States (OAS) Member States to 
        continue all efforts to support the principles of the Inter-American 
        Democratic Charter, regardless of Venezuela's intent to withdraw from 
        the OAS, and continue calls for the Government of Venezuela to hold free 
        and fair elections and release all political prisoners in a timely 
        manner;
            (3) recognizes the strong leadership of OAS Secretary General Luis 
        Almagro in building a coalition of OAS Member States in support of 
        democracy and human rights for the Venezuelan people; and
            (4) encourages the President of the United States to prioritize a 
        resolution to the political, economic, social, and humanitarian crisis 
        in Venezuela and an effective response to the growing regional refugee 
        crisis that is emanating from Venezuela, through multilateral 
        cooperation with partners at the OAS and United Nations, and through 
        targeted sanctions against individuals responsible for the deterioration 
        of democratic institutions and the rule of law in Venezuela.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.