[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5670 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5670

 To require certain actions relating to the protection of free, fair, 
    and transparent elections in Venezuela, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 21, 2023

  Ms. Wasserman Schultz (for herself and Ms. Salazar) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 
 and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require certain actions relating to the protection of free, fair, 
    and transparent elections in Venezuela, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Venezuelans Overcoming Interference 
and Corruption in Elections Act'' or the ``VOICE Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

     It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the arbitrary and unconstitutional actions of the 
        Maduro regime to undermine Venezuelan democracy, including 
        attempts to disqualify opposition candidates from participating 
        in the 2024 presidential election, demonstrate flagrant 
        disregard for the basic political rights of Venezuelans and 
        merit condemnation in the strongest terms from the United 
        States and other Western Hemisphere democracies;
            (2) the disqualification of political opponents illustrates 
        the Maduro regime's intent to continue to remove checks and 
        balances on the executive, politicize the judiciary, undermine 
        the independence of the legislature through use of executive 
        decree powers, persecute and prosecute its political opponents, 
        curtail freedom of the press, and limit the free expression of 
        its citizens;
            (3) the United States supports the people of Venezuela in 
        their efforts to advance representative democracy, human 
        rights, and the rule of law within their country; and
            (4) the United States should make every possible effort to 
        promote international recognition of the legitimacy of the 
        presidential primary organized by the democratic Unitary 
        Platform, and to support the registration and participation of 
        Venezuelan migrants and refugees residing in the United States 
        in the election.

SEC. 3. SANCTIONS FOR CERTAIN ACTIONS RELATING TO DISQUALIFICATION OF 
              VENEZUELAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES.

    (a) In General.--The President shall impose the sanctions described 
in subsection (b) with respect to any foreign person, including any 
current or former official of the Government of Venezuela or any person 
acting on behalf of that Government, that the President determines--
            (1) has prevented, or is responsible for ordering or 
        otherwise directing the prevention of, any individual that the 
        President determines to be an opponent candidate, or 
        prospective opponent candidate, seeking presidential election 
        (including Maria Corina Machado, Henrique Capriles, and Freddy 
        Superlano) from participating in the 2024 Venezuelan 
        presidential election; or
            (2) has knowingly materially assisted, sponsored, or 
        provided significant financial, material, or technological 
        support for, or goods or services in support of, the commission 
        of the acts described in paragraph (1).
    (b) Sanctions Described.--
            (1) In general.--The sanctions described in this subsection 
        are the following:
                    (A) Asset blocking.--The exercise of all powers 
                granted to the President by the International Emergency 
                Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the 
                extent necessary to block and prohibit all transactions 
                in all property and interests in property of a person 
                determined by the President to be subject to subsection 
                (a) if such property and interests in property are in 
                the United States, come within the United States, or 
                are or come within the possession or control of a 
                United States person.
                    (B) Exclusion from the united states and revocation 
                of visa or other documentation.--In the case of an 
                alien determined by the President to be subject to 
                subsection (a), denial of a visa to, and exclusion from 
                the United States of, the alien, and revocation in 
                accordance with section 221(i) of the Immigration and 
                Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), of any visa or 
                other documentation of the alien.
            (2) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to 
        violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of 
        paragraph (1)(A) or any regulation, license, or order issued to 
        carry out paragraph (1)(A) shall be subject to the penalties 
        set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the 
        International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to 
        the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful act 
        described in subsection (a) of that section.
            (3) Exceptions.--The sanctions described in paragraph (1) 
        shall not apply with respect to a foreign person--
                    (A) that the President determines is the subject of 
                other sanctions equivalent to those described in 
                paragraph (1); or
                    (B) that is an alien, if admitting the alien into 
                the United States is necessary to permit the United 
                States to comply with the Agreement regarding the 
                Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake 
                Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force November 
                21, 1947, between the United Nations and the United 
                States, or other applicable international obligations.
    (c) Waiver.--The President may waive the application of sanctions 
under subsection (b) with respect to a foreign person if the 
President--
            (1) determines that such a waiver is in the national 
        interest of the United States; and
            (2) on or before the date on which the waiver takes effect, 
        submits to the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee 
        on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign 
        Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
        Representatives a notice of and justification for the waiver.
    (d) Regulatory Authority.--The President shall issue such 
regulations, licenses, and orders as are necessary to carry out this 
section.
    (e) Definition.--In this section:
            (1) Admitted; alien.--The terms ``admitted'' and ``alien'' 
        have the meanings given those terms in section 101 of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
            (2) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means a 
        person that is not a United States person.
            (3) Good.--The term ``good'' has the meaning given that 
        term in section 16 of the Export Administration Act of 1979 (50 
        U.S.C. App. 2415) (as continued in effect pursuant to the 
        International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et 
        seq.)).
            (4) Knowingly.--The term ``knowingly'', with respect to 
        conduct, a circumstance, or a result, means that a person has 
        actual knowledge, or should have known, of the conduct, the 
        circumstance, or the result.
            (5) Materially assisted.--The term ``materially assisted'' 
        means the provision of assistance that is significant and of a 
        kind directly relevant to acts described in paragraphs (1) 
        through (3) of subsection (a).
            (6) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' means--
                    (A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully 
                admitted for permanent residence to the United States; 
                or
                    (B) an entity organized under the laws of the 
                United States or of any jurisdiction within the United 
                States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.

SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION ON BEHALF OF VENEZUELAN DEMOCRACY.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the United 
States should engage with the Government of Canada, the European Union, 
the governments of other European countries, and the democratically 
elected governments of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to 
enhance diplomatic cooperation and policy coordination toward the 
shared objective of restoring democracy for the Venezuelan people.
    (b) International Organizations.--The President, in consultation 
with the Secretary of State, shall direct the appropriate officials of 
the United States Government to use the voice, vote, and influence of 
the United States at international organizations to--
            (1) urge the Organization of American States and the United 
        Nations, as well as any subordinate entities of either 
        organization responsible for promoting democracy, to support 
        the mission of the independent Venezuelan primary organizing 
        commission by--
                    (A) assisting efforts to register eligible 
                Venezuelan nationals residing in third countries to 
                vote in future elections in Venezuela;
                    (B) ensuring the integrity and security of personal 
                identifying information collected from Venezuelan 
                nationals residing in other countries;
                    (C) facilitating the delivery by nongovernmental 
                organizations of humanitarian assistance and other 
                critical services to the Venezuelan people, who may be 
                subject to increasingly restrictive policies in advance 
                of the 2024 election;
                    (D) dispatching independent election observers to 
                conduct oversight of the handling of the 2024 
                Venezuelan presidential election by the Maduro regime; 
                and
                    (E) documenting and reporting on attempts by the 
                Maduro regime to suppress the vote through threats, 
                intimidation, violence, blackmail, or extortion;
            (2) encourage international organizations to condemn the 
        practice of the Maduro regime of disqualifying political 
        opponents; and
            (3) commend the efforts of the Venezuelan democratic 
        opposition to organize a free, fair, and transparent election 
        in 2024 and provide an electoral alternative to the Maduro 
        regime, which has committed crimes against humanity as 
        evidenced by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission 
        on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela established by the 
        United Nations Human Rights Council, in the report of such 
        mission published in October 2022.

SEC. 5. ADDITIONAL ACTIONS IN SUPPORT OF DEMOCRACY IN VENEZUELA.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that a solution 
of the political and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela must include--
            (1) a new presidential election in Venezuela that complies 
        with international standards for a free, fair, and transparent 
        electoral process;
            (2) an end to the usurpation of presidential authorities by 
        Nicolas Maduro;
            (3) the restoration of democracy and the rule of law in 
        Venezuela;
            (4) freeing political prisoners in Venezuela;
            (5) consistent and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid 
        to Venezuelans; and
            (6) accountability for the perpetrators of acts determined 
        to be crimes against humanity by the Independent International 
        Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela 
        established by the United Nations Human Rights Council.
    (b) Special Representative.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the President, in consultation with the 
Secretary of State, shall appoint a Special Representative for 
Venezuela from among the officers and employees of the Department of 
State, who shall assume primary responsibility for the following:
            (1) Coordinating initiatives across the United States 
        Government to assist in streamlining United States policy 
        toward Venezuela and ensuring prompt response to any changing 
        political, economic, and humanitarian dynamics in Venezuela.
            (2) Supporting the Venezuela Affairs Unit in delivering 
        information to Federal departments and agencies responsible for 
        developing and implementing United States policy toward 
        Venezuela.
            (3) Assisting the Venezuela Affairs Unit, the United States 
        Citizenship and Immigration Services, and other Federal 
        departments and agencies responsible for the administration of 
        consular affairs in providing consular services to United 
        States citizens in Venezuela and Venezuelans residing in the 
        United States or in third countries.
            (4) Facilitating the participation of members of the 
        Venezuelan diaspora residing in the United States in Venezuelan 
        elections determined by the President to be free and fair with 
        the uninhibited participation of opposition candidates.
            (5) Providing the appropriate congressional committees with 
        briefs on the status of democracy and human rights in 
        Venezuela.
    (c) Report Required.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, the Administrator for 
the United States Agency for International Development, and the Chief 
Executive Officer of the United States Agency for Global Media, shall 
jointly submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on 
obstacles to promoting independent news media and free access to 
information in Venezuela. Such report shall include--
            (1) an evaluation of the governmental, political, and 
        technological obstacles faced by the people of Venezuela in 
        their efforts to obtain accurate, objective, and comprehensive 
        news and information about domestic and international affairs;
            (2) a list of all television channels, radio stations, 
        online news sites, and other media platforms operating in 
        Venezuela that are directly or indirectly owned or beneficially 
        controlled by Nicolas Maduro, members of the Maduro family, or 
        individuals associated with his regime, and the extent of the 
        operational scale and reach of any such platforms;
            (3) a list of all television channels, radio stations, 
        online news sites, and other media platforms operating in 
        Venezuela that are directly or indirectly owned or beneficially 
        controlled by individuals or entities associated with the 
        Russian Federation, the Chinese Communist Party, the Islamic 
        Republic of Iran, the Ortega regime in Nicaragua, or the 
        Communist government of Cuba, and the operational scale and 
        reach of any such platforms;
            (4) a list of any independent press organization, or person 
        affiliated with such an organization, that has experienced 
        intimidation, harassment, physical assault, theft of property, 
        or fatal injury by agents of the Maduro regime or pro-
        government supporters in direct relation to their journalistic 
        activities since April 2013;
            (5) an assessment of the extent to which the current level 
        and type of news and related programming and content provided 
        by the Voice of America and other sources is addressing the 
        informational needs of the people of Venezuela;
            (6) a description of existing United States efforts to 
        strengthen freedom of the press and freedom of expression in 
        Venezuela, including recommendations to expand upon those 
        efforts; and
            (7) a proposed strategy for strengthening independent 
        broadcasting, information distribution, and media platforms in 
        Venezuela.
    (d) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 
        Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 
        Appropriations of the Senate.
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