[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 136 (Friday, October 4, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7213-S7214]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUPPORT FOR FREE AND PEACEFUL DEMOCRACY IN VENEZUELA
Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the
immediate consideration of Calendar No. 201, S. Res. 213.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 213) expressing support for the free
and peaceful exercise of representative democracy in
Venezuela and condemning violence and intimidation against
the country's political opposition, which had been reported
from the Committee on Foreign Relations, with an amendment
and an amendment to the preamble and an amendment to the
title, as follows:
(Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert the part
printed in italic.)
(Strike the preamble and insert the part printed in italic.)
S. Res. 213
Whereas the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela guarantees its citizens full political rights,
including the right to freely associate for democratic
political purposes, and the right to a secret ballot through
regular free, universal, direct elections and referenda;
Whereas the Preamble of the Charter of the Organization of
American States affirms that ``representative democracy is an
indispensable condition for the stability, peace and
development of the region,'' and Article 1 of the Inter-
American Democratic Charter recognizes that ``the people of
the Americas have a right to democracy and their governments
have an obligation to promote and defend it'';
Whereas the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela
declared Nicolas Maduro to have been elected in Venezuela's
April 14, 2013, presidential election, with 50.6 percent of
votes cast;
Whereas the Senate of the Republic of Chile, the Christian
Democratic Organization of the Americas, the Socialist
International, the Union of Latin American parties, and other
political organizations in the region issued declarations
recognizing the alleged irregularities documented by the
opposition in Venezuela and urged a complete audit of the
election results;
Whereas the Supreme Court of Venezuela refused to hear
legal cases presented by the political opposition regarding
alleged violations of electoral law, and the CNE denied the
opposition's request for a full and comprehensive audit of
the election results that includes the review and comparison
of voter registry log books, vote tallies produced by
electronic voting machines, and the paper receipts printed by
electronic voting machines;
Whereas Venezuela's Unified Democratic Platform (MUD) has
formally requested the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights to conduct an impartial review of alleged violations
of Venezuelans' civic rights through electoral
irregularities, voter intimidation, and other abuses in the
April 2013 elections, and the Government of Venezuela
subsequently announced its withdrawal from the Inter-American
Court on Human Rights;
Whereas, in response to the political opposition's decision
not to recognize Nicolas Maduro as President, legislators
from opposition parties in Venezuela were denied the right to
speak and removed from key committees by the President of the
National Assembly, were violently assaulted by members of the
ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), and
increasingly face the prospect of politically-motivated
criminal charges;
Whereas the Congress of the Republic of Peru passed a
resolution rejecting the use of violence against opposition
parties in the Venezuelan National Assembly and expressing
solidarity with those injured by the events of April 2013,
and the Department of State responded to the violence against
opposition legislators in Venezuela by declaring that
``violence has no place in a representative and democratic
system, and is particularly inappropriate in the National
Assembly'';
Whereas the Secretary General of the Organization of
American States (OAS) repudiated the incident by stating that
it ``reflects, in a dramatic manner, the absence of a
political dialogue that can bring tranquility to the citizens
and to the members of the different public powers to resolve
in a peaceful climate and with everybody's participation the
pending matters of the country''; and
Whereas, as a member of the Organization of American States
and signatory to the Inter-American Democratic Charter, the
Bolivarian Government of Venezuela has agreed to abide by the
principles of constitutional, representative democracy, which
include free and fair elections and adherence to its own
constitution: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) supports the people of Venezuela in their pursuit of
the free exercise of representative democracy as guaranteed
by the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela;
(2) deplores the undemocratic denial of the legitimate
rights of opposition parliamentarians in Venezuela, the
inexcusable violence perpetrated against opposition
legislators inside chambers of the National Assembly, and the
growing efforts to use politically-motivated criminal charges
to intimidate the country's political opposition;
(3) commends legislators from other countries in the
Americas who have declared their opposition to alleged
electoral irregularities and condemned the use of violence
against opposition parliamentarians in Venezuela;
(4) urges the Department of State to work in concert with
other countries in the Americas to take meaningful steps to
ensure the rule of law in Venezuela in accordance with the
Inter-American Democratic Charter and to strengthen the
ability of the Organization of American States to respond to
the erosion of democratic norms and institutions in member
states; and
(5) calls for the United States to work with other
countries in the hemisphere to actively encourage a process
of dialogue between the Government of Venezuela and the
political opposition through the good offices of the
Organization of American States so that the voices of all
Venezuelans can be taken into account through their country's
constitutional institutions and free and fair elections.
Amend the title so as to read: ``A resolution expressing
support for the free and peaceful exercise of representative
democracy in Venezuela, condemning violence and intimidation
against the country's political opposition, and calling for
dialogue between all political actors in the country.''.
[[Page S7214]]
Mr. REID. I further ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported
substitute amendment to the resolution be agreed to; the resolution, as
amended, be agreed to; the amendment to the preamble be agreed to; the
preamble, as amended, be agreed to; the committee-reported amendment to
the title be agreed to; and the motions to reconsider be considered
made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The committee-reported substitute amendment was agreed to.
The resolution (S. Res. 213), as amended, was agreed to.
The amendment to the preamble was agreed to.
The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
The committee-reported amendment to the title was agreed to.
____________________