[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 198 (Tuesday, December 5, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H9659-H9663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   EXPRESSING CONCERN AND CONDEMNATION OVER THE POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, 
              SOCIAL, AND HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN VENEZUELA

  Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 259) expressing concern and 
condemnation over the political, economic, social, and humanitarian 
crisis in Venezuela, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 259

       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

[[Page H9660]]

     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 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.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection. C
  Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize Congressman DeSantis for his work on 
this resolution.
  The world has watched as Venezuela's economy has nearly collapsed, 
bringing about a humanitarian crisis on top of the existing political 
crisis that we see there. Maduro's decision to sideline the 
democratically elected National Assembly by forming a so-called 
constituent assembly made up of his lieutenants has cemented Venezuela 
as a full-fledged dictatorship.
  The administration made clear through a combination of sanctions and 
regional engagement that Maduro's violation of Venezuela's constitution 
continues to destabilize not just Venezuela, but it is destabilizing 
this entire region. And the sanctions also made clear that the Maduro 
regime's corruption and involvement in drug trafficking is known and 
will not be tolerated.
  Venezuela's once prosperous economy is isolated and is suffering 
record-high inflation rates. The humanitarian crisis, fueled by 
shortages of food and shortages of medicine, has resulted in the 
resurgence of diseases and a big increase in infant mortality. All of 
this has led to even more unrest, fueling the potential of another 
major migration crisis right here in the Western Hemisphere.
  The destabilizing effect of the Maduro regime must end. The 
resumption of talks this week between the opposition and the Maduro 
regime cannot

[[Page H9661]]

be just another way for the regime to buy time. The international 
community, regional leaders, and this body must be united in our 
insistence that Maduro take seriously the need for resolution of this 
serious political and humanitarian crisis.
  Passage of this measure will send a strong, bipartisan message that 
Congress stands with the Venezuelan people and that Congress stands in 
favor of democracy and transparency and against corruption and against 
human rights violations.
  This resolution calls on regional leaders and the Organization of 
American States to continue to pressure Maduro to release political 
prisoners, to dissolve the unconstitutional constituent assembly, and, 
most importantly, to schedule fair and transparent elections now.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this 
measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this measure.
  Let me start by thanking the chairman of the Foreign Affairs 
Committee, Ed Royce of California, for his leadership and for moving a 
second measure forward today on the crisis in Venezuela.
  I also thank Mr. DeSantis for authorizing this resolution, which 
expresses deep concern about the political, economic, social, and 
humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.
  I again thank Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the gentlewoman from Florida, who 
is really our leader when it comes to things in the Western Hemisphere.
  Let me just say that, when the Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, 
chose to move forward with a sham constituent assembly election in 
July, as far as I am concerned, he took the final step in making his 
country a full-blown dictatorship. The majority of Venezuelans stayed 
clear of polling stations and chose not to participate in what was yet 
another effort from that government to distract from the country's real 
problem, which, as we have been saying, is a humanitarian crisis 
created by President Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, an 
increasingly dangerous human rights climate.
  Just last week, the Venezuelan human rights group, Foro Penal, joined 
Human Rights Watch in releasing a report documenting abuses in the 
country that have taken place over the past year. I would like to 
mention a few statistics from this report that shows you just how 
repressive the Venezuelan Government has become.
  Fifty-four hundred people have been detained in relation to 
antigovernment protests in early April; 3,900 of them are still subject 
to arbitrary criminal prosecutions and measures that limit their 
freedoms. And 757 civilians were prosecuted by military courts in 
violation of both Venezuelan and international law. Even more 
alarmingly, 124 Venezuelans were killed and 2,000 injured this year 
while taking part in antigovernment protests.
  The Human Rights Watch report states:

       In 53 cases involving at least 232 people, detainees were 
     subjected to physical and psychological abuse, with the 
     apparent purpose of either punishing them or forcing them to 
     incriminate themselves or others. In some of these cases, the 
     abuses suffered by the detainees clearly constituted torture. 
     These include electric shocks, severe beatings, being hung in 
     stress positions, sleep deprivation, asphyxiation, and sexual 
     abuse, including, in some cases, rape.

  In an August report, the Office of the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Human Rights expressed a similar sentiment pointing to 
``the existence of a policy to repress political dissent and instill 
fear in the population to curb demonstrations.''
  I think it is important to point out that, year after year, Democrats 
and Republicans have come to the House floor to call attention to the 
erosion of democracy in Venezuela. As my colleagues have said, 
Venezuela should be the leader in South America, the most prosperous 
country in South America, with huge oil reserves. Instead, it is a 
basket case because of Maduro and because of Chavez.

  For many years, it seemed that the United States was an outlier in 
raising our voices, while many in the hemisphere remained silent. 
Fortunately, that has changed. Leaders throughout the Americas have 
been increasingly willing to stand with the people of Venezuela.
  It is hard to find a silver lining for Venezuela in such a dark time, 
but I do hope, from the strong resolve of our friends in Latin America 
and around the world in rejecting Venezuela's sham constituent assembly 
and calling out human rights abuses in the country, they will realize 
that we care about them, that we know what is going on, and that we are 
not going to let their repressive government sweep things under the 
rug.
  In November, the European Union put in place a wide range of 
sanctions on Venezuela, including an arms embargo, visa bans, and asset 
freezes. Our friends in Canada imposed sanctions on human rights 
violators in the Maduro government, and, on October 26, Canadian 
Foreign Minister Freeland hosted the Lima Group of Foreign Ministers in 
Toronto to seek a hemispheric solution to the crisis in Venezuela.
  The OAS, the Organization of American States, has also played a 
critical role in increasing pressure on the Maduro regime, particularly 
under the leadership of OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro.
  But we cannot rely on the OAS alone. The United Nations, both with 
the Security Council and through the Office of the Secretary-General, 
must do much more to bring attention to Venezuela on the world stage 
and hold its leaders accountable.
  And today, the House of Representatives, here in Washington, goes on 
record again underscoring our commitment to the people of Venezuela and 
condemning the destructive policies of the Maduro regime. With this 
measure, we are saying enough is enough.
  Mr. Speaker, I again thank Mr. DeSantis for authoring this 
resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. DeSantis), a member of the Foreign Affairs 
Committee and author of this measure.
  Mr. DeSANTIS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Royce for moving this 
through our committee, and I am glad that we are getting a lot of 
support for this resolution on the House floor today.
  President Trump, when he spoke at the U.N. in September, said that 
``the problem with Venezuela is not that socialism has been poorly 
implemented, but that it has been faithfully implemented.'' I think the 
results speak for themselves. You have a country that is in chaos, that 
is a basket case, and you have an autocrat doing whatever he can to 
cling to power.
  Think about what is going on in Venezuela:
  You have the country with perhaps the largest oil reserves in the 
world, and yet they have massive fuel shortages;
  You have hyperinflation that is over 2,000 percent;
  Diseases that we thought had been eradicated, like malaria, are now 
coming back;
  There are massive food shortages such that wide swaths of the 
population are losing 10 or 15 pounds a year;
  And, of course, the Government of Venezuela is very likely to have to 
default on their debt.
  Maduro and his socialist junta are dominating the country. They are 
oppressing a great many, many people. And, of course, he is aided in 
this effort by his patron and adviser, Raul Castro, and the Cuban 
dictatorship. We cannot forget their role in this because they are 
really central to a lot of what is going on there.
  We have been speaking about some of the things Cuba did to our 
diplomats. That has not been fully resolved to my satisfaction.
  So Cuba's role in this is really nefarious. You really have the worst 
elements of Latin America on display in Venezuela.
  I think what this resolution does is it says that this Congress 
stands foursquare behind the people of Venezuela and their rights and 
their desires to live in a successful, free, and democratic country; 
and we do call on the President to continue some of the actions he has 
taken, some aggressive actions in sanctioning key individuals. We want 
the Trump administration to clearly be on the side of the people of 
Venezuela and to make clear that Maduro's failed socialist regime 
simply cannot continue in this way.
  So, please, pass the resolution. What we have done today is just one 
step,

[[Page H9662]]

but I hope the U.S. can do more to aid the people of Venezuela. They 
are fighting against some tall odds and a lot of power coming down on 
them, but we have got to do something.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge everyone to support this resolution.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, let me say that we have spent a lot of time 
talking about Venezuela on the House floor today. I think that is a 
good thing. I think it is good that people know what is happening in 
Venezuela, and I think it is good to know that the tyrants in Venezuela 
know that we know what is happening in Venezuela.

                              {time}  1615

  The eyes of the world are watching Venezuela and its government. 
President Maduro must make a real commitment to free and fair elections 
and release all political prisoners.
  In particular, I would like to note the detention of American citizen 
Joshua Holt and to urge his immediate release on humanitarian grounds.
  I think it is important for us to raise these issues on the House 
floor, so I urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 259.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), the chairman emeritus of 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs and one of this body's preeminent 
experts on the Western Hemisphere.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank our wonderful chairman for 
yielding me time. I also thank our ranking member, Eliot Engel for his 
hard work. This committee is a model for other committees in the U.S. 
House of Representatives. We truly work in a bipartisan manner and it 
is because of the leadership of Mr. Royce and Mr. Engel. They set the 
pace.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill before us, H. Res. 259, 
by my Florida colleague, Congressman Ron DeSantis, who has been very 
active in the issue of human rights in our Western Hemisphere. His bill 
expresses concern and condemnation over the dire political, economic, 
social, and humanitarian crisis that is taking place in Venezuela 
today. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this important resolution. I 
thank him for his leadership on this issue, on the issue of the lack of 
freedom and democracy in my native homeland of Cuba, and what he is 
helping the people of Nicaragua achieve in having separation of powers.
  Mr. Speaker, there has been a real problem throughout the hemisphere, 
and by approving this important measure, which is bipartisan, today, 
this body will once again demonstrate that we stand in solidarity with 
the people of Venezuela and their fight for justice, freedom, and 
democracy.
  These are values that we hold so dearly in our country. We take it 
for granted that we live in this great country where we can express our 
thoughts in this wonderful republic, but in so many places in our very 
own hemisphere, Mr. Speaker, they don't have that luxury.
  Venezuelans have been deprived of these key values of justice, 
freedom, and democracy for far too long, first at the grip of Hugo 
Chavez, a failed socialist leader, and now with his handpicked 
successor, another failure of a man and a leader, Nicolas Maduro.
  The Maduro regime has hijacked all democratic institutions in 
Venezuela. It has run the economy so far into the ground that there is 
hardly any food or medicine or even basic necessities. Inflation is at 
an all-time high and people cannot afford their daily life.
  The economic situation is in turmoil. It is heading towards an even 
deeper downward spiral because this regime of Nicolas Maduro is corrupt 
and is incompetent and they only care about filling their own coffers 
and staying in power, no matter what. All the while, the people of 
Venezuela continue to suffer.
  But this does not seem to trouble Maduro. It does not seem to trouble 
his cronies. They are enriching themselves on the suffering of the 
people of Venezuela. From this illicit activity, like drug trafficking 
and corruption, they are filling their coffers.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Lewis of Minnesota). The time of the 
gentlewoman has expired.
  Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 2 minutes 
to the gentlewoman from Florida.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, they are even using this humanitarian crisis that they 
have created to defraud organizations that are looking to bring much-
needed food into the country.
  This resolution in front of us, Mr. Speaker, is bipartisan and 
strong. It calls on the administration to support the people of 
Venezuela, to continue to impose targeted sanctions on those 
responsible for the destruction of democratic institutions in 
Venezuela.
  This resolution also urges important bodies, like the Organization of 
American States--and we will have soon a new U.S. Ambassador to that 
esteemed institution--to support the principles of the Inter-American 
Democratic Charter. It demands a noncorrupt electoral council, as well 
as calling for the release of all political prisoners.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. DeSantis for authoring this resolution. I 
urge my colleagues to offer their strong support and to join us in 
sending a unified message to Maduro that his actions will not be 
allowed to continue without a strong U.S. response.
  What is that response, Mr. Speaker?
  I call on the administration to use more targeted sanctions. We have 
sent to the administration a very long list of names. So have Senators 
Rubio and Menendez. Mr. Sires, Mr. Royce, and Mr. Engel have joined me.
  There are many more people, thugs and cronies of Maduro, who are 
enriching themselves with the suffering of the Venezuelan people. They 
want to come to the U.S. We should not extend that courtesy to them. 
There are consequences to these acts. We will continue to pressure the 
Maduro regime until democratic order is restored in Venezuela and this 
grave humanitarian crisis is resolved once and for all.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Royce for the time. I thank Mr. Engel; my 
friend, Mr. Acevedo; and Eric Jacobstein on the Democratic side for 
their help with this resolution. I most especially thank the author of 
this resolution, our great Congressman, Ron DeSantis.
  Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, let me again thank Congressman DeSantis, Mr. Engel, and 
Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen for their work on this resolution.
  I think it is a heartbreaking situation what is going on in Venezuela 
today. It is rather astounding that Venezuela sits on the world's 
largest proven oil reserves, yet here we have a situation where its 
citizens lack medicine and food at this time.

  I think the recent report that 20 percent of the country's medical 
professionals have fled Venezuela amid the Maduro regime's self-
inflicted political, economic, and humanitarian crisis is indicative of 
the problem. Inflation right now is reaching 720 percent.
  Support of this resolution will send a strong unified message that 
Congress stands with the Venezuelan people, that we call on regional 
leaders and the entire international community to hold Maduro 
accountable for this crisis and to release political prisoners and, 
importantly, to hold elections immediately.
  Mr. Speaker, I therefore urge my colleagues to join me in support, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, we have before us two pieces of 
legislation regarding the ongoing humanitarian and political crisis 
that is occurring in the country of Venezuela, which has been reduced 
to poverty and near starvation due to the repressive regime of Nicolas 
Maduro and that of his dictatorial predecessor Hugo Chavez.
  I would like to thank my colleague, Mr. DeSantis, for introducing H. 
Res. 259, of which I am an original cosponsor, and to applaud Mr. Engel 
for highlighting the public corruption and threat to democracy in 
Venezuela via his H.R. 2658, the Venezuela Humanitarian Assistance and 
Defense of Democratic Governance Act.
  I also would like to single out the lead Republican cosponsor of that 
legislation, the gentlewoman from Florida and my friend and colleague, 
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, for her work over the years in calling attention 
to the deplorable human rights situation not only in Venezuela, but 
also in Cuba, Nicaragua, China and so many countries the world over.
  As Ileana understands so well, it is the ideology of the Left--be it 
hard core Communism, or the Socialism of Hugo Chavez and

[[Page H9663]]

now that of his understudy in oppression, Nicolas Maduro--which has 
brought suffering to so many people.
  The people of Venezuela deserve far better.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 259, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

                          ____________________