[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 12, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H2656]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               VENEZUELA

  (Ms. SHALALA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, last weekend, I traveled to the Colombia-
Venezuela border to see firsthand the catastrophic humanitarian and 
public health crisis caused by the criminal Maduro regime.
  I met with refugees at a hospital in Colombia and heard their 
harrowing stories of being on the verge of death due to malnutrition, 
treatable diseases, and a lack of medical care for high-risk 
pregnancies.
  People with HIV cannot access antiretroviral drugs, as the government 
supplies dwindle and the Maduro regime continues to reject humanitarian 
aid. And now this crisis is spreading.
  I met with Colombian officials who are doing everything they can to 
support 1.5 million refugees crossing the border. They can't do it 
alone. We must increase aid to countries like Colombia for public 
health.
  Madam Speaker, our response to the crisis must include supporting the 
Venezuelan community that has already contributed to the richness of 
south Florida and the United States. Thousands of Venezuelans claiming 
political asylum in this country are stuck in limbo because of 
unnecessary delays in the adjudication of their claims. Granting TPS is 
necessary and humane for those Venezuelans now here.

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