[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 26, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H3959]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TIME TO MOVE FORWARD ON VENEZUELA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I am deeply concerned about the ongoing 
political, human rights, and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela and its 
hemispheric consequences, including the arrival of 187,000 desperate 
Venezuelans at our southern border last year.
  This crisis has many causes, beginning with misguided and distorting 
economic policies implemented by successive Venezuelan Governments. 
Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that the maximum pressure secondary 
and sectoral sanctions policy put in place by former President Trump 
and continued by President Biden has deepened the economic pain and 
hardship suffered by the Venezuelan people. The goal of that policy was 
to remove Nicolas Maduro from power in Venezuela. It has not worked. 
Rather, as The New York Times editorial board wrote on July 22, that 
Maduro ``instead consolidated his grip on Venezuela, blamed its 
economic misery on American sanctions and drew his country closer to 
Russia and China.''
  Throughout my time in Congress, I have strongly defended the idea 
that human rights should be at the center of U.S. foreign policy, and I 
have led many bills to redress human rights abuses, including the 
Global Magnitsky targeted sanctions legislation. Nevertheless, I don't 
support the use of sanctions to punish entire peoples for the actions 
of their leaders or to bludgeon an adversary into submission.
  This is why I have said that the Trump-era sanctions should already 
have been lifted by the Biden administration, and I continue to believe 
that. However, unfortunately, that has not happened, and it seems 
unlikely that it will in the near future.
  In the end, human rights advocacy is meant to improve and restore the 
lives of victims of abuses and to change conditions so that abuses will 
not recur. As a human rights advocate, I have a moral responsibility to 
do whatever I can to advance these goals.
  That is why I welcomed the administration's support for the 
resumption of negotiations between the Maduro government and Venezuelan 
opposition in Mexico last year. It is why I believe the social fund for 
the basic needs of the Venezuelan people, whose creation was agreed to 
during those negotiations, should be stood up as soon as possible. 
Additionally, it is why I was encouraged to see the statement of 
principles that came out of the International Conference on Venezuela 
convened by the Colombian government last April.
  The statement laid out three steps--the establishment of a chronogram 
for elections, the easing of sanctions in parallel as agreements are 
reached between the parties, and the continuation of the negotiations 
accompanied by accelerated implementation of the social fund--that, 
taken together, offer a real opportunity to begin to resolve 
Venezuela's crisis.
  These steps would empower and benefit all Venezuelans seeking to 
rebuild their country and their future.
  Everyone who is concerned about the human rights of the Venezuelan 
people should take advantage of this opportunity. I still believe the 
Trump-era sanctions should be lifted, and I will continue to urge the 
Biden administration to do so.
  Democracy and civil rights will not be advanced by maintaining 
punishing economic sanctions. All that does is continue to hurt 
innocent people. Nonetheless, we need to find a way to move the ball 
forward, and I believe there is an opportunity now. Time is short, and 
there is a lot of uncertainty, but there is also some hope, and that 
should guide us.

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