[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7725-7726]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            ONGOING VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN VENEZUELA

  (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of those 
fighting for freedom in Venezuela.
  This morning our House Foreign Affairs Committee passed my bipartisan 
measure, H.R. 4587, the Venezuelan Human Rights and Democracy 
Protection Act, which will sanction members of the Maduro regime 
responsible for gross human rights violations.
  Just a few days ago, Mr. Speaker, Human Rights Watch released a 
deeply troubling report that made clear that there has been ``a serious 
pattern of abuse by Venezuelan security forces.''
  The report mentions stories like that of Lisandro Barazarte, a 40-
year-old photographer for a local newspaper who said, ``I live in 
suspense, because I don't know from where they are going to shoot at 
me.'' Or Jose Romero, only 17 years old, who was stopped by a national 
guardsman when coming out of a metro station and was taken to a 
building where he was threatened with death, beaten, and even burned.

[[Page 7726]]

  Even as this brutality continues, the Obama administration and 
Congress have yet to act. I urge my colleagues to support bringing this 
important measure, which is bipartisan, to the floor immediately to 
support the people of Venezuela and to send a clear signal to the 
Maduro regime that his reign of oppression will have serious 
consequences.

                          ____________________