[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9729]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               VENEZUELA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, the situation in Venezuela is 
deteriorating very quickly. In Venezuela, the people are running out of 
medicine, running out of food, experiencing electricity shortages, and 
the regime cannot even provide basic goods for the people.
  Time is ticking, Mr. Speaker. It is not a matter of if; it is a 
matter of when Venezuela implodes due to the destructive policies of 
Nicolas Maduro. And the United States cannot sit idly by and watch this 
train wreck occur before our very eyes.
  Responsible countries in Latin America must also stand up and be a 
voice for those suffering in Venezuela. Last week, 15 countries from 
the region signed a joint statement that expressed respect for the 
Venezuelan Constitution and called on responsible nations to guarantee 
due process and human rights. This is a good first step, Mr. Speaker, 
and I applaud those countries, but more needs to be done.
  Tomorrow, the Organization of American States, the OAS, will have a 
meeting to discuss this crisis. I know that there are some who are 
advocating for dialogue, but we have tried dialogue before, and it was 
unsuccessful as Maduro kept coming up with new delays and obstacles in 
order to prevent a solution. We cannot allow Maduro to continue the 
charade of a dialogue as a stalling tactic.
  A referendum, Mr. Speaker, must occur this year. The people demand 
it. Because if it doesn't, then next year, Maduro can step aside, hand 
over power to his Vice President, and the same abusive regime continues 
while not addressing any of the underlying problems.
  If a dialogue does occur, all sectors of the Venezuelan opposition 
must be at the table. That is only fair. But it cannot happen if some 
of them are in jail, and a precondition to any dialogue must include 
the release of all political prisoners.
  The regime could show a good-faith effort by doing this, but instead, 
it continues to go the other direction. It continues to go backwards, 
postponing the appeal of a political prisoner, Leopoldo Lopez, 
indefinitely after it was scheduled to occur just 2 days ago.
  With its repression, its corruption, and its disastrous economic 
policies, the Maduro regime is running Venezuela into the ground, and 
it is no wonder that Venezuelans feel like they are under siege. Riots 
are occurring on a daily basis, and according to one recent study, 87 
percent of Venezuelans say they don't have enough money to buy enough 
food. This travesty is simply unsustainable, and the regime must be 
held accountable to the people.
  Tomorrow at the OAS, I hope to see the hemisphere finally stand up 
for itself, stop allowing itself to be mollified by the regime's lies 
and stall tactics, and hold Maduro's feet to the fire.
  Humanitarian aid must be allowed to get through to the people, and 
the referendum must be held this year. Let the Venezuelan people have 
their say and finally put an end to this suffering.
  In September of last year, Mr. Speaker, I joined 19 of my colleagues 
in sending a bipartisan letter to Secretary Kerry and Secretary Lew 
urging the administration to enforce a bill that I passed with Senator 
Marco Rubio, the Venezuelan Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society 
Act, and to apply sanctions to regime officials in the Venezuelan court 
system in response to the unjust sentencing of Venezuelan activist 
Leopoldo Lopez.
  I asked Obama administration officials: What justification do you 
have for not carrying out and implementing these sanctions for this 
miscarriage of justice, and what is the dollar amount of the assets 
seized of the seven individuals whom you have sanctioned?
  The State Department has pulled some visas due to human rights 
violations, but I asked the State Department: Can you tell us how many 
visas the State Department has pulled, and who are these individuals?
  Last week, at the OAS meeting in the Dominican Republic, Secretary 
Kerry stated that Venezuela should follow its own constitution and hold 
a free, fair, and timely recall referendum. Does he believe or expect 
that it will happen this year?
  Lastly, Mr. Speaker, Maduro has stated that he is ready to exchange 
ambassadors. I think this would be a big mistake because it will look 
as though we are legitimatizing the illegitimate Maduro regime. I hope 
that the State Department will not nominate someone this year to be 
Ambassador of Venezuela, and I hope that we, in the U.S., do more to 
help the long-suffering people of Venezuela.

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