[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 851 Introduced in House (IH)]
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114th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 851
Expressing profound concern about the ongoing political, economic,
social and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, urging the release of
political prisoners, and calling for respect of constitutional and
democratic processes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 8, 2016
Ms. Wasserman Schultz (for herself, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Duncan of
South Carolina, Mr. Sires, Mr. Royce, Mr. Deutch, Mr. Hastings, Mr.
Curbelo of Florida, Mr. McCaul, Mr. DeSantis, Mr. Engel, Ms. Frankel of
Florida, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Buchanan, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Grayson, Mr.
Murphy of Florida, Mr. Bilirakis, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Yoho, Mr.
Castro of Texas, and Mr. Diaz-Balart) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
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RESOLUTION
Expressing profound concern about the ongoing political, economic,
social and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, urging the release of
political prisoners, and calling for respect of constitutional and
democratic processes.
Whereas the deterioration of basic governance and the economic crisis in
Venezuela have reached deeply troubling levels, which in turn have led
to an unprecedented humanitarian situation in Venezuela where millions
of people are suffering from severe shortages of essential medicines and
basic food products;
Whereas Venezuela lacks more than 80 percent of the basic medical supplies and
equipment needed to treat its population, including medicine to treat
chronic illnesses and cancer as well as basic antibiotics, and 85
percent of pharmacies are at risk of bankruptcy, according to the
Venezuelan Pharmaceutical Federation;
Whereas, despite the massive shortages of basic foodstuffs and essential
medicines, President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro has rejected repeated
requests from the majority of members of the National Assembly and civil
society organizations to bring humanitarian aid into the country;
Whereas the International Monetary Fund assesses that, in Venezuela, inflation
reached 275 percent and the gross domestic product contracted 5.7
percent in 2015, and further projects that inflation will reach 720
percent and the gross domestic product will contract an additional 8
percent in 2016;
Whereas Venezuela's political, economic, and humanitarian crisis is fueling
social tensions that are resulting in growing incidents of public
unrest, looting, and violence among citizens;
Whereas these social distortions are taking place amidst an alarming climate of
violence as Caracas continues to have the highest per capita homicide
rate in the world at 120 per 100,000 citizens, according to the United
Nations Office on Drug and Crime;
Whereas the deterioration of governance in Venezuela has been exacerbated by
widespread public corruption and the involvement of public officials in
illicit narcotics trafficking and related money laundering, which has
led to indictments by the United States Department of Justice and
ongoing investigations by the United States Department of the Treasury
and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration;
Whereas domestic and international human rights groups recognize more than 85
political prisoners in Venezuela, including opposition leader and former
Chacao mayor Leopoldo Lopez, Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni, Caracas Mayor
Antonio Ledezma, former Zulia governor Manuel Rosales, and former San
Cristobal mayor Daniel Ceballos;
Whereas, in December 2015, the people of Venezuela elected the opposition
coalition (Mesa de Unidad Democratica) to a two-thirds majority in the
unicameral National Assembly, with 112 out of the 167 seats compared
with 55 seats for the government's Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela
party;
Whereas, in late December 2015, the outgoing National Assembly increased the
number of seats in the Supreme Court of Venezuela and confirmed
magistrates politically aligned with the Maduro Administration and,
thereafter, the expanded Supreme Court has blocked four legislators,
including 3 opposition legislators, from taking office;
Whereas, during the first 6 months of the new legislature, the Supreme Court has
repeatedly issued politically motivated judgments to overturn
legislation passed by the democratically elected National Assembly and
block internal legislative procedures;
Whereas, in 2016, President Maduro has utilized emergency and legislative decree
powers to bypass the National Assembly, which, alongside the actions of
the Supreme Court, have severely undermined the principles of separation
of powers in Venezuela;
Whereas, in May 2016, Organization of American States Secretary General Luis
Almagro presented a 132-page report outlining grave alterations of the
democratic order in Venezuela and invoked Article 20 of the Inter-
American Democratic Charter, which calls on the OAS Permanent Council
``to undertake a collective assessment of the situation'';
Whereas, in June 2016, at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau of Canada and President Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico, President
Barack Obama stated, ``Given the very serious situation in Venezuela and
the worsening plight of the Venezuelan people, together we're calling on
the government and opposition to engage in meaningful dialogue and urge
the Venezuelan government to respect the rule of law and the authority
of the National Assembly.''; and
Whereas, at the joint press conference with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and
President Pena Nieto, President Barack Obama continued, ``Political
prisoners should be released. The democratic process should be respected
and that includes legitimate efforts to pursue a recall referendum
consistent with Venezuelan law.'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) expresses its profound concern about widespread
shortages of essential medicines and basic food products faced
by the people of Venezuela, and urges President Maduro to
permit the delivery of humanitarian assistance;
(2) calls on the Government of Venezuela to immediately
release all political prisoners, to provide protections for
freedom of expression and assembly, and to respect
internationally recognized human rights;
(3) supports meaningful efforts towards a dialogue that
leads to respect for Venezuela's constitutional mechanisms and
resolves the country's political, economic, social, and
humanitarian crisis;
(4) affirms its support for OAS Secretary General Almagro's
invocation of Article 20 of the Inter-American Democratic
Charter and urges the OAS Permanent Council, which represents
all of the organization's member states, to undertake a
collective assessment of the constitutional and democratic
order in Venezuela;
(5) expresses its great concern over the Venezuelan
executive's lack of respect for the principle of separation of
powers, its overreliance on emergency decree powers, and its
subjugation of judicial independence;
(6) calls on the Government of Venezuela and security
forces to respect the Constitution of Venezuela, including
constitutional provisions that provide Venezuelan citizens with
the right to peacefully pursue a fair and timely recall
referendum for their President this year if they so choose;
(7) stresses the urgency of strengthening the rule of law
and increasing efforts to combat impunity and public corruption
in Venezuela, which has bankrupted a resource-rich country,
fuels rising social tensions, and contributes to elevated
levels of crime and violence; and
(8) urges the President of the United States to provide
full support for OAS efforts in favor of constitutional and
democratic solutions to the political impasse, and to instruct
appropriate Federal agencies to hold officials of the
Government of Venezuela accountable for violations of United
States law and abuses of internationally recognized human
rights.
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