II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1018 

To provide humanitarian assistance for the Venezuelan people, to defend 

democratic governance and combat widespread public corruption in Venezuela, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 3, 2017 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. 

MENENDEZ, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. NELSON, Mr. KAINE, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To provide humanitarian assistance for the Venezuelan people, to defend democratic governance and combat widespread public corruption in Venezuela, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Venezuela Humanitarian Assistance and Defense of 

6 Democratic Governance Act of 2017’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 4. Humanitarian assistance for the people of Venezuela. 

Sec. 5. Requirement for strategy to coordinate international humanitarian assistance. 

Sec. 6. Support for Organization of American States Inter-American Democratic Charter. 

Sec. 7. Support for international election observation missions and democratic 

civil society in Venezuela. 

Sec. 8. Support for Caribbean countries. 

Sec. 9. Concerns and report on the involvement of Venezuelan officials in corruption and illicit narcotics trafficking. 

Sec. 10. Sanctions on persons responsible for public corruption and undermining democratic governance in Venezuela. 

Sec. 11. Concerns over PDVSA transactions with Rosneft. 

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) The deterioration of democratic governance 

6 and the economic crisis in Venezuela have led to an 

7 unprecedented humanitarian situation in which peo8 ple are suffering from severe shortages of essential 

9 medicines and basic food products. 

10 (2) According to the World Health Organiza11 tion, Venezuela had a shortage of necessary medica12 tions and medical supplies of— 

13 (A) 55 percent in 2014; 

14 (B) 67 percent in 2015; and 

15 (C) 75 percent in 2016. 

16 (3) According to a Human Rights Watch 2016 

17 report, it is increasingly difficult for many Ven18 ezuelans, particularly those in lower or middle-inVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 May 09, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1018.IS S1018

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1 come families, to obtain adequate nutrition and 

2 there are reports of symptoms of malnutrition, par3 ticularly in children. 

4 (4) Despite massive shortages of basic food5 stuffs and essential medicines, President of Ven6 ezuela Nicola ́s Maduro has rejected repeated re7 quests from the Venezuelan National Assembly and 

8 civil society organizations to bring humanitarian aid 

9 into the country. 

10 (5) The International Monetary Fund has esti11 mated that in Venezuela in 2016 the country’s gross 

12 domestic product contracted by 12 percent and infla13 tion rate reached 720 percent, and has stated that 

14 Venezuela had the worst growth and inflation per15 formance in the world. 

16 (6) The International Monetary Fund has not 

17 convened an Article IV Executive Board consultation 

18 for Venezuela since September 13, 2004, which 

19 greatly limits the extent of information available to 

20 the international community about the severity of 

21 the Venezuelan economic crisis. 

22 (7) Venezuela’s political, economic, and human23 itarian crisis is fueling social tensions that are re24 sulting in growing incidents of public unrest, looting, 


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1 violence among citizens, and an exodus of Ven2 ezuelans abroad. 

3 (8) These social distortions are taking place 

4 amidst an alarming climate of criminal violence. Ac5 cording to the United Nations Office on Drug and 

6 Crime, Caracas, Venezuela had the highest per cap7 ita homicide rate of any capital city in the world in 

8 2015 at 120 murders per 100,000 citizens. 

9 (9) In 2016, 18,155 Venezuelans submitted 

10 asylum requests in the United States, which was 

11 greatest number of requests by any nationality, ac12 cording to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Serv13 ices. 

14 (10) International and domestic human rights 

15 groups, such as Foro Penal Venezolano, recognize 

16 more than 108 political prisoners in Venezuela, in17 cluding opposition leader and former Chacao mayor 

18 Leopoldo Lo ́pez, Judge Marı ́a Lourdes Afiuni, Cara19 cas Mayor Antonio Jose ́ Ledezma Dı ́az, National 

20 Assembly Deputy Gilber Caro, and former San Cris21 tobal mayor Daniel Ceballos. 

22 (11) According to media accounts, 29 people 

23 lost their lives as the result of public demonstrations 

24 and protests in Venezuela in April 2017. 


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1 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) Venezuelan President Nicola ́s Maduro 

4 should permit the delivery of international humani5 tarian assistance to address the widespread and 

6 deeply concerning shortages of essential medicines 

7 and basic food products faced by the people of Ven8 ezuela; 

9 (2) it is in the best interest of the Venezuelan 

10 people for the Government of Venezuela to engage 

11 with multilateral and regional economic institutions 

12 to ameliorate the effects of the country’s ongoing 

13 economic, social, and humanitarian crisis; 

14 (3) Venezuelan President Nicola ́s Maduro 

15 should immediately release all political prisoners and 

16 respect internationally recognized human rights in 

17 order to facilitate the conditions for political negotia18 tions and dialogue in Venezuela; 

19 (4) Venezuelan President Nicola ́s Maduro and 

20 the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela 

21 should take steps to reinstate the full powers and 

22 authorities of the National Assembly of Venezuela in 

23 accordance with the Constitution of the Bolivarian 

24 Republic of Venezuela; 

25 (5) Venezuela’s National Electoral Council 

26 should establish a specific timeline to hold national, 


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1 regional, and municipal elections in accordance with 

2 the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Ven3 ezuela; and 

4 (6) the United States should support meaning5 ful efforts towards political negotiations and dia6 logue through which all parties uphold their commit7 ments and agree to specific deadlines to restore re8 spect for Venezuela’s constitutional mechanisms and 

9 resolve the country’s political, economic, and human10 itarian crisis. 

11 SEC. 4. HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE FOR THE PEOPLE OF 

12 VENEZUELA. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in coordi14 nation with the Administrator of the United States Agen15 cy for International Development, subject to the avail16 ability of appropriations, shall work through nongovern17 mental organizations to provide— 

18 (1) public health commodities to Venezuelan 

19 health facilities and services, including medicines on 

20 the World Health Organization’s List of Essential 

21 Medicines and basic medical supplies and equipment; 

22 (2) the basic food commodities and nutritional 

23 supplements needed to address growing malnutrition 

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1 ezuela, with a specific emphasis on the most vulner2 able populations; 

3 (3) technical assistance to ensure health and 

4 food commodities are appropriately selected, pro5 cured, and distributed; and 

6 (4) improved transparency and accountability in 

7 institutions of the Government of Venezuela, includ8 ing the publication of official data on public health 

9 indicators and shortages of food and medicine. 

10 (b) STRATEGY REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 90 

11 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec12 retary of State shall submit a strategy for carrying out 

13 the activities described in subsection (a) to— 

14 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

15 Senate; 

16 (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

17 Senate; 

18 (3) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

19 House of Representatives; and 

20 (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

21 House of Representatives. 

22 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

24 appropriated to the Secretary of State $10,000,000 

25 for fiscal year 2018 to carry out the activities set 


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1 forth in subsection (a) in accordance with this sec2 tion. 

3 (2) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts appropriated 

5 or otherwise made available pursuant to para6 graph (1) may not be obligated until 15 days 

7 after the date on which the President has pro8 vided notice of intent to obligate such funds to 

9 the committees listed in subsection (b). 

10 (B) WAIVER.—The Secretary of State may 

11 waive the requirement under subparagraph (A) 

12 if the Secretary of State determines that failure 

13 to waive such requirement would pose a sub14 stantial risk to human health or welfare. If 

15 such a waiver is invoked, the President shall no16 tify the committees listed in subsection (b) of 

17 the intention to obligate funds under this sec18 tion as early as practicable, but in no event 

19 later than 3 days after taking the action to 

20 which such notification requirement was appli21 cable in the context of the circumstances neces22 sitating such waiver. 

23 (d) BRIEFINGS.—Upon a request from one of the 

24 committees listed in subsection (b), the Secretary of State 

25 and the Administrator of the United States Agency for 


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1 International Development shall brief the committee on 

2 the progress made in implementing the strategy submitted 

3 under subsection (b). 

4 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT FOR STRATEGY TO COORDINATE 

5 INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN ASSIST6 ANCE. 

7 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con8 gress that the United Nations humanitarian agencies, in9 cluding the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian 

10 Affairs, the World Health Organization, the Food and Ag11 riculture Organization, and UNICEF, should conduct and 

12 publish an independent assessment on— 

13 (1) the extent and impact of the shortages of 

14 food and medicine in Venezuela; and 

15 (2) the efforts needed to resolve such shortages. 

16 (b) STRATEGY.—Not later than 90 days after the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 

18 in consultation with the Administrator of the United 

19 States Agency for International Development, shall submit 

20 a multi-year strategy to the Committee on Foreign Rela21 tions of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

22 of the House of Representatives that— 

23 (1) describes how the United States will secure 

24 support from international donors, including re25 gional partners in Latin America and the Caribbean, 


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1 for the provision of humanitarian assistance to the 

2 people of Venezuela; 

3 (2) identifies governments that are willing to 

4 provide financial and technical assistance for the 

5 provision of such humanitarian assistance to the 

6 people of Venezuela and a description of such assist7 ance; and 

8 (3) identifies the financial and technical assist9 ance to be provided by multilateral institutions, in10 cluding the United Nations humanitarian agencies 

11 listed in subsection (a), the Pan American Health 

12 Organization, the Inter-American Development 

13 Bank, and the World Bank, and a description of 

14 such assistance. 

15 (c) DIPLOMATIC ENGAGEMENT AND COORDINA16 TION.—The Secretary of State, in coordination with the 

17 Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter18 national Development, as appropriate, shall— 

19 (1) carry out diplomatic engagement to secure 

20 contributions of financial and technical assistance 

21 from international donors and multilateral institu22 tions in support of the strategy submitted under 

23 subsection (b); and 


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1 (2) take all necessary steps to ensure effective 

2 cooperation among international donors and multi3 lateral institutions in support of such strategy. 

4 (d) BRIEFINGS.—Upon a request from the Com5 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate or the Com6 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, 

7 the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the 

8 United States Agency for International Development shall 

9 brief such committee on the progress made in imple10 menting the strategy submitted under subsection (b). 

11 SEC. 6. SUPPORT FOR ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN 

12 STATES INTER-AMERICAN DEMOCRATIC 

13 CHARTER. 

14 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find15 ings: 

16 (1) Article 1 of the Inter-American Democratic 

17 Charter, adopted by the Organization of American 

18 States in Lima on September 11, 2001, affirms, 

19 ‘‘The peoples of the Americas have a right to democ20 racy and their governments have an obligation to 

21 promote and defend it.’’. 

22 (2) Article 19 of the Inter-American Demo23 cratic Charter states ‘‘an unconstitutional interrup24 tion of the democratic order or an unconstitutional 

25 alteration of the constitutional regime that seriously 


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1 impairs the democratic order in a member state, 

2 constitutes, while it persists, an insurmountable ob3 stacle to its government’s participation in sessions of 

4 the General Assembly . . . and other bodies of the 

5 Organization.’’. 

6 (3) Article 20 of the Inter-American Demo7 cratic Charter provides— 

8 (A) ‘‘In the event of an unconstitutional al9 teration of the constitutional regime that seri10 ously impairs the democratic order in a member 

11 state, any member state or the Secretary Gen12 eral may request the immediate convocation of 

13 the Permanent Council to undertake a collective 

14 assessment of the situation and to take such de15 cisions as it deems appropriate.’’; and 

16 (B) ‘‘The Permanent Council, depending 

17 on the situation, may undertake the necessary 

18 diplomatic initiatives, including good offices, to 

19 foster the restoration of democracy.’’. 

20 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con21 gress that— 

22 (1) Venezuelan President Nicola ́s Maduro and 

23 the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela have 

24 carried out systematic efforts to undermine, block, 

25 and circumvent the authorities and responsibilities 


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1 of the Venezuelan National Assembly as mandated 

2 in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of 

3 Venezuela; 

4 (2) such efforts by President Maduro and the 

5 Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela amount to 

6 an unconstitutional alternation of the constitutional 

7 regime that seriously impairs the democratic order 

8 in Venezuela; and 

9 (3) the Secretary of State, working through the 

10 United States Permanent Mission to the Organiza11 tion of American States, should take additional steps 

12 to support ongoing efforts by Secretary General Luis 

13 Almagro— 

14 (A) to invoke the Inter-American Demo15 cratic Charter; 

16 (B) to advance a collective assessment of 

17 the situation in Venezuela; and 

18 (C) to promote diplomatic initiatives to 

19 foster the restoration of Venezuelan democracy. 

20 SEC. 7. SUPPORT FOR INTERNATIONAL ELECTION OBSER21 VATION MISSIONS AND DEMOCRATIC CIVIL 

22 SOCIETY IN VENEZUELA. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap24 propriations, the Secretary of State, in coordination with 


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1 the Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter2 national Development, shall work— 

3 (1) with the Organization of American States to 

4 ensure credible international observation that con5 tributes to free, fair, and transparent democratic 

6 electoral processes in Venezuela; and 

7 (2) directly, or through nongovernmental orga8 nizations— 

9 (A) to defend internationally recognized 

10 human rights for the people of Venezuela; 

11 (B) to support the efforts of independent 

12 media outlets to broadcast, distribute, and 

13 share information beyond the limited channels 

14 made available by the Government of Ven15 ezuela; 

16 (C) to facilitate open and uncensored ac17 cess to the Internet for the people of Venezuela; 

18 and 

19 (D) to combat corruption and improve the 

20 transparency and accountability of institutions 

21 that are part of the Government of Venezuela. 

22 (b) VOICE AND VOTE AT THE OAS.—The Secretary 

23 of State, acting through the United States Permanent 

24 Representative to the Organization of American States, 

25 should advocate and build diplomatic support for sending 


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1 an election observation mission to Venezuela to ensure 

2 that democratic electoral processes are organized and car3 ried out in a free, fair, and transparent manner. 

4 (c) STRATEGY REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 90 

5 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec6 retary of State shall submit a strategy to carry out the 

7 activities described in subsection (a) to— 

8 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

9 Senate; 

10 (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

11 Senate; 

12 (3) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

13 House of Representatives; and 

14 (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

15 House of Representatives. 

16 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

18 appropriated to the Secretary of State for fiscal year 

19 2018— 

20 (A) $500,000 to carry out the activities set 

21 forth in subsection (a)(1); and 

22 (B) $9,500,000 to carry out the activities 

23 set forth in subsection (a)(2). 

24 (2) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

2 subparagraph (B), amounts appropriated or 

3 otherwise made available pursuant to paragraph 

4 (1) may not be obligated until 15 days after the 

5 date on which the President has provided notice 

6 of intent to obligate such funds to the commit7 tees listed in subsection (c). 

8 (B) WAIVER.— 

9 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

10 State may waive the notification require11 ment under subparagraph (A) if the Presi12 dent determines that such requirement 

13 would pose a substantial risk to human 

14 health or welfare. 

15 (ii) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—If 

16 a waiver is invoked under clause (i), the 

17 Secretary of State shall notify the commit18 tees listed in subsection (c) of the intention 

19 to obligate funds under this section as 

20 early as practicable, but in no event later 

21 than 3 days after taking the action to 

22 which such notification requirement was 

23 applicable in the context of the cir24 cumstances necessitating such waiver. 


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1 (e) BRIEFINGS.—Upon a request from one of the 

2 committees listed in subsection (c), the Secretary of State 

3 and the Administrator of the United States Agency for 

4 International Development shall brief the committee on 

5 the progress made in implementing the strategy submitted 

6 under subsection (c). 

7 SEC. 8. SUPPORT FOR CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find9 ings: 

10 (1) Caribbean countries, despite facing their 

11 own challenges, can play a significant role in the 

12 Caribbean region by responding to the humanitarian 

13 and political crisis in Venezuela. 

14 (2) Energy security is a major challenge for 

15 Caribbean countries, which depend largely on high16 cost imported fuel for electricity generation, and 

17 many of which have benefited from preferential 

18 treatment by Venezuela. 

19 (3) Caribbean countries— 

20 (A) are a market for United States prod21 ucts and services; 

22 (B) have access to renewable and other en23 ergy sources; and 

24 (C) can attract financing to develop and 

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1 proaches, with assistance and through public2 private partnerships. 

3 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the Sense of Con4 gress that— 

5 (1) the Secretary of State should— 

6 (A) strengthen the Caribbean Energy Se7 curity Initiative; and 

8 (B) extend current programming, such as 

9 the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Road Map 

10 and Strategy; and 

11 (2) the Secretary of State, working with the 

12 Administrator of the United States Agency for 

13 International Development, the Director of the 

14 United States Trade and Development Agency, and 

15 the President and Chief Executive Officer of the 

16 Overseas Private Investment Corporation, should— 

17 (A) support the Clean Energy Finance Fa18 cility for the Caribbean and Central America to 

19 encourage and facilitate regional investments in 

20 energy diversification; 

21 (B) promote energy efficiency and integra22 tion of renewables into Caribbean energy grids; 

23 and 

24 (C) promote United States energy missions 

25 to the Caribbean. 


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1 (c) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—According to the 

2 United States-Caribbean Strategic Engagement Act of 

3 2016 (Public Law 114–291), it is the policy of the United 

4 States to increase engagement with— 

5 (1) the governments in the Caribbean region; 

6 and 

7 (2) the private sector and civil society in the 

8 United States and in the Caribbean. 

9 SEC. 9. CONCERNS AND REPORT ON THE INVOLVEMENT OF 

10 VENEZUELAN OFFICIALS IN CORRUPTION 

11 AND ILLICIT NARCOTICS TRAFFICKING. 

12 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find13 ings: 

14 (1) The deterioration of governance in Ven15 ezuela has been exacerbated by the involvement of 

16 senior officials of the Government of Venezuela, in17 cluding members of the National Electoral Council, 

18 the judicial system, and the Venezuelan security 

19 forces, in acts of corruption and illicit narcotics traf20 ficking and related money laundering. 

21 (2) In March 2015, the Department of the 

22 Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network 

23 determined that approximately $2,000,000,000 had 

24 been siphoned from Venezuela’s public oil company, 

25 Petro ́leos de Venezuela S.A., in conjunction with its 


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1 designation of the Banca Privada d’Andorra as a 

2 Foreign Financial Institution of Primary Money 

3 Laundering Concern. 

4 (3) On August 1, 2016, General Nestor 

5 Reverol, Venezuela’s current Minister of Interior and 

6 former National Guard commander, was indicted in 

7 a United States district court for participating in an 

8 international cocaine trafficking conspiracy. 

9 (4) On November 18, 2016, Franqui Francisco 

10 Flores de Freitas and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, 

11 nephews of President Maduro and Venezuelan First 

12 Lady Cilia Flores, were convicted in a United States 

13 district court on charges of conspiring to import co14 caine into the United States. 

15 (5) On February 13, 2017, the Department of 

16 the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control des17 ignated Venezuelan Vice President Tareck Zaidan El 

18 Aissami Maddah for his involvement in illicit nar19 cotics trafficking, pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics 

20 Kingpin Designation Act (21 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.; 

21 title VIII of Public Law 106–120). 

22 (6) The Department of the Treasury’s Office of 

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1 volvement in illicit narcotics trafficking, pursuant to 

2 such Act, including— 

3 (A) Venezuelan national Samark Jose 

4 Lopez Bello, who is the primary front man and 

5 money launderer for Tareck Zaidan El Aissami 

6 Maddah; 

7 (B) Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, who 

8 is the current National Assembly Deputy and 

9 the former Director of Venezuela’s Military In10 telligence Directorate; 

11 (C) Henry de Jesus Rangel Silva, who is 

12 the current Governor of Trujillo State and the 

13 former Director of Venezuela’s Directorate of 

14 Intelligence and Prevention Services; 

15 (D) Ramon Emilio Rodriguez Chacin, who 

16 previously served as the Minister of Interior; 

17 and 

18 (E) Freddy Alirio Bernal Rosales, who pre19 viously served as the Mayor of the Libertador 

20 municipality of Caracas. 

21 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) CORRUPTION.—The term ‘‘corruption’’ 

23 means the extent to which public power is exercised 

24 for private gain, including by bribery, nepotism, 

25 fraud, or embezzlement. 


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1 (2) GRAND CORRUPTION.—The term ‘‘grand 

2 corruption’’ means corruption committed at a high 

3 level of government that— 

4 (A) distorts policies or the central func5 tioning of the country; and 

6 (B) enables leaders to benefit at the ex7 pense of the public good. 

8 (c) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec11 retary of State, acting through the Bureau of Intel12 ligence and Research, and in consultation with the 

13 intelligence community (as defined in section 3(4) of 

14 the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 

15 3003(4))), shall submit a report to Congress that 

16 describes the involvement of senior officials of the 

17 Government of Venezuela, including members of the 

18 National Electoral Council, the judicial system, and 

19 the Venezuelan security forces, in acts of corruption 

20 in Venezuela, with a specific emphasis on acts of 

21 grand corruption. 

22 (2) ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS.—The report sub23 mitted under paragraph (1) shall— 

24 (A) describe how the acts of corruption de25 scribed in the report pose direct challenges for 


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1 United States national security and inter2 national security; 

3 (B) identify individuals that frustrate the 

4 ability of the United States to combat illicit 

5 narcotics trafficking; and 

6 (C) include input from the Drug Enforce7 ment Administration, the Office of Foreign As8 sets Control, and the Financial Crimes Enforce9 ment Network. 

10 (3) FORM.—The report under paragraph (1) 

11 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may in12 clude a classified annex. The unclassified portion of 

13 the report shall be made available to the public. 

14 SEC. 10. SANCTIONS ON PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR PUB15 LIC CORRUPTION AND UNDERMINING DEMO16 CRATIC GOVERNANCE IN VENEZUELA. 

17 (a) FINDING.—Executive Order 13692 (50 U.S.C. 

18 1701 note), which was signed on March 8, 2015, estab19 lished sanctions against individuals responsible for under20 mining democratic processes and institutions and involved 

21 in acts of public corruption that were not included in the 

22 Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act 

23 of 2014 (Public Law 113–278). 


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1 (b) SANCTIONS.—Section 5 of the Venezuela Defense 

2 of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014 (Public 

3 Law 113–278) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

6 the end; 

7 (B) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

8 paragraph (5); and 

9 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(3) has perpetrated, or is responsible for or12 dering or otherwise directing, significant actions or 

13 policies that undermine democratic processes or in14 stitutions; 

15 ‘‘(4) has perpetrated, or is responsible for or16 dering or otherwise directing, significant acts of pub17 lic corruption; or’’; 

18 (2) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

19 subsections (f) and (g), respectively; 

20 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(e) BRIEFINGS.—Upon a request from the Com23 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate or the Com24 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, 

25 the Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Secretary 


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1 of the Treasury, shall offer a classified briefing on the ef2 forts to impose sanctions under this section and the im3 pact of such sanctions.’’; and 

4 (4) in subsection (f), as redesignated, by strik5 ing ‘‘December 31, 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘December 

6 31, 2022’’. 

7 SEC. 11. CONCERNS OVER PDVSA TRANSACTIONS WITH 

8 ROSNEFT. 

9 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find10 ings: 

11 (1) In late 2016, Venezuelan state owned oil 

12 company Petro ́leos de Venezuela, S.A. (referred to in 

13 this section as ‘‘PDVSA’’), through a no-compete 

14 transaction, secured a loan from Russian govern15 ment-controlled oil company Rosneft, using 49.9 per16 cent of PDVSA’s American subsidiary, CITGO Pe17 troleum Corporation, including its assets in the 

18 United States, as collateral. As a result of this 

19 transaction, 100 percent of CITGO is held as collat20 eral by PDVSA’s creditors. 

21 (2) CITGO, a wholly owned subsidiary of 

22 PDVSA, is engaged in interstate commerce and 

23 owns and controls critical energy infrastructure in 

24 19 States in the United States, including an exten25 sive network of pipelines, 48 terminals, and 3 refinVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 May 09, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1018.IS S1018

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1 eries, with a combined oil refining capacity of 

2 749,000 barrels per day. CITGO’s refinery in Lake 

3 Charles, Louisiana, is the sixth largest refinery in 

4 the United States. 

5 (3) The Department of the Treasury imposed 

6 sanctions on Rosneft, which is controlled by the Rus7 sian Government, and its Executive Chairman, Igor 

8 Sechin, following Russia’s military invasion of 

9 Ukraine and its illegal annexation of Crimea in 

10 2014. 

11 (4) The Department of Homeland Security has 

12 designated the energy sector as critical to United 

13 States infrastructure. 

14 (5) The growing economic crisis in Venezuela 

15 raises the probability that the Government of Ven16 ezuela and PDVSA will default on their inter17 national debt obligations, resulting in a scenario in 

18 which Rosneft could come into control of CITGO’s 

19 United States energy infrastructure holdings. 

20 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con21 gress that— 

22 (1) control of critical United States energy in23 frastructure by Rosneft, a Russian government-con24 trolled entity currently under United States sancVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 May 09, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1018.IS S1018

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1 tions, would pose a significant risk to United States 

2 national security and energy security; 

3 (2) the President should take all necessary 

4 steps to prevent Rosneft from gaining control of 

5 critical United States interstate energy infrastruc6 ture; 

7 (3) a default by PDVSA on its loan from 

8 Rosneft, resulting in Rosneft coming into possession 

9 of PDVSA’s United States CITGO assets, would 

10 warrant careful consideration by the Committee on 

11 Foreign Investment in the United States; 

12 (4) if PDVSA defaults on its debt obligations, 

13 the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign 

14 Asset Control should review CITGO’s transactions 

15 with United States persons to assess and ensure 

16 compliance with United States sanctions policies and 

17 regulations; and 

18 (5) the Department of Homeland Security 

19 should conduct an assessment of the security risks 

20 posed by foreign control of CITGO’s United States 

21 energy infrastructure holdings. 

Æ 


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