I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1102 

To assess and mitigate threats posed by Russian-Venezuelan cooperation, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (for herself, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Ms. SHALALA, and 

Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To assess and mitigate threats posed by Russian-Venezuelan 

cooperation, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Russian-Venezuelan 

5 Threat Mitigation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Russian Federation’s increased pres9 ence in the western hemisphere is of concern to the 

10 United States and our allies in the region. 


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1 (2) In December 2018, the Russian Federation 

2 sent two Tu–160 nuclear-capable bombers to Ven3 ezuela for joint exercises with the Venezuelan mili4 tary. The Tu–160 can carry conventional or nuclear5 tipped cruise missiles with an estimated maximum 

6 range of around 3,000 miles. 

7 (3) Russian and Venezuelan forces took part in 

8 a joint 10-hour exercise across the Caribbean in De9 cember 2018 with the Tu–160 nuclear-capable 

10 bombers. 

11 (4) The Maduro regime has turned to the Rus12 sian Federation, one of its strongest political allies, 

13 for financial support during its current economic cri14 sis. 

15 (5) Nicolas Maduro secured loans from the 

16 Russian Federation to be repaid through future oil 

17 exports, but fell behind on those payments in 2017. 

18 News reports in December 2018 suggest that Rus19 sian State oil company Rosneft has lent Venezuelan 

20 state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA) 

21 $6.5 billion partly as prepayment for crude oil, $3.1 

22 billion of which remained outstanding as of the end 

23 of September 2018. 

24 (6) In 2016, PdVSA secured a $1.5 billion loan 

25 from Rosneft, and PdVSA used 49.9 percent of its 


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1 shares in United States-based and Venezuelan2 owned company CITGO as collateral. A Venezuelan 

3 default could lead to potential Russian ownership of 

4 United States energy infrastructure. 

5 (7) At the conclusion of a 3-day visit to Moscow 

6 in December 2018, Maduro announced $6 billion 

7 worth of Russian investment pledges focused on the 

8 oil and mining sectors as well as the export of 

9 600,000 tons of Russian wheat to Venezuela to 

10 cover its 2019 needs. 

11 SEC. 3. THREAT ASSESSMENT AND STRATEGY TO COUNTER 

12 RUSSIAN INFLUENCE IN VENEZUELA. 

13 (a) THREAT ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 120 days 

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

15 of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

16 committees an assessment on Russian-Venezuelan security 

17 cooperation and the potential threat such cooperation 

18 poses to the United States and countries in the Western 

19 Hemisphere. 

20 (b) STRATEGY.—Not later than 30 days after the 

21 submission of the threat assessment required under sub22 section (a), the Secretary of State shall submit to the ap23 propriate congressional committees a strategy to address 

24 Russian-Venezuelan cooperation. 


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1 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘appro2 priate congressional committees’’ means the Committee on 

3 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 

4 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. 

5 SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT OF FOREIGN ACQUISITION OF CITGO 

6 ASSETS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall 

9 transmit to the appropriate congressional committees an 

10 assessment of the security risks posed by potential Rus11 sian acquisition of CITGO’s United States energy infra12 structure holdings. 

13 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘appro14 priate congressional committees’’ means the Committee on 

15 Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of 

16 the House of Representatives and the Committee on For17 eign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of 

18 the Senate. 

Æ 


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