IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 854 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 26, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT 

To provide humanitarian assistance to the Venezuelan people, 

including Venezuelan migrants and refugees in the Americas 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Humanitarian Assist3 ance to the Venezuelan People Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REPORT ON THE COORDINATION AND DISTRIBU5 TION OF HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO 

6 THE PEOPLE OF VENEZUELA INCLUDING 

7 STRATEGY ON FUTURE EFFORTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

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

10 in coordination with the Administrator of the United 

11 States Agency for International Development, shall submit 

12 to the appropriate congressional committees a report out13 lining the coordination of humanitarian assistance to the 

14 people of Venezuela, both in Venezuela and throughout the 

15 Western Hemisphere, with nongovernmental organizations 

16 and international organizations operating in Venezuela or 

17 countries in the region to alleviate the suffering of the 

18 Venezuelan people. 

19 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re20 quired under subsection (a) shall include the following: 

21 (1) A description of how and under what cir22 cumstances the following humanitarian assistance 

23 has been provided: 

24 (A) Public health commodities for Ven25 ezuelan health facilities and services, including 

26 medicines on the World Health Organization’s 


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1 List of Essential Medicines, and basic medical 

2 supplies and equipment. 

3 (B) Basic food commodities and nutritional 

4 supplements needed to address growing mal5 nutrition and improve food security for the peo6 ple of Venezuela, with a specific emphasis on 

7 the most vulnerable populations. 

8 (C) Technical assistance to ensure health 

9 and food commodities are appropriately se10 lected, procured, and distributed, predominantly 

11 through local nongovernmental organizations. 

12 (2) An identification of United States Agency 

13 for International Development and Department of 

14 State best practices in delivering humanitarian as15 sistance, particularly with regard to food assistance, 

16 and how such best practices are being utilized in 

17 providing humanitarian assistance to Venezuela and 

18 countries in the region. 

19 (3) A description of current and anticipated 

20 challenges to distributing humanitarian assistance in 

21 Venezuela and countries hosting Venezuelan mi22 grants. 

23 (4) A description of efforts to ensure that hu24 manitarian and development assistance for Ven25 ezuelans is coordinated with other United States biVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:19 Mar 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H854.RFS H854

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1 lateral assistance in the Western Hemisphere and 

2 does not result in duplication or omission of such 

3 other bilateral assistance. 

4 (5) A description of how the pre-positioning and 

5 distribution of humanitarian assistance is being 

6 monitored and evaluated, the number of beneficiaries 

7 reached, an assessment of how humanitarian and de8 velopment assistance is benefitting Venezuelan mi9 grants inside and outside of the country, and what 

10 additional staff may be necessary to manage such 

11 assistance. 

12 (6) A strategy for future efforts to provide hu13 manitarian assistance to the people of Venezuela 

14 that includes a description of future efforts regard15 ing the matters described in paragraphs (1) through 

16 (5). 

17 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF CONGRESS. 

18 Congress strongly condemns all violent actions by the 

19 Maduro regime and Venezuela’s security forces to block 

20 and divert humanitarian assistance from entering Ven21 ezuela. 


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1 SEC. 4. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT ON UNITED 

2 STATES EFFORTS TO PROVIDE HUMANI3 TARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE PEOPLE OF 

4 VENEZUELA. 

5 Not later than one year after the date of the enact6 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

7 States shall submit to appropriate congressional commit8 tees a report assessing the impact of United States hu9 manitarian assistance on the people of Venezuela, both in 

10 Venezuela and throughout the Western Hemisphere, in11 cluding the total number of beneficiaries reached. 

12 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR HUMAN13 ITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE PEOPLE OF 

14 VENEZUELA. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President is authorized to 

16 provide humanitarian assistance to support the people of 

17 Venezuela, both in Venezuela and throughout the Western 

18 Hemisphere, in accordance with established international 

19 humanitarian principles. 

20 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con21 gress that not less than $150,000,000 is necessary for 

22 each of fiscal years 2020 and 2021 to carry out this sec23 tion. 

24 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

25 authorized to be appropriated to the President such sums 


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1 as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2020 and 

2 2021 to carry out this section. 

3 SEC. 6. DEFINITION. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT6 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com7 mittees’’ means the following: 

8 (A) The Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

9 the House of Representatives. 

10 (B) The Committee on Appropriations of 

11 the House of Representatives. 

12 (C) The Committee on Foreign Relations 

13 of the Senate. 

14 (D) The Committee on Appropriations of 

15 the Senate. 

16 (2) VENEZUELAN SECURITY FORCES.—The 

17 term ‘‘Venezuelan security forces’’ includes the fol18 lowing: 

19 (A) The Bolivarian National Armed 

20 Forces, including the Bolivarian National 

21 Guard. 

22 (B) The Bolivarian National Intelligence 

23 Service. 

24 (C) The Bolivarian National Police. 


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1 (D) The Bureau for Scientific, Criminal 

2 and Forensic Investigations of the Ministry of 

3 Interior, Justice, and Peace. 

Passed the House of Representatives March 25, 

2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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