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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2142 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2142

 To impose targeted sanctions on persons responsible for violations of 
 human rights of antigovernment protesters in Venezuela, to strengthen 
          civil society in Venezuela, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 13, 2014

    Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Nelson, and Mr. Kirk) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                     Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To impose targeted sanctions on persons responsible for violations of 
 human rights of antigovernment protesters in Venezuela, to strengthen 
          civil society in Venezuela, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Venezuela Defense of Human Rights 
and Civil Society Act of 2014''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Central Bank of Venezuela and the National 
        Statistical Institute of Venezuela have stated that the 
        inflation rate in Venezuela was 56.30 percent in 2013, the 
        highest level of inflation in the Western Hemisphere and the 
        third highest level of inflation in the world behind South 
        Sudan and Syria.
            (2) The Central Bank of Venezuela and the Government of 
        Venezuela have imposed a series of currency controls that has 
        exacerbated economic problems and, according to the World 
        Economic Forum, has become the most problematic factor for 
        doing business in Venezuela.
            (3) The Central Bank of Venezuela and the National 
        Statistical Institute of Venezuela have declared that the 
        scarcity index of Venezuela reached 28 percent in December 
        2013, which signifies that one in 4 basic goods is unavailable 
        at any given time.
            (4) Since 1999, violent crime in Venezuela has risen 
        sharply and the Venezuelan Violence Observatory, an independent 
        nongovernmental organization, found the national per capita 
        murder rate to be 79 per 100,000 people in 2013.
            (5) The international nongovernmental organization Human 
        Rights Watch recently stated, ``Under the leadership of 
        President Chavez and now President Maduro, the accumulation of 
        power in the executive branch and the erosion of human rights 
        guarantees have enabled the government to intimidate, censor, 
        and prosecute its critics.''.
            (6) The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013 
        of the Department of State maintained that in Venezuela ``the 
        government did not respect judicial independence or permit 
        judges to act according to the law without fear of 
        retaliation'' and ``the government used the judiciary to 
        intimidate and selectively prosecute political, union, 
        business, and civil society leaders who were critical of 
        government policies or actions''.
            (7) The Government of Venezuela has detained foreign 
        journalists and threatened and expelled international media 
        outlets operating in Venezuela, and the international 
        nongovernmental organization Freedom House declared that 
        Venezuela's ``media climate is permeated by intimidation, 
        sometimes including physical attacks, and strong antimedia 
        rhetoric by the government is common''.
            (8) Since February 4, 2014, the Government of Venezuela has 
        responded to antigovernment protests with violence and killings 
        perpetrated by public security forces, and by arresting and 
        unjustly charging opposition leader Leopoldo Lopes with 
        criminal incitement, conspiracy, arson, and intent to damage 
        property.
            (9) As of March 13, 2014, 23 people had been killed, more 
        than 100 people had been injured, and dozens had been unjustly 
        detained as a result of antigovernment demonstrations 
        throughout Venezuela.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING ANTIGOVERNMENT PROTESTS IN 
              VENEZUELA AND THE NEED TO PREVENT FURTHER VIOLENCE IN 
              VENEZUELA.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the United States aspires to a mutually beneficial 
        relationship with Venezuela based on respect for human rights 
        and the rule of law and a functional and productive 
        relationship on issues of public security, including 
        counternarcotics and counterterrorism;
            (2) the United States supports the people of Venezuela in 
        their efforts to realize their full economic potential and to 
        advance representative democracy, human rights, and the rule of 
        law within their country;
            (3) the chronic mismanagement by the Government of 
        Venezuela of its economy has produced conditions of economic 
        hardship and scarcity of basic goods and foodstuffs for the 
        people of Venezuela;
            (4) the failure of the Government of Venezuela to guarantee 
        minimal standards of public security for its citizens has led 
        the country to become one of the most violent in the world;
            (5) the Government of Venezuela continues to take steps to 
        remove checks and balances on the executive, politicize the 
        judiciary, undermine the independence of the legislature 
        through use of executive decree powers, persecute and prosecute 
        its political opponents, curtail freedom of the press, and 
        limit the free expression of its citizens;
            (6) the people of Venezuela, responding to ongoing economic 
        hardship, high levels of crime and violence, and the lack of 
        basic political rights and individual freedoms, have turned out 
        in demonstrations in Caracas and throughout the country to 
        protest the inability of the Government of Venezuela to ensure 
        the political and economic well-being of its citizens; and
            (7) the repeated use of violence perpetrated by the 
        National Guard and security personnel of Venezuela, as well as 
        persons acting on behalf of the Government of Venezuela, in 
        relation to the antigovernment protests that began on February 
        4, 2014, is intolerable and the use of unprovoked violence by 
        protesters is also a matter of serious concern.

SEC. 4. UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD VENEZUELA.

    It is the policy of the United States--
            (1) to support the people of Venezuela in their aspiration 
        to live under conditions of peace and representative democracy 
        as defined by the Inter-American Democratic Charter of the 
        Organization of American States;
            (2) to work in concert with the other member states within 
        the Organization of American States, as well as the countries 
        of the European Union, to ensure the peaceful resolution of the 
        current situation in Venezuela and the immediate cessation of 
        violence against antigovernment protestors;
            (3) to hold accountable government and security officials 
        in Venezuela responsible for or complicit in the use of force 
        in relation to the antigovernment protests that began on 
        February 4, 2014, and similar future acts of violence; and
            (4) to continue to support the development of democratic 
        political processes and independent civil society in Venezuela.

SEC. 5. SANCTIONS ON PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR VIOLENCE IN VENEZUELA.

    (a) In General.--The President shall impose the sanctions described 
in subsection (b) with respect to any person, including a current or 
former official of the Government of Venezuela or a person acting on 
behalf of that Government, that the President determines--
            (1) has perpetrated, or is responsible for ordering, 
        controlling, or otherwise directing, significant acts of 
        violence or serious human rights abuses in Venezuela against 
        persons associated with the antigovernment protests in 
        Venezuela that began on February 4, 2014;
            (2) has directed or ordered the arrest or prosecution of a 
        person primarily because of the person's legitimate exercise of 
        freedom of expression or assembly; or
            (3) has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided 
        significant financial, material, or technological support for, 
        or goods or services in support of, the commission of acts 
        described in paragraph (1) or (2).
    (b) Sanctions Described.--
            (1) In general.--The sanctions described in this subsection 
        are the following:
                    (A) Asset blocking.--The exercise of all powers 
                granted to the President by the International Emergency 
                Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the 
                extent necessary to block and prohibit all transactions 
                in all property and interests in property of a person 
                determined by the President to be subject to subsection 
                (a) if such property and interests in property are in 
                the United States, come within the United States, or 
                are or come within the possession or control of a 
                United States person.
                    (B) Exclusion from the united states and revocation 
                of visa or other documentation.--In the case of an 
                alien determined by the President to be subject to 
                subsection (a), denial of a visa to, and exclusion from 
                the United States of, the alien, and revocation in 
                accordance with section 221(i) of the Immigration and 
                Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), of any visa or 
                other documentation of the alien.
            (2) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to 
        violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of 
        paragraph (1)(A) or any regulation, license, or order issued to 
        carry out paragraph (1)(A) shall be subject to the penalties 
        set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the 
        International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to 
        the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful act 
        described in subsection (a) of that section.
            (3) Exception to comply with united nations headquarters 
        agreement.--Sanctions under paragraph (1)(B) shall not apply to 
        an alien if admitting the alien into the United States is 
        necessary to permit the United States to comply with the 
        Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, 
        signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force 
        November 21, 1947, between the United Nations and the United 
        States, or other applicable international obligations.
    (c) Waiver.--The President may waive the application of sanctions 
under subsection (b) with respect to a person if the President--
            (1) determines that such a waiver is in the national 
        security interests of the United States; and
            (2) on or before the date on which the waiver takes effect, 
        submits to the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee 
        on Banking Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the 
        Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Financial 
        Services of the House of Representatives a notice of and 
        justification for the waiver.
    (d) Regulatory Authority.--The President shall issue such 
regulations, licenses, and orders as are necessary to carry out this 
section.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Admitted; alien.--The terms ``admitted'' and ``alien'' 
        have the meanings given those terms in section 101 of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
            (2) Financial institution.--The term ``financial 
        institution'' has the meaning given that term in section 5312 
        of title 31, United States Code.
            (3) Materially assisted.--The term ``materially assisted'' 
        means the provision of assistance that is significant and of a 
        kind directly relevant to acts described in paragraph (1) or 
        (2) of subsection (a).
            (4) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' means--
                    (A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully 
                admitted for permanent residence to the United States; 
                or
                    (B) an entity organized under the laws of the 
                United States or of any jurisdiction within the United 
                States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.

SEC. 6. SUPPORT FOR CIVIL SOCIETY IN VENEZUELA.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall, subject to the 
availability of appropriations, directly or through nongovernmental 
organizations--
            (1) defend internationally recognized human rights for the 
        people of Venezuela;
            (2) build the organizational and operational capacity of 
        democratic civil society activists and organizations in 
        Venezuela at the national and regional level;
            (3) support the efforts of independent media outlets to 
        broadcast, distribute, and share information beyond the limited 
        channels made available by the Government of Venezuela;
            (4) facilitate open and uncensored access to the Internet 
        for the people of Venezuela;
            (5) improve transparency and accountability of institutions 
        that are part of the Government of Venezuela;
            (6) provide support to civil society organizations, 
        activists, and peaceful demonstrators in Venezuela that have 
        been targeted for exercising internationally recognized civil 
        and political rights, as well as journalists targeted for 
        activities related to the work of a free press; and
            (7) provide support for democratic political organizing and 
        election monitoring in Venezuela.
    (b) Strategy Requirement.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit a strategy to 
carry out the activities described in subsection (a) to--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and 
        the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
        Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the 
        Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to 
        the Secretary of State $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2015 to 
        carry out subsection (a). Amounts appropriated for the 
        activities set forth in subsection (a) shall be used pursuant 
        to the authorization and requirements contained in this 
        section. Additional amounts may be authorized to be 
        appropriated under provisions of law.
            (2) Notification requirement.--
                    (A) In general.--Funds appropriated or otherwise 
                made available pursuant to paragraph (1) may not be 
                obligated until until 15 days after the date on which 
                the President has provided notice of intent to obligate 
                such funds to--
                            (i) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 
                        the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
                        of the House of Representatives; and
                            (ii) the Committee on Appropriations of the 
                        Senate and the Committee on Appropriations of 
                        the House of Representatives.
                    (B) Waiver.--The President may waive the 
                requirement under subparagraph (A) if the President 
                determines that failure to waive that requirement would 
                pose a substantial risk to human health or welfare, in 
                which case notification shall be provided as early as 
                practicable, but in no event later than 3 days after 
                taking the action to which such notification 
                requirement was applicable in the context of the 
                circumstances necessitating such waiver.
                                 <all>
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