I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 854 
To provide humanitarian assistance to the Venezuelan people, including 
Venezuelan migrants and refugees in the Americas and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 29, 2019 
Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL (for herself, Ms. SHALALA, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, 
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. SOTO, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. ESPAILLAT, and 
Ms. FRANKEL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To provide humanitarian assistance to the Venezuelan people, 
including Venezuelan migrants and refugees in the Amer-
icas and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Humanitarian Assist-
ance to the Venezuelan People Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Venezuela is in the grips of unprecedented 
political and economic turmoil marked by hyper-
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inflation, soaring crime rates, and an authoritarian 
President. 
(2) President Nicola´s Maduro and his prede-
cessor have, through authoritarianism, graft, and in-
competence, precipitated a massive humanitarian 
crisis both inside Venezuela and throughout the 
Western Hemisphere. 
(3) The Venezuelan gross domestic product is 
expected to contract for the sixth year in a row in 
2019, with the Government defaulting on its exter-
nal debt and inflation projected to exceed 1 million 
percent this year. 
(4) Health outcomes in Venezuela have ap-
proached critical levels as food, medicine, and serv-
ices become increasingly inaccessible, with 11.4 per-
cent of children in Venezuela under 5 years old suf-
fering from moderate or acute malnutrition. 
(5) Nearly 10 percent of Venezuela’s population 
of 31 million have fled overseas, with nearly 90 per-
cent of those remaining living in poverty. 
(6) Venezuelans have lost an average of 19 
pounds of weight due to nationwide food shortages 
since the beginning of the country’s economic crisis. 
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(7) Venezuela is suffering from an 88 percent 
medicine shortage, with more than 22,000 doctors 
leaving Venezuela in the past 4 years. 
(8) The Maduro Government has repeatedly re-
jected offers of humanitarian assistance, despite the 
return of once-vanquished diseases like diphtheria 
and measles, rampant cases of malaria, and the 
sharp rise in infant and maternal mortality. 
(9) Venezuela’s rates of homicide and other 
crimes have risen dramatically over the course of the 
crisis, with chronic underreporting contributing to 
an insufficient understanding of the scope of the cri-
sis. 
SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT FOR STRATEGY TO PROVIDE HU-
MANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE PEOPLE 
OF VENEZUELA. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 
in coordination with the Administrator of the United 
States Agency for International Development, shall submit 
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee 
on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 
Appropriations of the Senate a long-term strategy to pro-
vide humanitarian assistance to the people of Venezuela 
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both in Venezuela and throughout the Western Hemi-
sphere through credible and independent nongovernmental 
organizations operating in Venezuela or in neighboring 
countries to alleviate the suffering of the Venezuelan peo-
ple. 
(b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The strategy re-
quired under subsection (a) shall include the following: 
(1) A description of how and to what extent the 
following assistance will be provided: 
(A) Public health commodities for Ven-
ezuelan health facilities and services, including 
medicines on the World Health Organization’s 
List of Essential Medicines and basic medical 
supplies and equipment. 
(B) Basic food commodities and nutritional 
supplements needed to address growing mal-
nutrition and improve food security for the peo-
ple of Venezuela, with a specific emphasis on 
the most vulnerable populations. 
(C) Technical assistance to ensure health 
and food commodities are appropriately se-
lected, procured, and distributed, predominantly 
through local nongovernmental organizations. 
(2) An identification of United States Agency 
for International Development best practices in de-
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livering humanitarian assistance, particularly with 
regard to food assistance and how such best prac-
tices are being utilized in providing humanitarian as-
sistance to Venezuela. 
(3) A description of obstacles put in place by 
the Maduro Government to prohibit the entry of hu-
manitarian assistance into the country. 
(4) A description of efforts to enhance support 
for countries in the Western Hemisphere in sup-
porting the humanitarian needs of Venezuelan mi-
grants. 
(5) A description of efforts to ensure that hu-
manitarian assistance for Venezuelans is coordinated 
with other United States bilateral assistance in the 
Western Hemisphere and does not result in elimi-
nating other bilateral assistance. 
(6) A description of how humanitarian assist-
ance is being monitored and evaluated and what ad-
ditional staff are managing the assistance. 
SEC. 4. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT ON UNITED 
STATES 
EFFORTS 
TO 
PROVIDE 
HUMANI-
TARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE PEOPLE OF 
VENEZUELA. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 
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