•HRES 851 EH 
Whereas, in late December 2015, the outgoing National As-
sembly increased the number of seats in the Supreme 
Court of Venezuela and confirmed magistrates with the 
Maduro Administration and, thereafter, the expanded Su-
preme Court has blocked four legislators, including 3 op-
position legislators, from taking office; 
Whereas the Supreme Court has repeatedly issued politically 
motivated judgments to overturn legislation passed by the 
democratically elected National Assembly and block inter-
nal legislative procedures; 
Whereas, in 2016, President Maduro has utilized emergency 
and legislative decree powers to bypass the National As-
sembly, which, alongside the actions of the Supreme 
Court, have severely undermined the principles of separa-
tion of powers in Venezuela; 
Whereas democracy is failing in Venezuela, the Maduro gov-
ernment controls the presidency, a majority of the mu-
nicipalities, the Supreme Court, the military leadership, 
the state-owned oil company (PDVSA) leadership, and 
most of the media; 
Whereas the former Presidents of Spain, Panama, and the 
Dominican Republic have pursued dialogue between 
President Maduro and the National Assembly; 
Whereas, in May 2016, Organization of American States Sec-
retary General Luis Almagro presented a 132-page report 
outlining grave alterations of the democratic order in 
Venezuela and invoked Article 20 of the Inter-American 
Democratic Charter, which calls on the OAS Permanent 
Council ‘‘to undertake a collective assessment of the situ-
ation’’;
•HRES 851 EH 
Whereas the countries of Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Canada, 
Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mex-
ico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, United States, and Uru-
guay called on the Venezuelan Government in June 2016 
to ‘‘guarantee the exercise of the constitutional rights of 
the Venezuelan people and that the remaining steps for 
the realization of the Presidential Recall Referendum be 
pursued clearly, concretely and without delay’’; 
Whereas, in June 2016, at a joint press conference with 
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and President 
Enrique Pen˜a Nieto of Mexico, President Barack Obama 
stated, ‘‘Given the very serious situation in Venezuela 
and the worsening plight of the Venezuelan people, to-
gether we’re calling on the government and opposition to 
engage in meaningful dialogue and urge the Venezuelan 
government to respect the rule of law and the authority 
of the National Assembly.’’; and 
Whereas, at the joint press conference with Prime Minister 
Justin Trudeau and President Pen˜a Nieto, President 
Barack Obama continued, ‘‘Political prisoners should be 
released. The democratic process should be respected and 
that includes legitimate efforts to pursue a recall ref-
erendum consistent with Venezuelan law.’’: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) expresses its profound concern about widespread 
shortages of essential medicines and basic food products 
faced by the people of Venezuela, and urges President 
Maduro to permit the delivery of humanitarian assist-
ance;
•HRES 851 EH 
(2) calls on the Government of Venezuela to imme-
diately release all political prisoners, including United 
States citizens, to provide protections for freedom of ex-
pression and assembly, and to respect internationally 
recognized human rights; 
(3) supports meaningful efforts towards a dialogue 
that leads to respect for Venezuela’s constitutional mech-
anisms and resolves the country’s political, economic, so-
cial, and humanitarian crisis; 
(4) affirms its support for OAS Secretary General 
Almagro’s invocation of Article 20 of the Inter-American 
Democratic Charter and urges the OAS Permanent 
Council, which represents all of the organization’s mem-
ber states, to undertake a collective assessment of the 
constitutional and democratic order in Venezuela; 
(5) expresses its great concern over the Venezuelan 
executive’s lack of respect for the principle of separation 
of powers, its overreliance on emergency decree powers, 
and its threat to judicial independence; 
(6) calls on the Government of Venezuela and secu-
rity forces to respect the Constitution of Venezuela, in-
cluding constitutional provisions that provide Venezuelan 
citizens with the right to peacefully pursue a fair and 
timely recall referendum for their President this year;
•HRES 851 EH 
(7) stresses the urgency of strengthening the rule of 
law and increasing efforts to combat impunity and public 
corruption in Venezuela, which has bankrupted a re-
source-rich country, fuels rising social tensions, and con-
tributes to elevated levels of crime and violence; 
(8) urges the President of the United States to pro-
vide full support for OAS efforts in favor of constitu-
tional and democratic solutions to the political impasse, 
and to instruct appropriate Federal agencies to hold offi-
cials of the Government of Venezuela accountable for 
violations of United States law and abuses of inter-
nationally recognized human rights; and 
(9) urges the President to continue to stand in soli-
darity with the Venezuelan people by urging the Maduro 
government to— 
(A) hold a fair and free recall referendum by 
the end of this calendar year; 
(B) release all political prisoners, including 
United States citizens, from prison; 
(C) adhere to democratic principles; and
•HRES 851 EH 
(D) permit the delivery of emergency food and 
medicine. 
Attest: 
Clerk.