IV 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 851 
Expressing profound concern about the ongoing political, economic, social 
and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, urging the release of political 
prisoners, and calling for respect of constitutional and democratic proc-
esses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 8, 2016 
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (for herself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. DUNCAN of 
South Carolina, Mr. SIRES, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. HASTINGS, 
Mr. CURBELO of Florida, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. DESANTIS, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. 
FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, 
Mr. GRAYSON, Mr. MURPHY of Florida, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Ms. WILSON of 
Florida, Mr. YOHO, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, and Mr. DIAZ-BALART) sub-
mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing profound concern about the ongoing political, eco-
nomic, social and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, urg-
ing the release of political prisoners, and calling for 
respect of constitutional and democratic processes. 
Whereas the deterioration of basic governance and the eco-
nomic crisis in Venezuela have reached deeply troubling 
levels, which in turn have led to an unprecedented hu-
manitarian situation in Venezuela where millions of peo-
ple are suffering from severe shortages of essential medi-
cines and basic food products; 
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•HRES 851 IH 
Whereas Venezuela lacks more than 80 percent of the basic 
medical supplies and equipment needed to treat its popu-
lation, including medicine to treat chronic illnesses and 
cancer as well as basic antibiotics, and 85 percent of 
pharmacies are at risk of bankruptcy, according to the 
Venezuelan Pharmaceutical Federation; 
Whereas, despite the massive shortages of basic foodstuffs 
and essential medicines, President of Venezuela Nicolas 
Maduro has rejected repeated requests from the majority 
of members of the National Assembly and civil society or-
ganizations to bring humanitarian aid into the country; 
Whereas the International Monetary Fund assesses that, in 
Venezuela, inflation reached 275 percent and the gross 
domestic product contracted 5.7 percent in 2015, and 
further projects that inflation will reach 720 percent and 
the gross domestic product will contract an additional 8 
percent in 2016; 
Whereas Venezuela’s political, economic, and humanitarian 
crisis is fueling social tensions that are resulting in grow-
ing incidents of public unrest, looting, and violence 
among citizens; 
Whereas these social distortions are taking place amidst an 
alarming climate of violence as Caracas continues to have 
the highest per capita homicide rate in the world at 120 
per 100,000 citizens, according to the United Nations Of-
fice on Drug and Crime; 
Whereas the deterioration of governance in Venezuela has 
been exacerbated by widespread public corruption and the 
involvement of public officials in illicit narcotics traf-
ficking and related money laundering, which has led to 
indictments by the United States Department of Justice 
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and ongoing investigations by the United States Depart-
ment of the Treasury and the United States Drug En-
forcement Administration; 
Whereas domestic and international human rights groups rec-
ognize more than 85 political prisoners in Venezuela, in-
cluding opposition leader and former Chacao mayor 
Leopoldo Lopez, Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni, Caracas 
Mayor Antonio Ledezma, former Zulia governor Manuel 
Rosales, and former San Cristobal mayor Daniel 
Ceballos; 
Whereas, in December 2015, the people of Venezuela elected 
the opposition coalition (Mesa de Unidad Democra´tica) to 
a two-thirds majority in the unicameral National Assem-
bly, with 112 out of the 167 seats compared with 55 
seats for the government’s Partido Socialista Unido de 
Venezuela party; 
Whereas, in late December 2015, the outgoing National As-
sembly increased the number of seats in the Supreme 
Court of Venezuela and confirmed magistrates politically 
aligned with the Maduro Administration and, thereafter, 
the expanded Supreme Court has blocked four legislators, 
including 3 opposition legislators, from taking office; 
Whereas, during the first 6 months of the new legislature, 
the Supreme Court has repeatedly issued politically moti-
vated 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 
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Court, have severely undermined the principles of separa-
tion of powers in Venezuela; 
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’’; 
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 wide-
spread shortages of essential medicines and basic 
food products faced by the people of Venezuela, and 
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urges President Maduro to permit the delivery of 
humanitarian assistance; 
(2) calls on the Government of Venezuela to im-
mediately release all political prisoners, to provide 
protections for freedom of expression and assembly, 
and to respect internationally recognized human 
rights; 
(3) supports meaningful efforts towards a dia-
logue that leads to respect for Venezuela’s constitu-
tional mechanisms and resolves the country’s polit-
ical, economic, social, and humanitarian crisis; 
(4) affirms its support for OAS Secretary Gen-
eral Almagro’s invocation of Article 20 of the Inter- 
American Democratic Charter and urges the OAS 
Permanent Council, which represents all of the orga-
nization’s member states, to undertake a collective 
assessment of the constitutional and democratic 
order in Venezuela; 
(5) expresses its great concern over the Ven-
ezuelan executive’s lack of respect for the principle 
of separation of powers, its overreliance on emer-
gency decree powers, and its subjugation of judicial 
independence; 
(6) calls on the Government of Venezuela and 
security forces to respect the Constitution of Ven-
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•HRES 851 IH 
ezuela, including constitutional provisions that pro-
vide Venezuelan citizens with the right to peacefully 
pursue a fair and timely recall referendum for their 
President this year if they so choose; 
(7) stresses the urgency of strengthening the 
rule of law and increasing efforts to combat impu-
nity and public corruption in Venezuela, which has 
bankrupted a resource-rich country, fuels rising so-
cial tensions, and contributes to elevated levels of 
crime and violence; and 
(8) urges the President of the United States to 
provide full support for OAS efforts in favor of con-
stitutional and democratic solutions to the political 
impasse, and to instruct appropriate Federal agen-
cies to hold officials of the Government of Venezuela 
accountable for violations of United States law and 
abuses of internationally recognized human rights. 
Æ 
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