Humanitarian Assistance to the Venezuelan People Act of 2019

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 854) to provide humanitarian assistance to the Venezuelan people, including Venezuelan migrants and refugees in the Americas and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 854, the Humanitarian Assistance to the Venezuelan People Act of 2019, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation, and I thank Ms. Mucarsel-Powell for her leadership on this important issue. From her first day as a Member of Congress, Ms. Mucarsel-Powell made it clear that supporting the Venezuelan people and making sure they receive the humanitarian assistance they need would be at the top of her agenda. I am proud to partner with her on this bill.

Over the last few years, we have watched in horror as the Venezuelan economy collapsed and rule of law in that country evaporated. Today, the man-made crisis created by the Chavez-Maduro regime in Venezuela has reached unthinkable levels.

Ninety percent of the Venezuelan population lives in poverty. Earlier this month, the country suffered another massive blow when its electric grid collapsed. This made it impossible to refrigerate food, and some Venezuelans could no longer receive necessary medical treatments.

These tremendous hardships have generated a mass exodus from Venezuela. Almost 10 percent of the population has fled the country over the last 3 years. The United Nations projects that by the end of this year, Venezuelans would make up the largest refugee population in the world.

As suffering is only expected to worsen, Congress must do everything it can to help the people of Venezuela. Ms. Mucarsel-Powell's legislation addresses the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela head-on by authorizing new funding and requiring that USAID and the State Department develop a humanitarian assistance strategy for the Venezuelan people in Venezuela and throughout the region.

Other countries in the region and particularly our close allies, Colombia, have done so much to open up their hearts and their borders to the Venezuelan refugees. It is important that the United States help ease the burdens on our regional partners, and this bill is an important step forward.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the author of this bill, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Mucarsel-Powell).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume for the purpose of closing.

I would like to once again thank the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Mucarsel-Powell) for her remarkable leadership on this issue, which demonstrates her strong commitment to the Venezuelan people and to her constituents who care so deeply about this issue.

It is crucial that we stand with our partners and allies in the region to provide desperately needed assistance to the Venezuelan people and help relieve the burden that Colombians and Venezuela's other neighbors have taken on over the last few years.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Humanitarian Assistance to the Venezuelan People Act introduced by my colleague from Florida (Ms. Mucarsel-Powell) and supported enthusiastically by our chairman, Albio Sires.

The humanitarian crisis in Venezuela is unprecedented in our hemisphere and is affecting the entire region. So far, more than 3 million Venezuelans have fled the criminal socialistic dictatorship of Maduro, whose mismanagement and repression are creating immense challenges for neighboring communities.

As Chairman Sires said, there are millions of refugees in Colombia, the United States, and around the world who fled from Venezuelan oppression.

This bill will ensure that we have a long-term strategy for U.S.-led humanitarian assistance to address the crisis so that it is coordinated effectively with local partners to meet the needs of its beneficiaries.

It condemns violent actions by the Maduro regime to block humanitarian aid from entering the country, and it authorizes funding necessary for future humanitarian assistance.

The administration has courageously led the humanitarian effort for the people of Venezuela and has received invaluable support from the Governments of Colombia and Brazil; and, more recently, the Government of the Netherlands has agreed to allow the nearby island of Curacao to be used as a hub to support future humanitarian aid.

The United States and this Congress must remain united in our support for the people of Venezuela in their struggle for freedom and democracy, especially as they struggle to survive without adequate food and basic medicines.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, we have no additional speakers.

I would like to thank the author once again, my colleague, Ms. Mucarsel-Powell, and my neighbor in the Cannon Building.

I would like to also thank, once again, Chairman Sires for his leadership in this area, and I enthusiastically encourage everyone in this Congress to support this bill and prepare for the day when we can get aid to the people of Venezuela.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Sires) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Rooney).

Nicolas Maduro is an illegitimate president. As a result of his brutal dictatorship, the Venezuelan people are suffering in one of the worst humanitarian crises in the Western Hemisphere.

Without basic food and medicine, people are starving and dying. As many as 3.4 million Venezuelans have left the country and migrated to neighboring countries, which are having immense difficulty absorbing such high volumes of migrants.

My bill would help alleviate the pain of the Venezuelan people by providing humanitarian assistance in accordance with established international humanitarian principles to those within the country and in the region. It gives Congress the authority to provide as much funding as is necessary to address the crisis in both 2020 and 2021, with no less than $150 million for each year.

It also requires the State Department and USAID to show the American people the most effective way to coordinate with nongovernmental and international organizations operating throughout the region, and the bill also requires the administration to submit a report to Congress assessing the impact of U.S. humanitarian assistance.

Maduro has proven that he is willing to let his own people suffer and die rather than accept international aid. It is not enough to provide USAID with the funds for this aid. The administration must show that they are strategically trying everything they can to get the aid to the Venezuelan people inside the country, not just leaving it at the border. That is what this bill will achieve.

Finally, the bill expresses Congress' strong condemnation of all violent actions by the Maduro regime and Venezuela's security forces to block and divert humanitarian assistance.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this important legislation.