December 4, 2025
Mr. Meeks (for himself, Mr. Castro of Texas, Ms. Jacobs, Mr. Stanton, Ms. Titus, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, and Ms. Wasserman Schultz) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
Reaffirming the commitment of the United States to cooperate and partner with the Government of Honduras to counter narcotics and condemning the pardon of Juan Orlando Hernández.
Whereas Honduras has long been a close and important partner of the United States in Central America;
Whereas Juan Orlando Hernández was elected President of Honduras in 2013 and began serving his first term as President in 2014;
Whereas Honduras has a clear one term limit for all Presidents, but Juan Orlando Hernández attacked the rule of law in Honduras and replaced judges until a cherry-picked Honduran Supreme Court permitted him to run for reelection;
Whereas Juan Orlando Hernández’s brother was convicted on drug trafficking charges in the United States during Hernández’s second Presidential term;
Whereas United States prosecutors, in an indictment unsealed April 21, 2022, established that from 2004 through 2022, Juan Orlando Hernández participated in a corrupt and violent drug-trafficking conspiracy to import hundreds of thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States, using his public office to facilitate the operation;
Whereas Juan Orlando Hernández, former President of Honduras, was arrested, extradited to the United States, and prosecuted in the Southern District of New York on serious narcotics trafficking and related firearms charges;
Whereas the evidence presented at trial showed that Hernández accepted millions of dollars in bribes from major cocaine trafficking networks, and directed Honduran law enforcement and military forces to protect shipments destined for the United States and evidence at trial indicated Hernández stated to fellow narcotraffickers that together they were going to shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos
;
Whereas, on June 26, 2024, a United States District Court Judge sentenced Hernández to 45 years in prison, recognizing that the scheme constituted one of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking conspiracies in the world, and that his abuse of power inflicted harm on both Honduran and American communities;
Whereas the Trump administration has brought the United States military to the brink of war with Venezuela to stop narcoterrorist
Nicolás Maduro;
Whereas Secretary of State Marco Rubio has described international drug cartels as narcoterrorists
and warned that transnational criminal organizations undermine governance, sovereignty, and stability across Latin America;
Whereas Secretary of State Marco Rubio has used the indictment of Nicolás Maduro in the Southern District of New York on drug trafficking charges as a justification to advocate for reckless military action in Venezuela without congressional approval;
Whereas the pardon of Juan Orlando Hernández undermines the administration’s claims it sees drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere as an imminent threat to the United States, and jeopardizes cooperation between the United States and partner nations in anticorruption efforts, emboldens criminal syndicates, and signals that political influence can override the rule of law;
Whereas victims of narcotics trafficking in both the United States and Honduras, including families affected by addiction, violence, displacement, and intimidation, have been denied the full measure of justice they are afforded;
Whereas the pardon of Juan Orlando Hernández damages the United States credibility as a leader for anticorruption, counter narcotics cooperation, and democratic accountability abroad;
Whereas Honduras had an election on November 30, 2025, and the winner remains undetermined; and
Whereas the Trump administration continues to unlawfully target alleged narcoterrorists in boat strikes resulting in 83 deaths as of the date of introduction of this resolution: Now, therefore, be it
Sec.
That the House of Representatives—
(1)
emphasizes the importance of a fair vote count and a free and fair election in Honduras;
(2)
underscores the importance of the United States continuing its partnership with Honduras to promote security, counter illegal narcotics, address migration, and promote economic development, regardless of the ultimate winner of the November 30, 2025, election;
(3)
urges the Department of State to strengthen efforts to combat corruption and narcotics trafficking in Honduras and throughout Central America through Magnitsky sanctions and coordinated law-enforcement cooperation;
(4)
condemns the decision of the President of the United States to grant a pardon to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández;
(5)
expresses solidarity with victims of drug trafficking, corruption, and violence in both the United States and Honduras, and recognizes the courage of those who have risked their safety to expose wrongdoing by powerful political and criminal actors; and
(6)
rejects the unauthorized by Congress use of military force to kill individuals without the possibility of interdiction, trial, and conviction, while pardoning high level individuals that have been convicted after a fair trial in United States courts.