Whereas President Trump ordered United States law enforcement, military, and intelligence community assets to conduct the gallant and courageous special operation of January 3, 2026, to arrest and exfiltrate the former dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, ensuring he is finally held accountable for his brutal narcoterrorism and crimes against humanity;

Whereas the House of Representatives supports the Nation’s intrepid intelligence community, law enforcement, and military in their successful operation to bring to justice a tyrant whose cartel trafficking has led to the death of untold scores of Americans and similar destruction of other nations’ citizenry;

Whereas the House of Representatives wholeheartedly endorses a president of the United States finally taking action to bring to an auspicious end this period of terrible Venezuelan history that for years has been met with inaction by prior administrations;

Whereas the proud Venezuelan people are on the precipice of experiencing long-denied freedom and are grateful to the brave men and women who meticulously prepared and executed a mission that finally removed a cancer on the world;

Whereas President Trump has now condemned Maduro’s Socialist advances, which always and without fail, culminated in violence and terror, to the dustbin of history;

Whereas sadly, in the aftermath of Nicolás Maduro’s arrest, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, [t]his wasn’t a law enforcement action … [t]hey’re lying to the American people when they say that; Representative Delia Ramirez posted on X, [u]nder the guise of liberty, an administration of warmongers has lied to justify an invasion and is dragging us into an illegal, endless war; Representative Dan Goldman stated [t]his violation of the United States Constitution is an impeachable offense; Representative John Garamendi stated in direct violation of the United States Constitution, President Trump illegally attacked Venezuela’s capital and seized Nicolás Maduro; and Representative Eric Swallwell said [w]hat this president has done, in the shortcuts that he has taken, is he’s going to, one shortcut at a time, put us in a fascist cul-de-sac; thereby opposing and denouncing the courageous actions of the Administration in arresting a drug trafficker and human rights abuser;

Whereas these statements, and those similar to them, were understandably disconcerting to Americans who believed that Democrats and Republicans alike would be joyous and thankful for this Administration’s decisive and definitive intervention to remove Maduro’s homicidal clutch on power;

Whereas myriad pieces of legislation, in merely this Congress and the last alone, have been introduced by Democrats highlighting Maduro’s antidemocratic efforts at quelling debate or political dissention through threats and endless oppressive violence;

Whereas the former head of the House Democrats’ election apparatus, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, proposed legislation in this Congress, H.R. 328, cosponsored by her colleague, Representative Thomas Suozzi, restricting American energy investment in Venezuela until legitimate results of Venezuela’s last election are respected, included the following powerful assertions, such as—

(1)

[Venezuelan] opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez received more than two-thirds of the votes against the regime of Nicolás Maduro and that [t]he Maduro regime has refused to respect the overwhelming choice of the people of Venezuela and subsequently arrested and abused thousands of innocent citizens of Venezuela, including children, for peaceful political participation; and

(2)

an assessment of the impact of waiving any energy investment prohibitions on the ability of the regime of Nicolás Maduro or any nondemocratic successor government in Venezuela to violate human rights, engage in repression, or threaten the interests of the United States;

Whereas Representative Haley Stevens introduced legislation in the 118th Congress, H.R. 10255, with a companion bill introduced by Democratic Senator Christopher Coons, S. 5340, requiring the Secretary of State to brief Congress on whether Venezuela under the regime of Nicolás Maduroshould be designated as a State Sponsor of Unlawful or Wrongful Detention;

Whereas Representative Joaquin Castro, joined by his Democratic colleagues, Representatives Adriano Espaillat, Dina Titus, Norma Torres, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, and Delia Ramirez, introduced legislation in the 118th Congress, H. Res. 1471, with a companion Senate resolution, S. Res. 833, introduced by Democratic Senator Ben Ray Luján, joined by Democratic Senators Benjamin Cardin, Tim Kaine, Michael Bennet, Mark Kelly, Mark Warner, Christopher Murphy, John Hickenlooper, and Alex Padilla, to counter disinformation, propaganda, and misinformation in Latin America and the Caribbean, specifically highlighting Venezuela, where actors linked to the regime of Nicolás Maduro have engaged in a sustained and synchronized campaign of disinformation to undermine the country’s 2023–2024 electoral process, invalidate the results of such elections, and attack Maria Corina Machado and other opposition leaders, according to multiple sources, including the Digital Forensic Research Lab;

Whereas again, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, introduced legislation in the 118th Congress, H. Res. 1409, with her Democratic colleagues, Representative Frederica Wilson, (Senator) Ruben Gallego, Bradley Schneider, Vicente Gonzalez, Gerald Connolly (deceased), (Senator) Andy Kim, Juan Vargas, Sylvia Garcia, Norma Torres, Kathy Manning, Greg Stanton, Brendan Boyle, (Senator) Adam Schiff, Mike Levin, and Ted Lieu, stating—

(1)

that the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election was preceded by over a decade of violent repression and persecution of political opponents, elimination of checks and balances, capture of state institutions, extrajudicial murder, arbitrary detention and torture, curtailed freedom of expression and the press, and systematic abuse of power by Nicolás Maduro and his regime;

(2)

that the Maduro regime barred several groups of independent electoral observers from entering the country to monitor the election;

(3)

that the regime has arbitrarily detained, forcefully disappeared, or forced into exile thousands of opposition political organizers, activists, human rights defenders, and others perceived to be critical of Maduro’s illegitimate rule in Venezuela;

(4)

that the Maduro regime currently holds more than 270 political prisoners and has conducted over 15,000 politically motivated arbitrary arrests over the last decade in Venezuela;

(5)

that Nicolás Maduro stated prior to the election that he had no intention of accepting defeat or providing for a peaceful transition of power;

(6)

that the United States determined that these arbitrary and unconstitutional actions by the Maduro regime violated the terms of the Barbados Agreement, which provided for certain electoral conditions to be met and was signed by the regime and the opposition democratic Unitary Platform;

(7)

that hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who gathered to peacefully protest the Maduro regime’s attempt to steal the election were met with arbitrary force and violent repression that has left hundreds arrested, at least 16 dead, and hundreds injured;

(8)

that the Maduro regime has issued arrest warrants for María Corina Machado and Edmundo González on false criminal charges;

(9)

that it condemns the Maduro regime’s cowardly and destructive attempt to steal the election and undermine the will of the Venezuelan people;

(10)

that it denounces the Maduro regime’s violent repression of Venezuelans peacefully demonstrating in support of democracy; and

(11)

that calls for the imposition of new sanctions on the Maduro regime as well as sanctions targeting individuals and entities involved in subverting democracy and repressing the opposition, including foreign governments and non-state entities assisting the regime’s election subversion and repression;

Whereas then-Representative (Senator) Elissa Slotkin introduced legislation in the 118th Congress, H.R. 8741, that defined Venezuelan politician Nicolás Maduro as a person of concern who has engaged in a long-term pattern or serious instances of activity adverse to the national security of the United States, the security of critical infrastructure of the United States, or the safety and security of United States persons;

Whereas again, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz introduced legislation in the 118th Congress, H.R. 5670, known as the Venezuelans Overcoming Interference and Corruption in Elections Act, joined by her Democratic colleagues, Representatives Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Ted Lieu, Kathy Castor, Darren Soto, Jared Moskowitz, and Frederica Wilson, that included—

(1)

a sense of Congress asserting, the arbitrary and unconstitutional actions of the Maduro regime to undermine Venezuelan democracy, including attempts to disqualify opposition candidates from participating in the 2024 presidential election, demonstrate flagrant disregard for the basic political rights of Venezuelans and merit condemnation in the strongest terms from the United States and other Western Hemisphere democracies;

(2)

assertions that [t]he disqualification of political opponents illustrates the Maduro regime’s intent to continue to remove checks and balances on the executive, politicize the judiciary, undermine the independence of the legislature through use of executive decree powers, persecute and prosecute its political opponents, curtail freedom of the press, and limit the free expression of its citizens;

(3)

condemnation of the Maduro regime that has committed crimes against humanity as evidenced by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela established by the United Nations Human Rights Council, in the report of such mission published in October 2022; and

(4)

calling for an end to the usurpation of presidential authorities by Nicolás Maduro;

Whereas again, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz introduced legislation in the 118th Congress, H.R. 4086, joined by her Democratic colleagues in the House, Representatives Joaquin Castro, Darren Soto, Jared Moskowitz, Kathy Castor, Nannette Diaz Barragan, Lois Frankel, Ted Lieu, Brad Sherman, and Maxwell Frost, with companion Senate legislation, S. 1931, sponsored by Senators Tim Kaine, Benjamin Cardin, and Richard Durbin, urged once again, through a resolution, ending Nicolás Maduro’s usurpation of presidential authorities, also finding Marta Valinas, Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission, stated in January 2023 that the Maduro regime’s proposed law restricting the activities of nongovernmental organizations []could represent a point of no return in the closure of the civic and democratic space[] and noted that organizations working in the areas of human rights in Venezuela are facing increased legal and operational hurdles, including surveillance by Venezuelan intelligence services and diminished access to funding; and

Whereas Representative Rosa DeLauro introduced legislation in the 118th Congress, H.R. 3136, joined by her Democratic colleagues, former Representatives Bill Pascrell and C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, Representatives André Carson, Jill Tokuda, and Brad Sherman, defining the regime of Nicolàs Maduro in Venezuela as a country of concern that is engaged in a long-term pattern or serious instances of conduct significantly adverse to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons: Now, therefore, be it