Time to Move Forward on Venezuela

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I am deeply concerned about the ongoing political, human rights, and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela and its hemispheric consequences, including the arrival of 187,000 desperate Venezuelans at our southern border last year.

This crisis has many causes, beginning with misguided and distorting economic policies implemented by successive Venezuelan Governments. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that the maximum pressure secondary and sectoral sanctions policy put in place by former President Trump and continued by President Biden has deepened the economic pain and hardship suffered by the Venezuelan people. The goal of that policy was to remove Nicolas Maduro from power in Venezuela. It has not worked. Rather, as The New York Times editorial board wrote on July 22, that Maduro ``instead consolidated his grip on Venezuela, blamed its economic misery on American sanctions and drew his country closer to Russia and China.''

Throughout my time in Congress, I have strongly defended the idea that human rights should be at the center of U.S. foreign policy, and I have led many bills to redress human rights abuses, including the Global Magnitsky targeted sanctions legislation. Nevertheless, I don't support the use of sanctions to punish entire peoples for the actions of their leaders or to bludgeon an adversary into submission.

This is why I have said that the Trump-era sanctions should already have been lifted by the Biden administration, and I continue to believe that. However, unfortunately, that has not happened, and it seems unlikely that it will in the near future.

In the end, human rights advocacy is meant to improve and restore the lives of victims of abuses and to change conditions so that abuses will not recur. As a human rights advocate, I have a moral responsibility to do whatever I can to advance these goals.

That is why I welcomed the administration's support for the resumption of negotiations between the Maduro government and Venezuelan opposition in Mexico last year. It is why I believe the social fund for the basic needs of the Venezuelan people, whose creation was agreed to during those negotiations, should be stood up as soon as possible. Additionally, it is why I was encouraged to see the statement of principles that came out of the International Conference on Venezuela convened by the Colombian government last April.

The statement laid out three steps--the establishment of a chronogram for elections, the easing of sanctions in parallel as agreements are reached between the parties, and the continuation of the negotiations accompanied by accelerated implementation of the social fund--that, taken together, offer a real opportunity to begin to resolve Venezuela's crisis.

These steps would empower and benefit all Venezuelans seeking to rebuild their country and their future.

Everyone who is concerned about the human rights of the Venezuelan people should take advantage of this opportunity. I still believe the Trump-era sanctions should be lifted, and I will continue to urge the Biden administration to do so.

Democracy and civil rights will not be advanced by maintaining punishing economic sanctions. All that does is continue to hurt innocent people. Nonetheless, we need to find a way to move the ball forward, and I believe there is an opportunity now. Time is short, and there is a lot of uncertainty, but there is also some hope, and that should guide us.

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