Successful Operation to Arrest Nicolas Maduro
Floor Speech
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Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, it is particularly important with this Special Order to clear the air. Americans deserve no less than to understand the truth of what just transpired in Venezuela.
Nicolas Maduro has been removed as the reigning despot, narcoterrorist, and illegitimate President of Venezuela. This fact is a momentous and great thing, pure and simple.
Notwithstanding what you might have heard from many Democrats when President Trump's successfully ordered Maduro's arrest and exfiltration, the realization on the part of the world, especially Venezuelans, that Maduro's sword of repression has come to an end resulted in praise and thanksgiving. This mission clearly showed America's full force and capability to instigate good in the world and battle the forces of evil.
Americans woke up on January 3, 2026, to news that our truly courageous and skillful intelligence community, law enforcement, and military had executed a mission that is simply unbelievable if we had not heard about the exploits soon thereafter.
What an unprecedented risk our men and women took on that day to do what no other political administration in the world had ever contemplated as remotely possible: to remove and exfiltrate for prosecution a ruthless dictator whose direct involvement in narcoterrorism has led to the death of scores of Americans and other allies' citizens.
Please don't take my word for the nature of Maduro's reign over Venezuela. My Democrat colleagues have for years been raising the alarm of Maduro's destruction through a multitude of legislative measures. Just a small subset of this Democrat-led legislation is cited in a House resolution--H. Res. 987--we have introduced today.
Examples include H.R. 328, a Democratic-sponsored bill that excoriates the Maduro regime which ``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.''
Mr. Speaker, consider H. Res. 1471 of the 118th Congress, another Democratic-sponsored piece of legislation that stresses ``Venezuela, where actors linked to the regime of Nicolas 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.''
Mr. Speaker, pointing to the threat closer to home, Democratic- sponsored H.R. 8741 of the 118th Congress defined Maduro as a person of concern who is 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.''
Mr. Speaker, contemplate Democratic-sponsored H.R. 5670 of the 118th Congress that succinctly called for ``an end to the usurpation of Presidential authorities by Nicolas Maduro.''
Yet, despite this forgoing string of legislation sponsored by my friends on the other side of the aisle pointing to Maduro's reign of terror, sadly, President Trump's decisive actions to do something about it all seems to have caused a reversal in sentiment among Democrats. Rather than expressing unity during a time when the Western Hemisphere has been freed from a despot's clutch, instead, Democrats have called the Trump administration ``warmongers'' who are ``lying to the American people,'' or referring to the President himself as having put us in a ``fascist cul-de-sac,'' having committed ``an impeachable offense.''
Do these comments from Democrats sound supportive of the Trump administration or the fine men and women who successfully conducted one of the most daring operations in American history? Not to me. Not to any American who reads or hears them.
Instead, they seem to revel in demeaning a President whose administration just accomplished what the Democrats have never been able to do; that is, executing Maduro's demise.
Despite a long, laundry list of Democratic bills and resolutions seemingly hoping for Maduro's eventual removal, Democrats now choose to attack those who were able to make reality their previously voiced ambitions. Yet merely because it was the Trump administration which graciously performed the seemingly impossible, these Democrats now oppose one of America's greatest hours.
To this end, we introduced a resolution today to make clear that the House of Representatives is supportive of the efforts of our brave patriots who deftly brought an end to Maduro's terrorization of not only the good people of Venezuela but also those Americans and others who have experienced Maduro's drug-laden terrorism.
This Special Order and the related House resolution clarify one thing: America is grateful for this administration's efforts to rid the world of a freedom-killing, murderous dictator. We are all better for it.
Mr. Speaker, I now recognize my friend, vice chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Kelly).
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Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Mississippi for his remarks.
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Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, I recognize the gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Hill, my colleague and the distinguished member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, as well as the chairman of the Committee on Financial Services.
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Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to recognize the gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Austin Scott, my good friend and a distinguished member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and chairman of the Subcommittee on the National Intelligence Enterprise.
Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman.
Mr. Speaker, I have, as other Members, gotten a number of calls over the last couple of days about whether or not I think the President did the right thing or not. I will read this to you: ``. . . President of the United States of America, find that the situation in Venezuela, including the government of Venezuela's erosion of human rights guarantees, persecution of political opponents, curtailment of press freedoms, use of violence and human rights violations and abuses in response to antigovernment protests, and arbitrary arrest and detention of antigovernment protestors, as well as the exacerbating presence of significant public corruption, constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. . . .''
Now, what I want you to know is that wasn't Donald Trump that wrote that. That was Barack Obama that wrote that. If President Obama or President Biden had taken the same actions to remove Maduro from power and help not just the United States but the Western Hemisphere and the world as a whole, I can honestly tell you that Republicans would have applauded those actions. Because it was President Trump and the Trump derangement syndrome and the hatred that Democrats have for him, he has been attacked for it.
Remember this: President Trump did put a bounty on Maduro, but it was President Biden that raised the bounty to $25 million in January of this year.
Chuck Schumer in 2020 attacked: ``And the President brags about his Venezuela policy. Give us a break. He hasn't brought an end to the Maduro regime. The Maduro regime is more powerful today and more entrenched than it was when the President began.''
That was Chuck Schumer in 2020.
What is Chuck Schumer saying today? ``This is reckless. And the American people are just, this morning, in fear of what is going to happen here.''
Let me tell you something. The world is a safer place because of what Donald Trump ordered and what our military carried out this past week. The Western Hemisphere cannot be a safe space for China, Russia, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, or the other terrorists that were being given safe haven in Venezuela.
Speaker Pelosi in 2019 ended her round table comments with a resounding: ``It is clear Maduro must go, the sooner the better.''
Madam Speaker, you should congratulate President Trump. Instead, what did she say: ``Venezuela is ruled by an illegitimate regime, but the administration has not made the case that an urgent threat to America's national security existed to justify the use of U.S. military force.''
Mr. Speaker, I am thankful that we have a President in the White House with the guts to get it done, who has helped us build a military with the capability to get it done. It was one of the most impressive military operations that I think the world has ever witnessed. Those men and women, whether they were on the ground, in the air, or supporting that mission, deserve commendations, not criticism, as does the President of the United States, Donald Trump.
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Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, I am now pleased to recognize my good friend from Florida, Greg Steube, also a member and colleague on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
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Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida for his eloquent comments.
I yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Tenney), who is also my colleague on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
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Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New York for those outstanding comments.
Mr. Speaker, I take no pleasure in highlighting the hypocrisy of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. In fact, I wish we all could speak with one voice on this issue. It should never be partisan or controversial to praise the arrest of a man like Nicolas Maduro.
Make no mistake about it, Nicolas Maduro is a murderer, an autocrat, a narcoterrorist, and a thug who has oppressed his people, stolen elections, and turned a once prosperous and free country into a desperate nation that millions have fled. We should all be celebrating the actions of the Trump administration in attempting to bring him to justice.
Sadly, as we have shown today, many of my Democrat friends who were once on the right side of this issue have changed their minds simply because Nicolas Maduro's arrest was orchestrated by someone they don't like, President Trump.
Instead of celebrating the administration of justice by an impartial U.S. court, they bemoan it. They call it unconstitutional, illegal, impeachable, and fascist. They insinuate that our government is somehow no better than Maduro's Socialist and murderous regime. That is just nonsense. In fact, it is embarrassing for those Members.
I respect my colleagues, both Democrat and Republican, who have long opposed the Maduro regime and the Chavez regime before it, people like Representatives Salazar and Gimenez, who represent thousands of Venezuelan Americans whose families or themselves have experienced the terror of Venezuelan Socialism and oppression. I thank them for taking the time to support us and for showing why this effort in Congress is so vital. Without voices like theirs bringing us the true feelings of Venezuelan Americans, we would only have heard from those who cared more about opposing the President than bringing an oppressor to justice.
I also thank the many nameless, faceless Americans who planned and executed this daring and successful arrest. The public will never know their names or see their faces. Americans who have suffered from drug overdoses in their families brought on by illegal narcotics trafficked to the U.S. by Maduro and his cronies will never get to thank those individuals. I thank them, and I want them to know that they are being prayed for and thanked for all that they have done.
Bringing a man like Nicolas Maduro to justice won't bring back the millions of Americans we have lost to drugs or the countless numbers of Venezuelans who have been political victims of the regime, but it is a start.
Mr. Speaker, justice is worth fighting for. A Western Hemisphere free from drug trafficking and gangs, supported and run by illegitimate autocrats, is worth fighting for. Standing behind our principles, even when it is politically inconvenient, is a posture worth fighting for.
Mr. Speaker, as I close tonight, I remind the American people that this administration's law enforcement actions to bring Maduro to justice have received the full support of Republicans in Congress. I hope my Democratic colleagues, who were once in favor of such actions, will be able to put aside their animus toward the President and embrace new possibilities for the people of Venezuela.
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