WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Bill Cassidy (R-La), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) today introduced the Venezuela Advancing Liberty, Opportunity, and Rights Act (VALOR Act). This legislation would help guide U.S. policy in support of a transition to democratic order in Venezuela.
“The Maduro regime poses a serious threat to U.S. national security and international stability by causing chaos in our hemisphere,” said Senator Risch. “Sanctions imposed under The VALOR Act will reduce the resources the regime has at its disposal to harm Americans and American interests. I’m grateful to my colleagues for supporting this critical national security legislation.”
"Venezuelan President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia won the July 2024 elections in a landslide and should be taking office this week. Instead, Nicolás Maduro – who has flagrantly refused to recognize the will of the Venezuelan people and brutally repressed those fighting for a free Venezuela – plans to be inaugurated on Friday,” said Senator Bennet. “This bipartisan legislation affirms the United States’ support for the Venezuelan people’s brave efforts to restore the rule of law and democracy in their country. I’ll keep working with Senator Risch and my colleagues to demonstrate that the United States of America stands with them."
“The Maduro regime is once again illegitimately attempting to claim power in Venezuela. Last year, millions of Venezuelans made their voices heard loud and clear: Maduro must go,” said Senator Barrasso. “Despite the clear will of the Venezuelan people, Maduro’s corrupt regime is using intimidation and force to maintain his control over the nation. The VALOR Act is an important step in helping the people of Venezuela transition from dictatorship to democracy. We must keep pressuring the regime and support Venezuelans in their fight for freedom and democracy.”
Senator Rick Scott said, “The Venezuelan people have made it overwhelmingly clear that President-elect Edmundo González is their rightful leader and that Maduro’s time is OVER. Any attempt by Maduro to illegitimately cling to power through violence or repression will NOT be tolerated by the United States or the international community. As we prepare for President-elect Gonzalez’s inauguration on January 10th, the United States must be a leader in bringing freedom and democracy to Venezuela, starting with passing the VALOR Act.”
“The people of Venezuela rightfully elected President-Elect Edmundo Gonzalez. His recognition as president is a contrast between a representative democracy and a dictatorship which aligns itself with narco-terrorists, Iran, Russia, and China,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Only the Venezuelan people can seize this power back, but the U.S. should do everything we can to support this effort.”
“In the wake of Maduro’s sham electoral victory and plans to be sworn in unconstitutionally on January 10th, we have got to turn the screws on this dictatorship,” said Senator Sullivan. “Defending the integrity and transparency of Venezuelans’ vote matters to the United States not only because of our values but also because the Maduro regime is allied with adversaries like China and linked to transnational crime, drug trafficking and forced migration. The VALOR Act increases the cost of Maduro’s illegitimate rule.”
The VALOR Act:
1. Establishes democratic benchmarks guiding the removal of sanctions on the Maduro regime and any non-democratic successor.
2. Codifies financial sanctions on the Venezuelan Central Bank, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., and Venezuelan cryptocurrency.
3. Requires the United States block participation of any non-democratic government of Venezuela at the Organization of American States, Inter-American Development Bank, and International Momentary Fund.
4. Authorizes a $5M U.S. contribution to create an OAS Emergency Fund to deploy human rights monitors and electoral observers.
5. Authorizes nongovernmental organizations to support humanitarian, democracy building, education, environmental protection, and non-commercial development projects in Venezuela directly benefiting the Venezuelan people.
6. Blocks U.S. foreign assistance to any country providing assistance, including financial assistance (except humanitarian aid), to the Maduro regime or any non-democratic successor.
7. Requires the president to develop an economic assistance plan to a democratically governed Venezuela and creates a “coordinating official” within the State Department to oversee development and implementation of such a plan.
8. Requires the president to submit a report to Congress outlining barriers and policy objectives on trade and investment between the U.S. and a democratically governed Venezuela.
Text of the VALOR Act can be found here.