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Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, in 2018, I had the opportunity to visit Venezuela. It was a once prosperous, albeit imperfect, democracy suffering from terrible economic and political decline. I told then- President Maduro that if he rigged the upcoming election, Venezuelans would be even more isolated and endure further unnecessary suffering.
It didn't stop him for a minute. He went ahead with a discredited election. The result was as predicted: The economy of Venezuela started descending into chaos. People were literally starving. There was an exodus of millions of people from Venezuela.
You might say, if you believe that the United States has no responsibility: What is it our business anyway? Countries are going to have failed governments, and so what? What difference does it make? Well, the difference it makes is the thousands and thousands of Venezuelans who were part of an exodus from Venezuela. Most of them went to Colombia and nearby nations, but many of them came to the United States. I know. I met them. They were the bus people that were sent to Chicago, for example, by the Governor of Texas, overwhelmingly Venezuelans.
How many actually came to the United States, I am not sure. I am not sure anybody really knows, but we are talking about thousands.
And at this point, imagine what we are suggesting. This man Maduro is still in control in Venezuela, and we are going to go through a mass deportation where we round up the Venezuelans who came to this country and send them back, back to starvation, political oppression.
I get it. If you are a dangerous person, you never should have come to this country in the first place. And if you commit a serious crime once you are here, I don't believe you should stay. Just that basic.
I don't go as far as the bill we considered a week or so ago. I believe that prosecution and a finding of guilt is still important in an America that is ruled by due process.
But having said that, What are we going to do about Venezuela? The same man is still there, and there have been not one, but two rotten, suspect elections in the time since I have been there.
Last July, for example, Venezuela held another Presidential election, during which the regime arbitrarily blocked the leading opposition candidates from the ballot and tried to undermine the electoral process. Nonetheless, more than 10 million Venezuelans actually voted. And results meticulously documented by credible election monitors showed a sweeping victory not for Maduro, the incumbent, but for Edmundo Gonzalez, his opponent.
I was glad to see that one of the newly confirmed Secretary of State Rubio's first calls was to President-elect Gonzalez, who actually won the election.
Despite his sweeping, clear victory, the Maduro regime has refused to give up the office of Presidency and refused to recognize the legitimate election results.
Maduro regime announced they won--actually, not true; arbitrarily arrested thousands of opponents; issued an arrest warrant for Gonzalez, which is becoming a common trick by these dictators; and refused to swear him in on inauguration day.
So today, I am introducing a short bill terminating U.S. petroleum cooperation and related trade with Venezuela until the legitimate results of the election are respected.
It is pretty simple. The entrenched regime clings to power using oil revenues, some of them from the United States. Under my bill, that comes to an end.
President Trump and Secretary Rubio could also take this step right now without my legislation, but maybe the bill will be a reminder that this is a good idea.
Lastly, I appealed to our democratic allies in the region, including the democracies of the Caribbean, to stand resolute in defense of a sweeping and clear vote by their exhausted Venezuelan neighbors. They cannot sit idly by for another 6 years of regime-inflicted suffering and collapse in Venezuela.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Halt All United States Investments in Venezuela's Energy Sector Act of 2025''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) On July 28, 2024, more than 10,000,000 citizens of Venezuela voted in a presidential election in which meticulously documented and publicized data from credible election monitors clearly and convincingly showed that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez received more than two- thirds of the votes against the regime of Nicolas Maduro.
(2) The 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.
(3) Despite overwhelming evidence that Edmundo Gonzalez won a decisive victory to be Venezuela's next president, the Maduro regime ignored the results of the election and the law of Venezuela by forcibly refusing to allow Gonzalez to be sworn in on Venezuela's January 10, 2025, inauguration day. SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON INVESTMENT BY UNITED STATES PERSONS IN ENERGY SECTOR OF VENEZUELA UNTIL THE LEGITIMATE RESULTS OF THE JULY 28, 2024, ELECTION ARE RESPECTED.
(a) Prohibition.--
(1) In general.--Beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the following transactions are prohibited:
(A) Any petroleum-related transaction allowed--
(i) as a result of the Partial Agreement on the Promotion of Political Rights and Electoral Guarantees for All, agreed to by the regime of Nicolas Maduro and the political opposition in Venezuela in October 2023 (commonly known as the ``Barbados Agreement''); or
(ii) pursuant to a license issued after entry into that agreement relating to petroleum-related transactions with Venezuela.
(B) Any transaction allowed under General License No. 41 or General License No. 8M of the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury on the day before such date of enactment.
(2) Applicability.--The prohibitions under paragraph (1) shall apply to the extent provided by law and regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this section.
(b) National Security Waiver.--The President may waive the prohibitions under subsection (a) if the President--
(1) determines that the waiver is in the national security interests of the United States; and
(2) submits in writing to the appropriate congressional committees a report, which may include a classified annex, on that determination and the reasons for the determination.
(c) Implementation; Penalties.--
(1) Implementation.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may take such actions, including prescribing regulations, as are necessary to implement this section.
(B) IEEPA authorities.--For purposes of implementing this section, the Secretary of the Treasury may exercise the authorities provided to the President under sections 203 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704).
(2) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of subsection (a) or any regulation, license, directive, or order issued to carry out that subsection shall be subject to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) of that section.
(d) Responsibility of Other Agencies.--All agencies of the United States Government shall take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this section.
(e) Termination of Prohibition.--The prohibitions under subsection (a) shall terminate on the date on which the President submits to Congress a determination that the regime of Nicolas Maduro has recognized the July 28, 2024, electoral victory of Edmundo Gonzalez and relinquished power to the legitimately democratically elected government in Venezuela or to a transitional government that includes and is agreed to by the legitimately elected political opposition in Venezuela.
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives.
(2) United states person.--The term ``United States person'' means--
(A) a United States citizen or alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence to the United States;
(B) any entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including a foreign branch of any such entity); and
(C) any person physically located in the United States.
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