A newly negotiated government funding compromise on Capitol Hill includes nearly a half-billion dollars in humanitarian aid to support Venezuelan refugees and codifies sanctions against the regime of embattled Venezuelan ruler Nicolas Maduro.
Released Monday ahead of a looming U.S. government shutdown, the $1.4 trillion bipartisan appropriations package includes legislation introduced by a group of 15 U.S. senators, including Florida Republican Marco Rubio, to help restore democracy in Venezuela and address what the United Nations has called one of the largest mass migrations in the Western Hemisphere.
That bill, called the Venezuela Emergency Relief, Democracy Assistance, and Development Act of 2019 _ or VERDAD _ increases humanitarian assistance to the poverty-torn South American nation and formally recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's president. It also attempts to speed up reconstruction in the country by targeting private assets stolen by the government and requiring President Donald Trump to engage the International Monetary Fund to pull the country out of hyperinflation.
Rubio, in a statement issued to the Miami Herald, said the inclusion of the VERDAD Act in the appropriations compromise "reaffirms our nation's unwavering support to interim President Juan Guaido, and the democratically elected National Assembly."
"I was proud to co-lead this comprehensive legislative effort that will confront the Maduro regime's man-made humanitarian crisis," Rubio said.
Rubio added that the legislation, co-sponsored by Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, among others, also "restricts the entrance to the United States for family members of sanctioned individuals" and "requests a report to ensure accountability for crimes against humanity committed by the Maduro regime."
The VERDAD Act was included in one of two bipartisan legislative packages published Monday by the House Appropriations Committee. The sweeping legislation lays out more than a trillion dollars in spending for fiscal year 2020, and includes money for gun violence research, child care programs and environmental protection, among many others.
A vote on the government funding compromise _ which would keep the federal government functioning through the end of September _ is expected Tuesday in the U.S. House. The federal government will begin to shut down if a government funding compromise isn't passed by Congress by midnight Friday.
Though it remains possible that the appropriations package released Monday could fail to pass, be amended by Congress, or vetoed by Trump, members of South Florida's congressional delegation celebrated the inclusion of the VERDAD Act. The region is home to the United States' largest concentration of Venezuelan immigrants, with population estimates ranging from 200,000 to 400,000.
"From the moment I was sworn in, my Democratic colleagues and I have worked tirelessly to help the Venezuelan people," U.S. Rep. Donna Shalala, D-Fla., said in a statement released by her office. "The legislation being included in this year's government funding bill is the culmination of months of hard work and it will hopefully help bring about the end of a regime that has long overstayed its welcome."
In March, the House passed a bill sponsored by Shalala seeking to codify a ban on the export of "weapons and related services" to the Maduro regime, and expand that ban to include nonlethal weaponry designed to put down protests. That legislation was later tacked onto the VERDAD Act, along with legislation filed by Democratic Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Debbie Mucarsel Powell to limit Russian involvement in Venezuela and craft a long-term humanitarian aid strategy, respectively.
The VERDAD Act also codifies sanctions instituted by executive order against Maduro's government and its officials, and increases humanitarian aid and financial assistance to Venezuela.
In the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years, the U.S. allocated at least $376 million in humanitarian aid and economic assistance to Venezuela, according to USAID. The VERDAD Act allocates $400 million in spending, with half going to help the millions who have fled the country and half supporting the neighboring countries taking those people in.
The legislation also includes money to help support future elections in Venezuela and creates congressional support for the Lima Group, a multilateral body of a dozen nations formed to support a peaceful end to the crisis in the country.
According to the United Nations, more than 4 million people have fled hyperinflation and repression in Venezuela in recent years.
The U.S. and dozens of other countries recognized Guaido, the head of Venezuela's national assembly, as the president of Venezuela after he pronounced himself the rightful head of state in January. Since then, efforts by Guaido, the U.S. and allies to pressure Maduro to give up power have fallen short.
