Florida Senate - 2019                              CS for SM 804
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senators Torres, Rodriguez,
       Taddeo, Powell, Bracy, Gibson, Cruz, Thurston, Book, Farmer, and
       Braynon
       
       
       
       590-02664A-19                                          2019804c1
    1                           Senate Memorial                         
    2         A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
    3         requesting Congress to take appropriate actions to
    4         assist in the delivery of humanitarian assistance, to
    5         continue and intensify financial sanctions against the
    6         regime of Nicolás Maduro and the Government of
    7         Venezuela, and to instruct appropriate federal
    8         agencies to hold Nicolás Maduro and officials of the
    9         Government of Venezuela accountable for violations of
   10         law and abuses of internationally recognized human
   11         rights.
   12  
   13         WHEREAS, the hallmark of democracy is the free and peaceful
   14  exercise of rights guaranteed under the constitution of a
   15  democratically elected government, and
   16         WHEREAS, in an effort to secure his personal rule and
   17  oppress Venezuelan freedoms, Nicolás Maduro has caused elections
   18  to be manipulated, established an illegitimate Constituent
   19  Assembly to undermine the will of the Venezuelan people,
   20  nationalized private industry, abandoned private property
   21  rights, and improperly assumed control over Venezuela’s
   22  government and its institutions, and
   23         WHEREAS, the illegitimate regime of Nicolás Maduro has
   24  sought to silence peaceful opposition to his government by
   25  killing innocent citizens of Venezuela for their political
   26  views, and
   27         WHEREAS, the deterioration of basic governance and the
   28  economic crisis in Venezuela have led to an unprecedented
   29  humanitarian situation in which people are suffering from severe
   30  shortages of basic food products and essential medicines, and
   31         WHEREAS, despite the massive shortages of basic food
   32  products and essential medicines, the illegitimate regime of
   33  Nicolás Maduro has rejected repeated requests from civil society
   34  organizations to bring humanitarian aid into that country, and
   35         WHEREAS, over 8 million Venezuelans voted symbolically for
   36  a free and democratic government, and
   37         WHEREAS, those who cherish democratic principles condemn
   38  the perpetration of oppression and intimidation against the
   39  Venezuelan people, and
   40         WHEREAS, to ensure the demise of such oppression and
   41  intimidation, it is imperative that the United States Government
   42  remain committed to continuing and intensifying financial
   43  sanctions against the illegitimate regime of Nicolás Maduro and
   44  the Government of Venezuela, and
   45         WHEREAS, the people of Florida stand proudly with the
   46  people of Venezuela in the face of tyranny, NOW, THEREFORE,
   47  
   48  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   49  
   50         That the Congress of the United States is requested to take
   51  appropriate actions to assist in the delivery of humanitarian
   52  assistance, to continue and intensify financial sanctions
   53  against the illegitimate regime of Nicolás Maduro and the
   54  Government of Venezuela, and to instruct appropriate federal
   55  agencies to hold the illegitimate regime of Nicolás Maduro and
   56  officials of the Government of Venezuela accountable for
   57  violations of law and abuses of internationally recognized human
   58  rights.
   59         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
   60  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
   61  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
   62  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
   63  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.