Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, the BOLIVAR Act would temporarily prohibit executive agencies from entering into contracts for the procurement of goods or services with any person or business that they determine, with the concurrence of the Department of State, knowingly engages in significant business operations with the Maduro regime in Venezuela. The bill goes on to list certain exceptions, including contracts vital to U.S. national security or necessary for the purposes of providing humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and other urgent lifesaving measures, or to carry out noncombatant evacuations. I certainly understand the motivation behind this bill. The Maduro regime's blatant disregard of the recent election results in Venezuela is a violation of international law and has left the regime more isolated than ever. I know that the administration has some concerns about this bill. However, the Department of Defense, which conducts almost two-thirds of Federal procurement, has had a policy in place like the BOLIVAR Act for 2 years now. I thank the majority for working with us to address some of those concerns in the bill before us today. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.”