On the recordDecember 5, 2017
I thank our wonderful chairman for yielding me time. I also thank our ranking member, Eliot Engel for his hard work. This committee is a model for other committees in the U.S. House of Representatives. We truly work in a bipartisan manner and it is because of the leadership of Mr. Royce and Mr. Engel. They set the pace. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill before us, H. Res. 259, by my Florida colleague, Congressman Ron DeSantis, who has been very active in the issue of human rights in our Western Hemisphere. His bill expresses concern and condemnation over the dire political, economic, social, and humanitarian crisis that is taking place in Venezuela today. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this important resolution. I thank him for his leadership on this issue, on the issue of the lack of freedom and democracy in my native homeland of Cuba, and what he is helping the people of Nicaragua achieve in having separation of powers. Mr. Speaker, there has been a real problem throughout the hemisphere, and by approving this important measure, which is bipartisan, today, this body will once again demonstrate that we stand in solidarity with the people of Venezuela and their fight for justice, freedom, and democracy. These are values that we hold so dearly in our country. We take it for granted that we live in this great country where we can express our thoughts in this wonderful republic, but in so many places in our very own hemisphere, Mr.…
