Florida Senate - 2019                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SM 804
       
       
       
       
       
       
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                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
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       The Committee on Judiciary (Simmons) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the resolving clause
    4  and insert:
    5  That the Congress of the United States is requested to take
    6  appropriate actions to assist in the delivery of humanitarian
    7  assistance, to continue and intensify financial sanctions
    8  against the illegitimate regime of Nicolás Maduro and the
    9  Government of Venezuela, and to instruct appropriate federal
   10  agencies to hold the illegitimate regime of Nicolás Maduro and
   11  officials of the Government of Venezuela accountable for
   12  violations of law and abuses of internationally recognized human
   13  rights.
   14         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
   15  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
   16  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
   17  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
   18  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.
   19  
   20  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   21  And the title is amended as follows:
   22         Delete everything before the resolving clause
   23  and insert:
   24                        A bill to be entitled                      
   25         A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
   26         requesting Congress to take appropriate actions to
   27         assist in the delivery of humanitarian assistance, to
   28         continue and intensify financial sanctions against the
   29         regime of Nicolás Maduro and the Government of
   30         Venezuela, and to instruct appropriate federal
   31         agencies to hold Nicolás Maduro and officials of the
   32         Government of Venezuela accountable for violations of
   33         law and abuses of internationally recognized human
   34         rights.
   35  
   36         WHEREAS, the hallmark of democracy is the free and peaceful
   37  exercise of rights guaranteed under the constitution of a
   38  democratically elected government, and
   39         WHEREAS, in an effort to secure his personal rule and
   40  oppress Venezuelan freedoms, Nicolás Maduro has caused elections
   41  to be manipulated, established an illegitimate Constituent
   42  Assembly to undermine the will of the Venezuelan people,
   43  nationalized private industry, abandoned private property
   44  rights, and improperly assumed control over Venezuela’s
   45  government and its institutions, and
   46         WHEREAS, the deterioration of basic governance and the
   47  economic crisis in Venezuela have led to an unprecedented
   48  humanitarian situation in which people are suffering from severe
   49  shortages of basic food products and essential medicines, and
   50         WHEREAS, despite the massive shortages of basic food
   51  products and essential medicines, the illegitimate regime of
   52  Maduro has rejected repeated requests from civil society
   53  organizations to bring humanitarian aid into that country, and
   54         WHEREAS, over 8 million Venezuelans voted symbolically for
   55  a free and democratic government, and
   56         WHEREAS, the illegitimate regime of Nicolás Maduro has
   57  sought to silence peaceful opposition to his government by
   58  killing innocent citizens of Venezuela for their political
   59  views, and
   60         WHEREAS, those who cherish democratic principles condemn
   61  the perpetration of oppression and intimidation against the
   62  Venezuelan people, and
   63         WHEREAS, to ensure the demise of such oppression and
   64  intimidation, it is imperative that the United States Government
   65  remain committed to continuing and intensifying financial
   66  sanctions against the illegitimate regime of Nicolás Maduro and
   67  the Government of Venezuela, and
   68         WHEREAS, the people of Florida stand proudly with the
   69  people of Venezuela in the face of tyranny, NOW, THEREFORE,