Bennet, Bipartisan Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Promote Democracy in Venezuela

Jan 10, 2025|Press Releases
Washington, D.C.– U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), alongside John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) introduced the Venezuela Advancing Liberty, Opportunity, and Rights Act (VALOR Act). This legislation will help guide U.S. policy in support of a transition to democratic order in Venezuela.
“Venezuelan President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia won the July 2024 elections in a landslide and should be taking office this week. Instead, Nicolás Maduro – who has flagrantly refused to recognize the will of the Venezuelan people and brutally repressed those fighting for a free Venezuela – plans to be inaugurated on Friday,”said Bennet.“This bipartisan legislation affirms the United States’ support for the Venezuelan people’s brave efforts to restore the rule of law and democracy in their country. I’ll keep working with Senator Risch and my colleagues to demonstrate that the United States of America stands with them.”
“The Maduro regime poses a serious threat to U.S. national security and international stability by causing chaos in our hemisphere,”said Risch.“Sanctions imposed under The VALOR Act will reduce the resources the regime has at its disposal to harm Americans and American interests. I’m grateful to my colleagues for supporting this critical national security legislation.”
“The Maduro regime is once again illegitimately attempting to claim power in Venezuela. Last year, millions of Venezuelans made their voices heard loud and clear: Maduro must go,”said Barrasso.“Despite the clear will of the Venezuelan people, Maduro’s corrupt regime is using intimidation and force to maintain his control over the nation. The VALOR Act is an important step in helping the people of Venezuela transition from dictatorship to democracy. We must keep pressuring the regime and support Venezuelans in their fight for freedom and democracy.”
“The Venezuelan people have made it overwhelmingly clear that President-elect Edmundo González is their rightful leader and that Maduro’s time is OVER,”said Scott.“Any attempt by Maduro to illegitimately cling to power through violence or repression will NOT be tolerated by the United States or the international community. As we prepare for President-elect Gonzalez’s inauguration on January 10th, the United States must be a leader in bringing freedom and democracy to Venezuela, starting with passing the VALOR Act.”
“The people of Venezuela rightfully elected President-Elect Edmundo Gonzalez. His recognition as president is a contrast between a representative democracy and a dictatorship which aligns itself with narco-terrorists, Iran, Russia, and China,”said Cassidy.“Only the Venezuelan people can seize this power back, but the U.S. should do everything we can to support this effort.”
“In the wake of Maduro’s sham electoral victory and plans to be sworn in unconstitutionally on January 10th, we have got to turn the screws on this dictatorship,”said Sullivan.“Defending the integrity and transparency of Venezuelans’ vote matters to the United States not only because of our values but also because the Maduro regime is allied with adversaries like China and linked to transnational crime, drug trafficking and forced migration. The VALOR Act increases the cost of Maduro’s illegitimate rule.”
Specifically, the VALOR Act:
Bennet and Risch firstintroducedthe VALOR Act last year following Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro’s sham July 2024 presidential election. In March 2024, Bennet and Cassidy alsointroducedthe Americas Act to expand partnerships, strengthen the rule of law, deepen economic prosperity, and embrace democratic values across the Western Hemisphere.
In 2019, Bennet urged the Trump administration to designate Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to ensure that Venezuelan nationals present in the United States were not forced to return to their country at this time given the deteriorating situation caused by Maduro. In 2023, Bennet called on the Biden administration to extend the eligibility date for TPS for Venezuelan nationals, given widespread violence, political persecution, food and medicine shortages, and other systemic collapses in Venezuela.
The text of the legislation is availableHERE.
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