[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 582 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 582
Expressing the sense of the Senate in support of Operation Absolute
Resolve.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 13, 2026
Mr. Cornyn (for himself, Mr. Cruz, and Mr. Cramer) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate in support of Operation Absolute
Resolve.
Whereas, between 2000 and 2013, Nicolas Maduro served in various offices in the
Government of Venezuela, including in the National Assembly, as Minister
of Foreign Affairs, and as Vice President;
Whereas, on April 14, 2013, Nicolas Maduro came to occupy the office of
President of Venezuela following the death of former Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez, and later through an election that was marred by
irregularities;
Whereas, on May 20, 2018, Nicolas Maduro declared victory in a fraudulent
presidential election in which major opposition parties and leaders were
banned from participating and of which more than 50 countries, including
the United States, refused to recognize the results;
Whereas, on January 23, 2019, the National Assembly of Venezuela refused to
recognize Nicolas Maduro as President of Venezuela and named, as the
Interim President of Venezuela, Juan Guaido, who was so recognized by
the United States and more than 23 other countries;
Whereas, on July 28, 2024, Nicolas Maduro declared victory in a second
fraudulent presidential election, the results of which were not
recognized by more than 50 countries, including the United States, the
European Union, and numerous Latin American and Caribbean nations;
Whereas, on January 10, 2025, Nicolas Maduro held an illegitimate presidential
inauguration in Venezuela, which was condemned by the Government of the
United States;
Whereas, according to a March 2020 estimate by the Government of the United
States, under Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela was a major transit country for
cocaine shipments to the United States, South America, and Europe,
accounting for 200 to 250 metric tons annually (or 10 to 13 percent of
the estimated global production of cocaine);
Whereas the Department of State found that the Maduro regime ``failed to make
any meaningful efforts to stem drug production or trafficking and in
fact created conditions that allow drug traffickers and other
transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) to operate with impunity'';
Whereas drug trafficking in Venezuela enriched and empowered the family of
Nicolas Maduro, including his wife, Cilia Flores, who took bribes to
ensure safe passage of trafficked cocaine, and his son, Nicolas Ernesto
Maduro Guerra, who allowed state assets to be used in drug trafficking;
Whereas the Cartel de los Soles is a Venezuelan drug trafficking organization
comprised of high-ranking Venezuelan officials who abused their
positions in the Venezuelan government and military to flood the United
States with cocaine and harm Americans;
Whereas, effective November 24, 2025, the Department of State designated the
Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization;
Whereas Nicolas Maduro helped manage and ultimately led the Cartel de los Soles
as he rose to power in Venezuela;
Whereas Tren de Aragua is a transnational criminal organization, originating in
Venezuela, which engages in mass illegal migration to the United States
and commits brutal crimes, including murder, kidnapping, extortion, and
human, drug, and weapons trafficking, with the objective of harming
United States citizens;
Whereas numerous members and leaders of Tren de Aragua have been indicted on
murder-for-hire, drug trafficking, firearms, and other offenses within
the United States;
Whereas, effective February 20, 2025, the Department of State designated Tren de
Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization;
Whereas Tren de Aragua coordinated with, and operated in conjunction with, the
Maduro-led Cartel de los Soles to flood the United States with cocaine;
Whereas the Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) and its successor
organizations, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia--People's Army
(FARC-EP) and Segunda Marquetalia and the National Liberation Army
(ELN), control drug trafficking routes in the border region between
Venezuela and Colombia;
Whereas the FARC was designated as a foreign terrorist organization on October
8, 1997, prior to its dissolution, its successor organizations, the
FARC-EP and Segunda Marquetalia, have been designated as foreign
terrorist organizations since November 30, 2021, and the ELN has been
designated as a foreign terrorist organization since October 8, 1997;
Whereas the Department of State found the FARC, FARC-EP, and ELN maintained
close ties to the de facto authorities of Venezuela and Maduro continued
to give safe haven to these organizations;
Whereas the United States has imposed individual, financial, and sectoral
sanctions on the Government of Venezuela, the Maduro regime, and its
supporters, including by--
(1) prohibiting the Government of Venezuela from accessing United
States financial markets beginning on August 24, 2017;
(2) establishing a framework on November 1, 2018, to block the assets
of the Government of Venezuela in the United States in certain economic
sectors;
(3) generally freezing the assets of the Government of Venezuela in the
United States beginning on August 5, 2019;
(4) imposing Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions on September
12, 2024, and January 10, 2025, on numerous Venezuelan officials who
enabled Maduro to maintain power despite his 2024 election defeat;
(5) imposing Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions on December 11,
2025, on nephews of Cilia Flores and others who engaged in deceptive and
unsafe oil-shipping practices to provide financial resources to support the
Maduro regime; and
(6) imposing Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions on December 19,
2025, on several additional family members and associates of Nicolas Maduro
and Cilia Flores for being complicit in, or directly engaging in,
transactions that supported the Maduro regime;
Whereas, on June 11, 2022, Nicolas Maduro signed a 20-year cooperation agreement
with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran designed to resist
global sanctions against the 2 regimes;
Whereas Iran's terrorist proxy, Lebanese Hezbollah, which has found safe haven
in Venezuela, engages in drug trafficking, money laundering, and illicit
smuggling to fund its terrorist activities around the world;
Whereas the Maduro regime was supported by Lebanese Hezbollah as a hub for
transnational organized crime and international terrorism in the Western
Hemisphere;
Whereas, beginning in 2006, the Secretary of State has annually determined that
Venezuela has failed to comply with the first section 40A of the Arms
Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2781), which requires full cooperation
with United States antiterrorism efforts;
Whereas the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party provided
critical support to empower the Maduro regime to stay in power in
Venezuela through the sale of Chinese military radar, riot control
vehicles, and digital tools to control the Venezuelan people's access to
information;
Whereas the Russian Federation helped the Maduro regime evade United States
sanctions, including through subsidiaries of the Russian state-
controlled Rosneft Oil Company, which brokered the sale and transport of
Venezuelan crude oil in 2020;
Whereas the Russian Federation both provided military equipment and sent its
military personnel to lend support to the Maduro regime in an effort to
increase its footprint in the Western Hemisphere;
Whereas the November 2025 National Security Strategy of the United States of
America states, ``We will deny non-Hemispheric competitors the ability
to position forces or other threatening capabilities, or to own or
control strategically vital assets, in our Hemisphere'';
Whereas, in 2020, Nicolas Maduro, Cilia Flores, and other Maduro regime
officials were indicted in the Southern District of New York on charges
including narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and possession
of machine guns and destructive devices;
Whereas, in 2025, a superseding indictment was filed in the Southern District of
New York and both Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores remain under
indictment and will have to answer for their crimes in a court of law;
Whereas President Trump offered multiple diplomatic off-ramps, but was
repeatedly rebuffed by Nicolas Maduro;
Whereas, on January 3, 2026, the United States military, in cooperation with the
intelligence community and law enforcement agencies, carried out
``Operation Absolute Resolve'', a meticulously planned operation
resulting in the successful capture of Nicolas Maduro and his wife,
Cilia Flores; and
Whereas Operation Absolute Resolve precisely targeted and neutralized Venezuelan
air defenses and the Cuban intelligence agents responsible for Maduro's
personal protection, demonstrating the United States military's superior
capabilities integration and professionalism: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) supports President Trump's decisive military and law
enforcement effort under Operation Absolute Resolve to arrest
Nicolas Maduro and bring him to justice;
(2) commends the Trump Administration for taking resolute
action and praises the bravery and gallantry of United States
servicemembers and law enforcement officers who participated in
Operation Absolute Resolve; and
(3) supports President Trump's efforts to assist the
Venezuelan people in their fight for freedom.
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