A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate in support of Operation Absolute Resolve.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 582 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






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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