{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=cfd3b620-dea3-4ca7-875e-e9d647813163", "In Video Statements, Rubio Comments After House Passage Of Venezuela Sanctions Bill (English & Espaol)", "2014-12-10", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "FL", "Marco Rubio", "R000595", "www.rubio.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Bill now awaits President\u2019s signature to become law\r\n   \r\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) welcomed today\u2019s passage by the U.S. House of Representatives of S. 2142, The Venezuela Human Rights and Defense of Civil Society Act. Having also passed in the Senate on Monday evening, the bill now awaits the President\u2019s signature to become law.\r\n   \r\nView Rubio\u2019s remarks here in English and here in Spanish.\r\n   \r\nFor TV stations interested in airing a broadcast quality version of Rubio\u2019s statements, downloads are available here in English and here in Spanish. For radio stations interested in airing audio, mp3 downloads are available here in English and in Spanish.\r\n   \r\nRubio issued the following statement:\r\n   \r\n\u201cWith these sanctions, we can end the days of Venezuelan regime officials and thugs repressing innocent Venezuelans in their day jobs and then coming to Florida to live in the lap of luxury and splurge Venezuela\u2019s wealth. This is the first step to address human rights violations in Venezuela, and it will be a blow to the hypocrites in Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u2019s regime who talk a lot about socialist sacrifice but who themselves are immune from its failures and live in a fantasy world of gold-plated iPads and fancy cars, even though most Venezuelans can\u2019t even find basic necessities like food and toilet paper.\r\n   \r\n\u201cAlthough passing this sanctions legislation is important, it\u2019s only the first step in our work supporting the human rights and democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people. As Venezuela\u2019s economy and society further deteriorates under the weight of an incompetent, unaccountable and repressive government, failed socialist economic system and dropping oil prices, I believe we are going to see even more repression from Maduro\u2019s regime.\u201d\r\n   \r\nS. 2142 was sponsored by Rubio and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-NJ). The House effort to pass Venezuela sanctions legislation was led by Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart.\r\n   \r\nS. 2142 directs the President to apply targeted visas and financial sanctions against individuals, including members of the government, public security forces, and armed civilian groups, who have perpetrated, ordered or directed acts of violence or human rights abuses against peaceful demonstrators in Venezuela, or have directed or ordered the arrest or prosecution of a person primarily because of the person\u2019s legitimate exercise of freedom of expression or assembly. S. 2142 also calls for a report on obstacles to access objective media content in Venezuela, current efforts by the U.S. government to address these challenges, and a strategy for expanding existing programs.\r\n   \r\nSPANISH VERSION OF STATEMENT\r\n   \r\n\u201cCon estas sanciones, podemos poner fin a los d\u00edas en que individuos del r\u00e9gimen violan los derechos humanos del pueblo venezolano durante la semana y luego se pasan sus vacaciones en la Florida viviendo de lujo y malgastando la riqueza de Venezuela. Este primer paso lo sentir\u00e1n los hip\u00f3critas del r\u00e9gimen de Nicol\u00e1s Maduro que hablan tanto del sacrificio socialista, pero que viven exentos de los fracasos de este sistema, y dentro de un mundo de fantas\u00eda con iPads forradas en oro y carros de lujo, todo esto mientras que al pueblo venezolano le cuesta trabajo encontrar las necesidades b\u00e1sicas como comida y papel sanitario.\r\n   \r\n\u201cAunque estas sanciones son importantes, solo es el primer paso en nuestro trabajo apoyando los derechos humanos y las aspiraciones democr\u00e1ticas del pueblo venezolano. Vamos a seguir viendo el empeoramiento de la econom\u00eda y la sociedad venezolana bajo el peso de un gobierno incompetente, irresponsable y represivo \u2013 y tambi\u00e9n bajo el peso de un fracasado sistema socialista y la ca\u00edda de los precios de petr\u00f3leo. Debido a todo esto, tenemos que estar preparados para ver a\u00fan m\u00e1s represi\u00f3n en el futuro de parte del r\u00e9gimen de Maduro\u201d.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=cfd3b620-dea3-4ca7-875e-e9d647813163"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6730591412633657, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}