{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.welch.senate.gov/welch-demands-trump-admin-provide-a-report-on-human-rights-violations-and-corruption-in-honduras-congress-and-the-american-people-as-well-as-the-people-of-honduras/", "Welch\u00a0Demands\u00a0Trump Admin\u00a0Provide a Report on\u00a0Human Rights\u00a0Violations and Corruption in Honduras: \u201cCongress and the American people, as well as the people of Honduras, have every right to know.\u201d", "2026-06-17", "2026", "2026-06", "Democrat", "Senate", "VT", "Peter Welch", "W000800", "www.welch.senate.gov", "welch", "https://www.welch.senate.gov/category/press-release/page/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today spoke in support of a Resolution led by U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.), that would require the Trump Administration to produce a report on human rights abuses and corruption in Honduras. The Senator\u2019s speech comes after President Trump pardoned convicted felon former President Juan Orlando Hern\u00e1ndez in December of 2025.\n\n\u201cThe Resolution we are voting on today calls for a full accounting of the Hern\u00e1ndez Administration\u2019s violations of human rights and connections\u2014direct connections\u2014with drug traffickers, the corruption of government officials, the involvement in torture, murder, and other crimes of violence. It also requires an assessment of the likelihood that U.S. aid to the Honduran security forces was used to support activities related to drug trafficking and related crimes. None of us want our foreign aid to be used for drug running. This information, the State Department has access to, and that Congress and the American people, as well as the people of Honduras, have every right to know,\u201d said Senator Welch.\n\n\u201cThere is absolutely nothing partisan or controversial about this Resolution. All of us, all of us are against corruption; all of us demand accountability of foreign aid\u2014it is financed by taxpayers; all of us want to bring to justice those who commit crimes that involve drugs, that cause so much damage to the men and women, the young people in all of our states. I commend the Senators from Nevada and Virginia for offering the Resolution, and I urge its adoption,\u201d Senator Welch concluded.\n\nWatch Senator Welch\u2019s remarks here:\n\nRead Senator Welch\u2019s full remarks below:\n\n\u201cMr. President, I strongly support the Resolution offered by my colleagues Senator Cortez-Masto and Senator Kaine. This resolution requires a report from the State Department on the human rights practices of the Government of Honduras during the very corrupt presidency of Juan Orlando Hern\u00e1ndez, and a report on steps the United States has taken to promote human rights and bring drug traffickers and other criminals in Honduras to justice.\n\n\u201cDuring former President Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s time in office, the United States\u2014our taxpayers\u2014provided hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Honduras, including to the Honduran security forces. So, the information requested in this Resolution is directly relevant to Congress\u2019 oversight responsibilities\u2014we have an obligation to make certain that taxpayer dollars are served in the purpose of the United States and our citizens, and there is no reason why the State Department should not do this oversight.\n\n\u201cAccording to U.S. federal prosecutors, Mr. Hern\u00e1ndez, the former two-term President of Honduras, was at the center of one of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking conspiracies in the entire world. Mr. Hern\u00e1ndez used the Honduran military, he used the Honduran police to arrest, to imprison, to torture, and in some cases murder his political opponents and independent journalists who challenged and exposed the rampant corruption and abuses of his government.\n\n\u201cIn March of 2024, a U.S. federal jury in Manhattan found Mr. Hern\u00e1ndez guilty of three charges: conspiring to import tons of cocaine to the United States, using and carrying machine guns and destructive devices to advance that trafficking conspiracy, and conspiring to use such weapons. He was sentenced to 45 years imprisonment and fined $8,000,000.\n\n\u201cMr. Hern\u00e1ndez claimed that he was the victim of \u201cpolitical persecution\u201d\u2014there has been absolutely no credible evidence to support that fraudulent claim. His conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal. Far from being treated unfairly, Mr. Hern\u00e1ndez was afforded every right of due process and a fair trial to criminal defendants under our system of justice. Astonishingly and to my dismay, on December 1, 2025, Mr. Hern\u00e1ndez received a \u201cfull and complete\u201d pardon from President Trump.\n\n\u201cMr. Hern\u00e1ndez is free because of President Trump\u2019s pardon, but he does remain a convicted felon. The Resolution we are voting on today calls for a full accounting of the Hern\u00e1ndez administration\u2019s violations of human rights and connections\u2014direct connections\u2014with drug traffickers, the corruption of government officials, the involvement in torture, murder, and other crimes of violence.\n\n\u201cIt also requires an assessment of the likelihood that U.S. aid to the Honduran security forces was used to support activities related to drug trafficking and related crimes. None of us want our foreign aid to be used for drug running.\n\n\u201cThis information, the State Department has access to, and that Congress and the American people, as well as the people of Honduras, have every right to know.\n\n\u201cMr. President, again, there is absolutely nothing partisan or controversial about this Resolution. All of us, all of us are against corruption; all of us demand accountability of foreign aid\u2014it is financed by taxpayers; all of us want to bring to justice those who commit crimes that involve drugs, that cause so much damage to the men and women, the young people in all of our states. I commend the Senators from Nevada and Virginia for offering the Resolution, and I urge its adoption.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-06-18T06:41:00Z", "2026-06-18T06:43:25Z"]], "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.welch.senate.gov/welch-demands-trump-admin-provide-a-report-on-human-rights-violations-and-corruption-in-honduras-congress-and-the-american-people-as-well-as-the-people-of-honduras/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8026370778679848, "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"}