JRH 8

          State of Vermont
       House of Representatives
                          Montpelier, Vermont
                   Joint House Resolution
                                   J.R.H. 8
   Offered by Representatives Cole of Hartford, Logan of Burlington,
Tomlinson of Winooski, Arsenault of Williston, Bos-Lun of Westminster,
Casey of Montpelier, Chapin of East Montpelier, Cina of Burlington, Dodge of
Essex, Donahue of Northfield, Duke of Burlington, Eastes of Guilford,
Goldman of Rockingham, Headrick of Burlington, Holcombe of Norwich,
Masland of Thetford, McCann of Montpelier, McGill of Bridport, Pouech of
Hinesburg, Satcowitz of Randolph, and White of Bethel
   Joint resolution condemning the January 3, 2026, U.S. military incursion in
Venezuela and imploring that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his
wife, Cilia Flores, be released from U.S. custody; that all U.S. military forces
recently deployed in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean be
withdrawn immediately; that Venezuelans be allowed to exercise their right to
political self-determination on their own accord; and that the United States
abandon any intentions or plans to repeat a similar intervention to disrupt or
destroy the right to self-determination and political sovereignty of any other
nation
   Whereas, there are fundamental human rights, including the right for all
nations peacefully and safely to enjoy and practice political self-
determination, and this right belongs equally to the Venezuelans, contrary to
the opinion of senior Trump administration official Stephen Miller, who stated
in a CNN interview that international treaties enshrining a nation’s right to
independence and sovereignty are “international niceties,” and
   Whereas, in the early morning of January 3, 2026, with no prior
congressional approval, U.S. military forces, relying in part on Central
Intelligence Agency-provided information, seized Venezuelan President
Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their compound in Caracas,
the nation’s capital, and flew them to the United States, and
  Whereas, Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution provides that “The
Congress shall have power … [t]o declare War, grant Letters of Marque and
Reprisal, and make rules concerning Captives on Land and Water,” and
    Whereas, the alleged ocean shipping of illegal drugs to the United States,
previously interdicted as a maritime law enforcement action, was President
Trump’s original explanation for the deployment of U.S. military forces in the
Caribbean, the eastern Pacific, and in Caracas, Venezuela; but the American
embargo on vessels transporting oil from Venezuela, combined with President
Trumps’s subsequent actions to control the sale and distribution of Venezuelan
oil, indicate that oil may well be the true motivation, and
   Whereas, Venezuelan sources have indicated that as of January 5, 2026,
about 80 persons are known to have perished as a result of the cover attacks
that occurred simultaneously, and
   Whereas, condemnation of the U.S. military action of January 3, 2026, is
not intended to legitimize the leadership of President Nicolás Maduro, who,
according to a broad international consensus, lost the 2024 Venezuelan
national election and has governed his country illegitimately, but this situation
absolutely does not justify or sanction American military intervention literally
to seize its current leader and involuntarily transport him to the United States,
and
   Whereas, ironically, in December 2025, President Trump pardoned former
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was serving a 45-year
federal prison term on similar drug-related charges, and
   Whereas, President Trump has stated that the United States will run
Venezuela on an interim basis, and Stephen Miller echoed these comments in
the CNN interview, stating “We set the terms and conditions … [F]or them
[the Venezuelans] to be able to run an economy, they need our permission. So
the United States is in charge,” and
   Whereas, their statements are reminiscent of the tragic consequences of
American interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the sordid history of prior
U.S. interventions in the military or political affairs of other Latin American
countries, and
   Whereas, Russia could cite this incident as a justification for its actions in
Ukraine, and similarly, China, for a possible future attempt to invade and
annex Taiwan, and
   Whereas, the entire Vermont Congressional Delegation has condemned this
military attack on Venezuela, and Senator Sanders described Stephen Miller’s
comments on CNN as describing imperialism, and
   Whereas, President Trump has also threatened the sovereignty of the
governments of Columbia, Cuba, Mexico, and Greenland; in the latter
instance, it is an island under the jurisdiction of Denmark, a member of NATO,
an organization consisting of America’s most closely aligned nations, now
therefore be it
   Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives:
   That the General Assembly condemns the January 3, 2026, U.S. military
incursion in Venezuela and implores that Venezuelan President Nicolás
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, be released from U.S. custody; that all U.S.
military forces recently deployed in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific
Ocean be withdrawn immediately; that Venezuelans be allowed to exercise
their right to political self-determination on their own accord; and that the
United States abandon any intentions or plans to repeat a similar military
intervention to disrupt or destroy the right to self-determination and political
sovereignty of any other nation, and be it further
   Resolved: That the Secretary of State be directed to send a copy of this
resolution to U.S. President Donald J. Trump, U.S. Secretary of State Marco
Rubio, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and the Vermont
Congressional Delegation.