U.S. Representative Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia’s 10th District has introduced amendments to federal funding bills aimed at stopping the use of taxpayer money for rebuilding Venezuela’s oil infrastructure. This move comes in response to efforts by President Trump, who is encouraging U.S. oil executives to participate in reconstructing Venezuela’s oil industry, with the possibility that their investments could be reimbursed by American taxpayers.
“President Trump has said again and again that a tremendous amount of money will need to be spent to rebuild Venezuela’s oil infrastructure. The average American will not see the benefits from this,” said Rep. Subramanyam. “We should be using every tool at our disposal to make sure taxpayer dollars are being used to make life more affordable for Americans before benefiting billionaire oil executives.”
The Republican Majority in Congress declined all of these proposed amendments. Among them were measures attached to appropriations bills for Interior, Energy and Water, and Commerce, Justice and Science agencies, which would have barred any funds from being used to compensate individuals or companies involved in constructing or rebuilding Venezuelan oil facilities.
Another amendment sought to prevent any funding for infrastructure development in Venezuela unless such spending was specifically authorized by Congress and contingent upon repealing provisions related to cuts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) included in H.R. 1.
