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To increase the maximum reward amount for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Nicolas Maduro Moros to $100,000,000, which shall be paid out by the Federal Government from all assets being withheld from Nicolas Maduro Moros, officials of the Maduro regime and their co-conspirators.
Summary
This bill authorizes the Secretary of State to offer a reward of up to $100,000,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of Nicolas Maduro Moros, the leader of Venezuela. The bill overrides standard reward limits under the State Department's rewards program. The reward would be paid exclusively from assets being withheld from Maduro, Venezuelan regime officials, and their associates under existing U.S. sanctions laws related to narcotics trafficking and human rights violations.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
7 cosponsors
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Mario Diaz-Balart’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBE $17,200
- INNOVATIVE FEDERAL STRATEGIES, LLC $13,800
- HILLWOOD $9,900
- AEG FUELS $8,600
- STUDENT $7,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Mario Diaz-Balart → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jan 9, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. · house
- Jan 9, 2025 Introduced in House
More bills on these subjects (8)
Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 9, 2025
Mr. Diaz-Balart (for himself, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Gimenez, Ms. Salazar, and Mr. Soto) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
A BILL
To increase the maximum reward amount for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Nicolas Maduro Moros to $100,000,000, which shall be paid out by the Federal Government from all assets being withheld from Nicolas Maduro Moros, officials of the Maduro regime and their co-conspirators.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES.
This Act may be cited as the “Securing Timely Opportunities for Payment and Maximizing Awards for Detaining Unlawful Regime Officials Act of 2025” or the “STOP MADURO Act”.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) In 2020, the Trump administration charged Venezuela regime leader Nicolas Maduro Moros, along with other regime officials with—
(A) participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy, which carries a 20-year mandatory minimum sentence and a maximum sentence of life in prison;
(B) conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, which carries a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence and a maximum sentence of life in prison;
(C) using and carrying machine guns and destructive devices during, and in relation to, and possessing machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of, the narco-terrorism and cocaine-importation conspiracies, which carries a 30-year mandatory minimum sentence and a maximum sentence of life in prison; and
(D) conspiring to use and carry machine guns and destructive devices during, and in relation to, and to possess machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of, the narco-terrorism and cocaine- importation conspiracies, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
(2) On March 26, 2020, United States Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman of the Southern District of New York stated in a press release, “Today we announce criminal charges against Nicolas Maduro for running, together with his top lieutenants, a narco- terrorism partnership with the FARC for the past twenty years. The scope and magnitude of the drug trafficking alleged was made possible only because Maduro and others corrupted the institutions of Venezuela and provided political and military protection for the rampant narco-terrorism crimes described in our charges. As alleged, Maduro and the other defendants expressly intended to flood the United States with cocaine in order to undermine the health and wellbeing of our nation. Maduro very deliberately deployed cocaine as a weapon.”.
(3) The press release included a statement from United States Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan of the Southern District of Florida, who stated, “In the last couple of years, the US Attorney’s Office in South Florida and its federal law enforcement partners have united to bring dozens of criminal charges against high-level regime officials and co-conspirators resulting in seizures of approximately $450 million dollars.”.
SEC. 3. INCREASING THE MAXIMUM REWARD AMOUNT FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO THE ARREST AND CONVICTION OF NICOLAS MADURO MOROS THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE REWARDS PROGRAM.
(a) Authorization.—Notwithstanding section 36(e)(1) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2708(e)(1)), the Secretary of State may pay, to one or more individuals who furnish information described in section 36(b) of such Act that directly leads to the arrest and conviction of Nicolas Maduro Moros, a reward of up to $100,000,000.
(b) Source of Funds.—The payment authorized under subsection (a) shall be derived exclusively from the liquidation of assets being withheld from Nicolas Maduro Moros, officials of the Maduro regime, and their co-conspirators by the President or by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury pursuant to—
(1) the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (21 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.);
(2) section 5 of the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note);
(3) Executive Order 13692 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking of property and suspending entry of certain persons contributing to the situation in Venezuela);
(4) Executive Order 13850 (relating to blocking property of additional persons contributing to the situation in Venezuela);
(5) Executive Order 13884 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property of the Government of Venezuela); or
(6) any other sanctions provision. <all>
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