Rep. Subramanyam Moves to Prevent Trump Admin from Using Taxpayer Dollars for Venezuelan Oil Infrastructure

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10) introduced several amendments to government funding bills that would prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to rebuild Venezuelan oil infrastructure. President Trump is pushing U.S. oil executives to rebuild Venezuela’s oil industry and possibly be reimbursed by taxpayers for their investments.

“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 refused to accept any of these amendments. The amendments include:

• Amendments for Interior, Energy and Water, and Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bills that say no funds can be used to compensate or reimburse people or oil companies for work relating to building or rebuilding oil infrastructure in Venezuela.
• An amendment that says that no funds can be used for any infrastructure development in Venezuela unless authorized by Congress and unless the SNAP cuts provisions of H.R. 1 are repealed.