mr. deutch. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized for two minute. mr. deutch: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in strong support of house resolution 488 supporting the democratic aspirations of the people of venezuela. i'd like to thank ileana ros-lehtinen for her democratic principles. i'd like to thank chairman royce and ranking member engel for bringing this bill to the floor. i strongly condemned the violence by the maduro regime. peaceful assembly should never be met with the use of deadly force. this government has resorted to political intimidation and free media censorship to squash the voices of the people. i join my colleagues today in support of the people of venezuela to determine their own political future. it is their democratic right to seek government policies that put their country on a path to democratic and economic prosperity for all venezuelans. by passing this resolution, congress will send a clear message to the people of venezuela and to all those struggling around the world to achieve true democracy and freedom that we stand

mr. deutch, you have a minute. >> thankbr you, mr. chairman. i just have, i want to focus discussion in a different way. in addition to targeting individuals responsible for undermining the democratic process and threatening territorial integrity of ukraine are you considering additional robust sanctions that would have considerable impact on the a russianre regime? will you look to impose sanctions, mr. singh this, is my question to you. will you impose sanctions for those providing funding and syrian reagain to kill its own people? that is a way to strike russia in a way that is significant and appropriate. >> congressman, let me just say, we have not listed specific individuals or entities today but this is broad authority tha we'll use as appropriate given the situation on ground. >> is it appropriate, is it appropriate to pose sanctions on those individuals who in russia who areat assisting the assad regime in slaughtering its own people? no congressman, i only say this specific too al is designed to s allowow us to sanction those involved

mr. ted deutch of florida. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, thank you for being here. this past sunday marked the anniversary of disappearance of my constituent. monday was 66th's birthday. another without his family. i know how committed you are to returning bob to his family and i thank you for your statement of support this past weekend an i know that you and undersecretary sherman continue to raise this issue. please keep bob at the highest priority level with the discussions of iranian leadership and use the opportunities to press for information and cooperation that will lead to his safe return. mr. secretary, as you know, also, in recent days 60 rockets fired from gaza into southern israel and some striking near schools and libraries. islamic jihad militant group funded by iran claimed responsibility. the attacks come just a week after israeli officials intercepted a shipment of rockets, mortars, bullets and dozens of service to air missiles bound for islamic jihad in gaza. hezbollah now has many as 100,000 rockets pointed at israel and actively engaged on the g

mrs. odierno, sergeant major chandler, congressman deutch, congressman collins, ladies and gentlemen. the heroism of 24 selfless individuals, 24 soldiers whose acts of gallantry in battle merit our highest recognition. we are also here to correct an injustice of history, to help right 24 wrongs that should never have occurred. before we do, i want to recognize another soldier here today, a man who president obama acknowledged and commended yesterday. his name is mitch libman, and he was the driving force behind this effort to award the medal of honor to jewish and hispanic service members who had earned it, but never received it because of racial or religious discrimination. when mitch found out that his childhood friend had been denied the medal of honor, he decided to do whatever was necessary to rectify it. he never gave up. and though it took a long time, too long, he was able to see the record set straight, not only for his friend, but for 23 other soldiers. some of these soldiers gave their lives in service to this nation. others have passed away, but we are honored to have thre