Ranking Member Shaheen Opening Remarks at Hearing on U.S. Policy Towards Venezuela with Secretary Rubio

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered opening remarks at a full committee hearing, "U.S. Policy Towards Venezuela." In her remarks, Ranking Member Shaheen questioned whether the Trump Administration's raid to arrest Nicolas Maduro has actually advanced U.S. interests.

You can watch her opening remarks here.

"I certainly agree with the Chairman in terms of his comments relative to Nicolas Maduro," said Ranking Member Shaheen. "He was bad for Venezuela, he was bad for the region and he was bad for the United States. I think the question we have to ask now is: was the raid to arrest him worth the cost? [...] Maduro's Vice President-now the interim president-has taken no steps to diminish Iran, China or Russia's considerable influence in Venezuela, one of the reasons that has been given for the mission. Her cooperation appears tactical and temporary, and not a real shift in Venezuela's alignment. In the process, we've traded one dictator for another."

Ranking Member Shaheen also warned that the Administration's approach to Venezuela is part of a broader pattern of policies that are failing to deliver results for the American people and weakening U.S. alliances.

"So, it's no wonder that so many of my constituents are asking: why is the President spending so much time focused on Venezuela instead of the cost of living and their kitchen table economic concerns?" continued Ranking Member Shaheen. "Unfortunately, I think this has been a pattern across the Administration-losing sight of what actually advances America's interests and delivers results for the American people."

The Ranking Member's remarks, as delivered, are below.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome back, Secretary Rubio. Thank you for being here.

I certainly agree with the Chairman in terms of his comments relative to Nicolas Maduro. He was bad for Venezuela, he was bad for the region and he was bad for the United States. I think the question we have to ask now is: was the raid to arrest him worth the cost? And I also share the Chairman's admiration for the military operation that took him out.

But the U.S. naval blockade around Venezuela and the raid have already cost American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Outside estimates are as high as a billion dollars. And yet the Maduro regime is essentially still in power. All the same people are running the country. Maduro's Vice President-now the interim president-has taken no steps to diminish Iran, China or Russia's considerable influence in Venezuela, one of the reasons that has been given for the mission. Her cooperation appears tactical and temporary, and not a real shift in Venezuela's alignment. In the process, we've traded one dictator for another.

So, it's no wonder that so many of my constituents are asking: why is the President spending so much time focused on Venezuela instead of the cost of living and their kitchen table economic concerns? Unfortunately, I think this has been a pattern across the Administration-losing sight of what actually advances America's interests and delivers results for the American people.

Take the elimination of personnel and departments that were critical to our national security, for example. These are cost-effective tools like Voice of America that help us advance America's interests globally. And Mr. Secretary, as you remember, you strongly supported most of these programs when you were on this side of the dais. The Administration says those cuts were about saving money, but the total federal spending last year went up by 4 percent, not down. We spent more, not less. As a result, our adversaries, like China, are expanding their influence.

And there is broad bipartisan agreement in Congress that China is the central strategic challenge of our time. The President himself has said that as well. But we're cutting foreign aid and diplomacy tools we're leaving embassies without leadership, we're shutting down counter-disinformation programs, we're driving talent away from the United States while Beijing is actively recruiting it. And I would just like to point out-this is a picture of the globe. These are countries where China has ambassadors in those countries. All of the red-those are China and places where their diplomats are on the ground, except, of course, for China, which is in blue, and they don't need to put diplomats there. This map-this is where we have diplomats. You can see the red is where we're filled, and look at all of the white, where do not have ambassadors on the ground.

We're even giving China some of our most advanced semiconductors. And after a year of tariffs that were supposed to make us stronger, China has posted the largest trade surplus in history. And American families are paying more at a time when prices were already way too high. Since the start of the tariff campaign in 2025, U.S. manufacturing employment has fallen by anywhere from 50-70,000 jobs, depending on whose estimates you look at. That's a trend that undercuts promises that tariffs would bring factory jobs roaring back. And instead of creating a united front against China, we're pushing our closest allies into their arms. Just look at Canada, whose business with the state of New Hampshire has been really critical. They recently cut a trade deal with China because they no longer view the United States as a reliable partner. Pushing allies away like that is not strategic competition. It is unilateral disarmament.

We see the same gap between rhetoric and reality in how this Administration deals with other authoritarian regimes. At a time when Iran is violently cracking down on protests, the U.S. is coming to agreements to deport Iranians in this country back to Iran-people who will face persecution and interrogation by Iranian security forces. And yet, President Trump told the Iranian people that help was on the way, but the United States has largely stood on the sidelines as the situation deteriorated.

Americans are right in thinking that the Trump Administration is tougher on our allies than on most of our adversaries. I just returned from Denmark, where I met with Danish and Greenlandic leaders. Senator Coons was also on that trip-he led it. What I heard directly is that President Trump's threats to take Greenland have shaken public confidence in the United States to the core. And this from an ally who first recognized the new United States of America in 1792, has fought on our side in both world wars and in Afghanistan. And I heard from one Danish American woman, whose son holds both citizenships and is approaching conscription age, that she is worried that her son might one day be forced to choose between the two countries he loves. That kind of fear would have been unthinkable two years ago or ten years ago or fifty years ago. There is no strategic objective in Greenland that cannot be achieved through cooperation. The only thing these threats have accomplished is weakening trust in the United States. That trust is the foundation of our alliances.

And at a moment when Russia is waging the largest land war in Europe since World War II, we should be strengthening allied unities. Instead, we are undermining it. European allies worried about open conflict with the United States. Canadian trading partners are turning toward China instead of the U.S. And the constant threat of new tariffs raising prices and making it impossible for businesses to invest is ever present. So, from Venezuela to Europe, the United States is spending more, risking more and achieving less. That does not project strength. It hands our adversaries exactly what they want. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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