[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 226 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 226

    Expressing the sense of the Senate that the street between the 
 intersections of 16th Street, Northwest and Fuller Street, Northwest 
and 16th Street, Northwest and Euclid Street, Northwest in Washington, 
  District of Columbia, should be designated as ``Oswaldo Paya Way''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 21, 2015

Mr. Cruz submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
        Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Expressing the sense of the Senate that the street between the 
 intersections of 16th Street, Northwest and Fuller Street, Northwest 
and 16th Street, Northwest and Euclid Street, Northwest in Washington, 
  District of Columbia, should be designated as ``Oswaldo Paya Way''.

Whereas Fidel Castro and Raul Castro have been the autocratic rulers of the 
        Republic of Cuba for 56 years;
Whereas Fidel Castro and Raul Castro have relentlessly and consistently 
        oppressed any efforts to bring democratic freedoms and human rights to 
        the people of the Republic of Cuba for this 56-year period;
Whereas Oswaldo Paya was a Cuban political dissident dedicated to promoting 
        democratic freedoms and human rights in the Republic of Cuba;
Whereas the Communist Party of Cuba has always viewed such commitment to freedom 
        as a threat to its existence;
Whereas, on July 22, 2012, a violent car crash, widely believed to have been 
        carried out by the Castro regime, took the lives of Paya and Harold 
        Cepero, another dissident;
Whereas the official investigation into the crash has been demonstrated to be 
        compromised and the Castro regime has offered no plausible evidence of 
        its innocence, leaving the circumstances of the death of Paya unknown;
Whereas opposition by Paya to the Communist Party of Cuba began at a young age, 
        when he refused to become a member of the Young Communist League as a 
        primary school student, and continued through high school when he 
        publically criticized the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet 
        Union;
Whereas the Communist Party of Cuba responded to the opposition by Paya to the 
        invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union by sending Paya to a 
        labor camp for 3 years;
Whereas Paya forewent a chance to escape the Republic of Cuba in the 1980 Mariel 
        boatlift, deciding instead to continue the fight for democracy in the 
        Republic of Cuba, saying, ``This is what I am supposed to be, this is 
        what I have to do.'';
Whereas by creating the Varela Project in 1998, Paya demonstrated his staunch 
        commitment to peacefully advocating for freedom of speech and freedom of 
        assembly for his fellow Cubans;
Whereas in recognition of his determination for political reforms through 
        peaceful protests, Paya was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of 
        Thought by the European Parliament in 2002, the W. Averell Harriman 
        Democracy Award from the National Democratic Institute for International 
        Affairs in 2003, and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by former 
        Czech President Vaclav Havel in 2005; and
Whereas renaming the street in front of the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba in 
        the District of Columbia after Paya serves as an expression of 
        solidarity between the people of the United States and the people of the 
        Republic of Cuba who are engaged in a long, non-violent struggle for 
        fundamental human rights: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) the street between the intersections of 16th Street, 
        Northwest and Fuller Street, Northwest and 16th Street, 
        Northwest and Euclid Street, Northwest in Washington, District 
        of Columbia, should be designated as ``Oswaldo Paya Way'', and 
        any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or 
        other record to that area should be deemed to be a reference to 
        ``Oswaldo Paya Way'';
            (2) the address of 2630 16th Street, Northwest, Washington, 
        District of Columbia, should be redesignated as 2630 Oswaldo 
        Paya Way, and any reference in a law, map, regulation, 
        document, paper, or other record of the United States to that 
        address should be deemed to be a reference to 2630 Oswaldo Paya 
        Way; and
            (3) the Administrator of General Services should construct 
        street signs that--
                    (A) contain the phrase ``Oswaldo Paya Way'';
                    (B) are similar in design to the signs used by 
                Washington, District of Columbia, to designate the 
                location of Metro stations; and
                    (C) should be placed on--
                            (i) the parcel of Federal property that is 
                        closest to Oswaldo Paya Way (as described in 
                        paragraph (2)); and
                            (ii) the street corners of 16th Street, 
                        Northwest and Fuller Street, Northwest and 16th 
                        Street, Northwest and Euclid Street, Northwest 
                        in Washington, District of Columbia.
                                 <all>