[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 637 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 637

  Commemorating the 35th anniversary of United States broadcasting to 
                                 Cuba.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 23, 2020

    Mr. Rubio (for himself, Mr. Menendez, and Mr. Scott of Florida) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Commemorating the 35th anniversary of United States broadcasting to 
                                 Cuba.

Whereas the Radio Broadcasting to Cuba Act (Public Law 98-111) passed by a wide 
        margin in the House of Representatives on September 29, 1983, and passed 
        unanimously by voice vote in the Senate on September 12, 1983;
Whereas, upon signing the Radio Broadcasting to Cuba Act into law on October 4, 
        1983, President Ronald Reagan said that the law ``responds to an 
        important foreign policy initiative of my administration: to break Fidel 
        Castro's monopoly on news and information within Cuba'', further 
        explaining that the purpose of providing impartial news to the Cuban 
        people was so that they ``will be in a better position to make Cuba's 
        leaders accountable for their conduct in foreign policy, economic 
        management, and human rights.'';
Whereas radio service into Cuba was named ``Radio Marti'' after renowned 19th 
        century Cuban patriot Jose Marti;
Whereas, on May 20, 1985, the 83rd anniversary of Cuba's Independence Day, Radio 
        Marti began its first broadcast into Cuba;
Whereas, in 1990, Congress passed and President George H.W. Bush signed into law 
        the Television Broadcasting to Cuba Act (Public Law 101-246), which 
        expanded broadcasting to include television, and ``Television Marti'' 
        commenced broadcasting later that year;
Whereas President William Jefferson Clinton signed into law the Omnibus 
        Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-
        134), which required the relocation of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting 
        from Washington, DC, to South Florida;
Whereas the Office of Cuba Broadcasting was relocated to Miami, Florida in 1998, 
        ahead of schedule and under budget;
Whereas United States broadcasts to Cuba were initiated to pierce the Castro 
        regime's information blockade and to provide timely, accurate, 
        uncensored, and reliable information to the Cuban people;
Whereas the Office of Cuba Broadcasting at the United States Agency for Global 
        Media (USAGM) oversees Radio and Television Marti;
Whereas Radio and Television Marti are multimedia hubs of news, information, and 
        analysis that provide the people of Cuba with interactive programs 7 
        days a week through satellite television, shortwave and AM radio, and 
        digital platforms, including its website, flash drives, emails, DVDs, 
        and SMS text;
Whereas Radio and Television Marti aim to inform and engage the people of Cuba 
        by providing credible news and information rooted in respect for 
        fundamental freedoms, democratic principles, and universal human rights;
Whereas the Office of Cuba Broadcasting facilitates critical technology 
        services, allowing Cubans across provinces to connect, and linking Cuban 
        pro-democracy activists with an expanding worldwide network of activists 
        engaged in their own struggles for freedom and human rights in their 
        respective countries;
Whereas, on July 14, 2011, independent journalist and former political prisoner 
        Jose Daniel Ferrer said, ``the particular stories, the news selected for 
        A Fondo [a joint Voice of America and Radio Marti program], is what 
        gives the show its quality, very professional. I listened to the show in 
        prison on a daily basis.'';
Whereas Karen Caballero of Radio and Television Marti received the David Burke 
        Award in 2012 for her inspired coverage of the ``Lights of Liberty 
        Flotilla'', a small group of boats with a mission to sail across the 
        Florida Strait to bring attention to the solidarity between Cuban exiles 
        and those on the island, and to the human rights abuses perpetrated by 
        the regime in Cuba;
Whereas, on August 13, 2013, Afro-Cuban activist and former political prisoner 
        Jorge Luis Garcia-Perez stated, ``In the 17 years that I spent behind 
        bars, Radio Marti was, at times, my `everything'. It was my lifeline.''; 
        and
Whereas, in 2017, Television Marti's ``Alas de Libertad'' (Wings of Freedom), 
        which documented the activities of the Brigade 2506 Air Force division 
        during the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, received the Suncoast Regional 
        Emmy Award from The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) celebrates the 35th anniversary of Radio Marti and the 
        30th anniversary of Television Marti;
            (2) recognizes the vital role that independent broadcasting 
        to Cuba has served in providing uncensored, reliable, and 
        accurate information to the Cuban people for the past 35 years;
            (3) honors the journalists, programming editors, technical 
        support, and many other employees at Radio and Television 
        Marti, administered through the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, 
        who commit to high journalistic standards, tenacity, and 
        providing unbiased, objective information to the Cuban people;
            (4) remembers the deep and lasting contributions that the 
        free flow of information, including broadcasting, to Cuba has 
        provided to the Cuban people in bolstering Cuba's pro-democracy 
        movement; and
            (5) reaffirms the importance of the United States 
        strengthening policies in support of promoting democracy, 
        promoting freedom of the press, and supporting the transmission 
        of external, reliable, objective information to some of the 
        most repressed parts of the world.
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