[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 45 (Friday, April 15, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CALLING FOR THE RELEASE OF JOSE DANIEL FERRER GARCIA, A POLITICAL 
                            PRISONER IN CUBA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ROBERT E. ANDREWS

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 14, 2005

  Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to the 
shameful imprisonment of Mr. Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, a pro-democracy 
activist in Cuba who has been jailed for his outspoken leadership in 
the Cuban democracy movement.
  Mr. Garcia is the regional coordinator for the Christian Liberation 
Movement in Santiago Province. Through this leadership position, he has 
mobilized many Cuban youth for democratic change, and has focused on 
accomplishing the movement's chief objective: to unite citizens that 
are willing to defend and promote human rights and achieve changes in 
the Cuban society through peaceful means.
  As part of the March 2003 crackdown on Cuban dissidents in which 75 
prodemocracy activists were arrested by the Castro regime, Garcia was 
captured and sentenced to serve 25 years in prison. The prosecution had 
originally requested that Garcia receive the death penalty. Currently 
jailed in a prison located in Western Cuba, Garcia is being held over 
1,000 kilometers away from his wife and two young sons.
  Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia has dedicated his life to achieving 
positive change in Cuba. He has worked in an effort to bring the basic 
rights that we enjoy in the United States to the Cuban people, and has 
been imprisoned for 25 years because of these efforts. Mr. Speaker, it 
is imperative that the United States Congress continue to oppose the 
Castro regime and adhere to the travel and aid sanctions that are 
currently in place for Cuba. Mr. Garcia, along with his brother Luis 
Enrique and activists such as Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, have been willing 
to risk their freedom so as to ensure that their fellow countrymen can 
truly be free. They need and deserve the support of the United States, 
and I ask that my colleagues join me in urging that the Administration 
call for their immediate and unconditional release.

                          ____________________