[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 102 (Thursday, June 19, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1285]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             YOUTH CO-OP'S CELEBRATION OF WORLD REFUGEE DAY

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                        HON. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 19, 2008

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to extend my 
sincere greetings to all the attendees of th Youth Co-Op ``World 
Refugee Day, Celebrating Human Rights''. As you gather today to 
celebrate the contributions of refugees throughout the would, I would 
like to thank the executive director, Maria Rodriguez, and all of Youth 
Co-Op for their commitment to the betterment of the entire south 
Florida community and the many refugees who have made new homes here. 
Since its inception, the Youth Co-Op has been a pioneer institution in 
assisting refugees in translating their strengths, skills and past 
experiences into assets in their new communities. I would also like to 
personally applaud the men and women of the Youth Co-Op for working 
closely with community members to providing a warm and secure welcome 
to all refugees.
  Unfortunately, in a prison cell not much larger than a portable 
toilet, without a window to watch the days pass him by, or even another 
human being to soothe the pangs of loneliness, the prisoner lies 
helpless as we celebrate. He has lived his entire life in a world, just 
outside, where liberty has been suffocated and injustice reigns. Dr. 
Oscar Biscet is one of many prisoners of conscience incarcerated in 
Cuba and around the world for not cooperating with the government's 
unjust practices. Like Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and 
Jose Marti before him, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, has become universal 
symbol of dignified activism, liberty, peace, and resilience. The 
policies of the totalitarian regime which he dissented from are blatant 
violations of the human rights which we so cherish. Biscet has 
demonstrated the courage and resolve that has earned him international 
recognition as a champion of human dignity, even while denied a voice 
in his own homeland.
  On this day, June 20, World Refugee Day, we must keep in mind what it 
means to be a refugee, an asylum seeker, and a political prisoner. 
Uprooted from their homes and livelihoods, escaping in the night with 
only that which you can carry, or beaten and humiliated into 
submission, refugees sacrifice everything in hope of a better future. 
By definition, a refugee is an individual who flees their country 
because their lives are jeopardized by an inability to feel free and 
secure in their homeland. A 2007 Presidential Medal of Freedom 
recipient, Dr. Biscet represents the very principles for which any 
individual would become a refugee. His plea for justice and freedom for 
his people are resoundingly similar to those reverberated throughout 
history and across the world by anyone who has experienced oppression, 
especially those who are forced to resort to fleeing their country.
  Biscet's physical incarceration exemplifies the figurative 
imprisonment of all Cubans and the worldwide struggle of every refugee. 
His commitment to his cause is demonstrated by his refusal to denounce 
his pleas for justice in return for release from prison. Even given the 
opportunity for freedom in exile, Biscet has chosen not to abandon his 
people saying ``I will continue to resist until realizing freedom for 
[all] my people.'' On this day, we unite to recognize and honor the 
continual struggle for basic human rights by people like Biscet. It is 
difficult to imagine that in many places around the world, including 
just 90 miles across our Florida straits, simply reading these words 
and advocating this cause could would easily result in being confined 
to a windowless, 3-by-6 foot cell.
  Unfortunately, even as prisoners of conscience remain incarcerated 
and opposition movements like Las Damas de Blanco stage peaceful 
demonstrations challenging the governments crackdown on 75 dissidents 
in 2003, our country grows increasingly complacent. We cannot forget 
the systematic abuses being committed by oppressive regimes in places 
like China, Burma, Zimbabwe, and Cuba. A movement of low expectations 
only assumes that other fragments of freedom and democracy will follow. 
We must remember that small concessions to liberty are not a full and 
just realization of freedom. As a long time member of the Congressional 
Human Rights Caucus, I believe that this is simply not enough. We must 
demand basic, internationally recognized human rights for all.
  Today, as the world stand behinds us in solidarity, we must not 
forget that millions of people are still fighting for the rights which 
we take for granted in this country. It is unjust that the human 
conditions be constantly subjected to a tug of war between the 
tribulations brought about by oppression and the sanctity of human 
rights. It is paradoxical for human rights to exist on signed 
declarations alone but for those same signatories to forgo these same 
principles of life liberty, and security which are innate within every 
person. Jose Marti once wrote that ``We are free, but not to be 
indifferent to human suffering. Man is not free to watch impassively 
the enslavement and dishonor of men, nor their struggle for liberty and 
honor.'' We do not need to be enduring abuses and imprisonment in order 
to advocate for human rights. In fact, today on World Refugee Day, our 
liberty can serve as our best weapon against oppression

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