[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 111 (Tuesday, July 24, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5307-S5308]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

                                 ______
                                 

  SENATE RESOLUTION 525--HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF OSWALDO PAYA 
                                SARDINAS

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

                              S. Res. 525

       Whereas, on Sunday, July 22, 2012, 60-year-old Cuban 
     dissident and activist Oswaldo Paya Sardinas died in a car 
     crash in Bayamo, Cuba;
       Whereas, at a young age, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas criticized 
     the communist government in Cuba, which led to his 
     imprisonment at a work camp on Cuba's Isle of Youth in 1969;
       Whereas, in 1988, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas founded the 
     Christian Liberation Movement as a nondenominational 
     political organization to further civic and human rights in 
     Cuba;
       Whereas, in 1992, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas announced his 
     intention to run as a candidate to be a representative on the 
     National Assembly of Popular Power of Cuba and, 2 days before 
     the election, was detained by police at his home and 
     determined by Communist Party officials to be ineligible to 
     run for office because he was not a member of the Communist 
     Party;
       Whereas, in 1997, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas collected hundreds 
     of signatures to support his candidacy to the National 
     Assembly of Popular Power, which was rejected by the 
     electoral commission of Cuba;
       Whereas the Constitution of Cuba supposedly guarantees the 
     right to a national referendum on any proposal that achieves 
     10,000 or more signatures from citizens of Cuba who are 
     eligible to vote;
       Whereas, in 1998, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas and other leaders 
     of the Christian Liberation Movement created the Varela 
     Project, a signature drive to secure a national referendum on 
     ``convert[ing] into law, the right of freedom of speech, the 
     freedom of press and freedom of enterprise'';
       Whereas, in May 2002, the Varela Project delivered 11,020 
     signatures from eligible citizens of Cuba to the National 
     Assembly of Popular Power, calling for an end to 4 decades of 
     one-party rule, to which the Government of Cuba responded by 
     beginning its own referendum that made Cuba's socialist 
     system ``irrevocable'', even after an additional 14,000 
     signatures were added to the Varela Project petition;
       Whereas the Varela Project is the largest civil society-led 
     petition in the history of Cuba;
       Whereas Oswaldo Paya Sardinas bravely led the Varela 
     Project at great risk to himself, his loved ones, and his 
     associates;
       Whereas, in March 2003, the Government of Cuba arrested 75 
     human rights activists, including 25 members of the Varela 
     Project, in the crackdown known as Cuba's ``Black Spring'';
       Whereas Oswaldo Paya Sardinas's dedication to freedom and 
     faith earned him the Sakarov Prize for Freedom of Thought 
     from the European Parliament in 2002;
       Whereas Oswaldo Paya Sardinas received the W. Averell 
     Harriman Democracy Award from the United States National 
     Democratic Institute for International Affairs in 2003;
       Whereas Oswaldo Paya Sardinas was nominated for the Nobel 
     Peace Prize by Vaclav Havel, the former president of the 
     Czech Republic, in 2005; and
       Whereas President Barack Obama stated, ``We continue to be 
     inspired by Paya's vision and dedication to a better future 
     for Cuba, and believe that his example and moral leadership 
     will endure.'': Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes and honors the life and exemplary leadership 
     of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas;
       (2) offers heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, 
     and loved ones of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas;
       (3) praises the bravery of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas and his 
     colleagues for collecting more than 11,000 verified 
     signatures in support of the Varela Project;
       (4) in memory of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, calls on the United 
     States to continue policies that promote respect for the 
     fundamental principles of religious freedom, democracy, and 
     human rights in Cuba, in a manner consistent with the 
     aspirations of the people of Cuba;
       (5) in memory of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, calls on the 
     Government of Cuba to provide its citizens with 
     internationally accepted standards for civil and human rights 
     and the opportunity to vote in free and fair elections; and
       (6) calls on the Government of Cuba to allow an impartial, 
     third-party investigation into the circumstances surrounding 
     the death of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas.

[[Page S5308]]



                          ____________________