[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 115 (Tuesday, July 31, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5802-S5803]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


         HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF OSWALDO PAYA SARDINAS

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration 
of S. Res. 525 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate 
consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 525) honoring the life and legacy of 
     Oswaldo Paya Sardinas.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I wish to speak about Oswaldo 
Paya, a Cuban dissident, and his untimely death in Cuba in a supposed 
automobile accident. The Cuban people, indeed all freedom-loving people 
of the world, have recently lost a great advocate for freedom. He was 
someone who was in peaceful opposition to the tyranny that is on the 
island of Cuba.
  Oswaldo Paya died in a car crash on Sunday, July 22. He was just 60 
years old. Another Cuban dissident, Harold Cepero, was also killed in 
the accident, and two European politicians, one from Spain and one from 
Sweden, were injured. Paya was one of Cuba's best known dissidents. He 
pushed for civil and human rights. He pushed for an end to one-party 
rule. He pushed for freedom for political prisoners. And he pushed for 
support for private businesses. In 2002, his Varela Project delivered 
more than 24,000 verifiable signatures in support of these ideals to 
the Cuban Government. It was the largest petition drive in Cuban 
history. Paya bravely led this initiative at great risk to himself, to 
his loved ones, and to his colleagues. For his work, he received the 
European Parliaments' Sakarov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2002, and 
he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
  The reason I am bringing this up, other than pointing out that planet 
Earth has lost a friend for freedom, is to note that the circumstances 
of the car accident are the topic of some debate. Cuban officials 
insist the driver was speeding and that he lost control and he hit a 
tree. But others are saying that witnesses saw another vehicle hit Mr. 
Paya's vehicle and drive it off the road. Paya's daughter Rosa Maria 
says she holds the Cuban Government responsible. She has told CNN en 
Espanol that ``we think it's not an accident. They wanted to do harm 
and then ended up killing my father.'' That is a direct quote.
  Paya's loved ones and the Cuban people and the international 
community deserve to have all the facts surrounding this tragic event 
examined and put out in the public. That is why I have submitted, along 
with a number of our colleagues, S. Res. 525, which honors the life, 
legacy, and exemplary leadership of Oswaldo Paya. This resolution also 
calls on the Cuban Government to allow an impartial third-party 
investigation into the accident. I urge the Senate to unanimously pass 
this resolution.
  This request comes on the heels of other disturbing news out of Cuba. 
We have learned that more than 40 prodemocracy activists were detained 
after Paya's funeral last Tuesday. The reason? They dared to shout 
``libertad'' at that time--``freedom''--during the ceremony. Reports 
also indicate that several of the dissidents were severely beaten.
  These peaceful activists were only honoring one of their own and they 
ended up as victims of an authoritarian regime. Now more than ever 
before the United States must continue policies that promote the 
fundamental principles of political freedom, democracy, and human 
rights, to all of which Oswaldo Paya devoted his life.
  Senator Durbin, we are quite concerned the Castro regime continues to 
hold an American hostage, Alan Gross. Once again, another Senator rises 
to urge the Cuban regime in the strongest possible terms to immediately 
and unconditionally release him.
  We will never forget Paya's passion and dedication to freedom and 
faith. The least the regime can do is to release Alan Gross.
  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I further ask that the amendment 
offered by the Senator from Florida, Mr. Nelson, which is at the desk, 
be agreed to; the resolution, as amended, be agreed to; the preamble be 
agreed to; the motions to reconsider be made and laid upon the table, 
with no interviewing action or debate, and that any statements relating 
to the measure be printed in the Record at the appropriate place as if 
read.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 2740) was agreed to, as follows:

(Purpose: To condemn the Government of Cuba for the detention of nearly 
 50 pro-democracy activists following the memorial service for Oswaldo 
                             Paya Sardinas)

       On page 4, line 13, strike ``; and'' and insert a 
     semicolon.
       On page 4, line 17, strike the period and insert ``; and''.
       On page 4, after line 17, insert the following:
       (7) condemns the Government of Cuba for the detention of 
     nearly 50 pro-democracy activists following the memorial 
     service for Oswaldo Paya Sardinas.
  The resolution (S. Res. 525), as amended, was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, as amended, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              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 civil 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

[[Page S5803]]

     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;
       (6) calls on the Government of Cuba to allow an impartial, 
     third-party investigation into the circumstances surrounding 
     the death of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas; and
       (7) condemns the Government of Cuba for the detention of 
     nearly 50 pro-democracy activists following the memorial 
     service for Oswaldo Paya Sardinas.

                          ____________________