[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 155 (Wednesday, December 5, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H6662-H6663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         THREE YEARS OF CAPTIVITY FOR CUBAN HOSTAGE ALAN GROSS

  (Mr. RIVERA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. RIVERA. This week marked the 3-year anniversary that a United 
States citizen, Alan Gross, has been held hostage in Cuba. He was 
arrested on December 3, 2009, for engaging in humanitarian activities 
to help the oppressed Cuban people.

[[Page H6663]]

  Once again, the specter of a swap for Cuban spies being held in 
prison here has been raised. I would continue to encourage the 
administration to reject that notion, particularly when these Cuban 
spies are being held for participating in a murder conspiracy against 
other American citizens that were shot down over international water.
  I would remind the administration that Cuba remains on the list of 
terrorist nations--nations that are specific enemies of this country 
and want to do harm to this country; a country that is harboring 
fugitives from U.S. justice, and a country where, just this week, 
peaceful dissidents in Cuba were attacked once again, according to 
reports from Cuba, by relatives of a political police captain on the 
island that attacked supporters of the peaceful group the Ladies in 
White.
  Once again, I would urge, as I have done so many times, that the 
international community continue to denounce the atrocious human rights 
abuses on the island nation of Cuba.

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