[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 113 (Wednesday, July 13, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H4817-H4818]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        FREE OSCAR LOPEZ RIVERA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Madam Speaker, I will not be on vacation or traveling 
on junkets to far-off lands during the next 6 or 8 weeks that Congress 
is in recess because I am going to be involved in a campaign to free 
Oscar Lopez Rivera from incarceration.
  Oscar Lopez Rivera is regarded as the last political prisoner from 
Puerto Rico that is still being held in a Federal penitentiary. Oscar 
is a friend and a mentor. And at 73 years old, he is not beaten, 
broken, or sad, as you can see by the smile on his face.
  Even after spending 35 years in jail, nearly half of his life, he is 
a hero to many people in Puerto Rico and throughout the Puerto Rico 
diaspora. It warms my heart that people from every walk of life now 
understand that the 35 years Oscar has served for crimes that were not 
violent is too long to be in jail. There is a groundswell of support to 
tell President Obama that, after 35 years, it is time to let Oscar 
Lopez Rivera come home to his family, his island, and his community.
  Enough is enough--ya basta. Thirty-five years is enough. And this 
comes from people of every political background: conservatives, 
liberals, statehooders, Democrats, Republicans, Populares, and, yes, 
those who believe in independence like I do. And every generation from 
the youngest, hippest kids, like Residente of Calle 13, to old people 
like me, from the richest to the poorest, whether you live in Bayamon, 
Ponce, Orlando, Chicago, or New York City, the Puerto Rican people are 
united in our call to free Oscar Lopez Rivera.
  Internationally, Bishop Desmond Tutu is with us, and a long list of 
Nobel Peace Prize winners have joined the campaign to free Oscar Lopez, 
along with world leaders, community leaders, and average people across 
Europe, Latin America, and the world.
  Oscar Lopez is a decorated Vietnam war veteran, a father, teacher, 
mentor, and a friend. Yet, he has languished in Terre Haute, Indiana, 
for three-and-a-half decades.
  President Obama has less than 200 days left as President, and the 
chorus of supporters for the freedom of Oscar Lopez Rivera will 
continue to call on the President every day to release our brother 
Oscar back to our community so he can live out his days in peace and 
with his family. Commutation is the only option--the only option.
  It will be a minimum of 10 years before Oscar can talk--that is just 
talk--to a parole board. It is now or never, and President Obama holds 
all the cards. We could not allow Oscar to die in jail. Obama must 
commute his sentence.
  A coalition, La Coalicion por la Liberacion de Oscar Lopez Rivera, 
has formed with lawyers, union leaders, elected officials, community 
leaders, and citizens from every walk of life in Puerto Rico and 
wherever Puerto Ricans live in the United States. This coalition just 
announced a unity event, a gathering in Lafayette Square across the 
street from the White House, on October 9, 2016.
  So, Madam Speaker, when the Congress leaves this week for 6 weeks or 
more, I am not going to go on vacation. I am going to go work to build 
awareness about Oscar Lopez Rivera and build awareness about October 9 
right here in Washington, D.C., at Lafayette Square.
  The 9th of October in Washington--el 9 de octubre en Washington. We 
all have to show up and show our support for Oscar and his family.
  So I will be in Lorain, Ohio, this Saturday and in Philadelphia and 
New Jersey later this month. I will be in Puerto Rico and California. 
Wherever I go, I will be telling people to come to Washington to show 
support for Oscar Lopez Rivera on October 9, 2016. If you live in New 
York, it is about a 3\1/2\ hour drive to D.C. Oscar Lopez Rivera has 
been in jail for three-and-a-half decades, so I don't want to hear any 
excuses.
  October 9th is a Sunday. So if you live anywhere up and down the 
eastern seaboard, you can go to sunrise service at your church and 
still make it in time to show your solidarity with Oscar.
  If you live in Chicago or Orlando, okay, it is going to take you a 
little longer. You might even have to pay for

[[Page H4818]]

a hotel or airplane ticket, but your Boricua nation needs you to 
represent.
  I ask everyone who is watching today or who sees my remarks online to 
commit yourself to joining me and others in Lafayette Square on October 
9 in Washington, D.C. It is up to us. It is up to you.
  President Obama has done so much to address injustice, to address 
unfair prison sentences for nonviolent offenses, to address the 
inherent injustice that all too often characterizes our system of 
justice. I thank him and praise him for that.
  In this case, with this elder statesman of the Puerto Rican diaspora 
for this nonviolent, exemplary inmate, for this father and war hero, 
for Oscar Lopez Rivera, we respectfully say enough is enough--ya basta. 
Free Oscar Lopez Rivera.

                          ____________________