[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 115 (Tuesday, June 23, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S3159]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 637--COMMEMORATING THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY OF UNITED 
                      STATES BROADCASTING TO CUBA

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

                              S. Res. 637

       Whereas the Radio Broadcasting to Cuba Act (Public Law 98-
     111) passed by a wide margin in the House of Representatives 
     on September 29, 1983, and passed unanimously by voice vote 
     in the Senate on September 12, 1983;
       Whereas, upon signing the Radio Broadcasting to Cuba Act 
     into law on October 4, 1983, President Ronald Reagan said 
     that the law ``responds to an important foreign policy 
     initiative of my administration: to break Fidel Castro's 
     monopoly on news and information within Cuba'', further 
     explaining that the purpose of providing impartial news to 
     the Cuban people was so that they ``will be in a better 
     position to make Cuba's leaders accountable for their conduct 
     in foreign policy, economic management, and human rights.'';
       Whereas radio service into Cuba was named ``Radio Marti'' 
     after renowned 19th century Cuban patriot Jose Marti;
       Whereas, on May 20, 1985, the 83rd anniversary of Cuba's 
     Independence Day, Radio Marti began its first broadcast into 
     Cuba;
       Whereas, in 1990, Congress passed and President George H.W. 
     Bush signed into law the Television Broadcasting to Cuba Act 
     (Public Law 101-246), which expanded broadcasting to include 
     television, and ``Television Marti'' commenced broadcasting 
     later that year;
       Whereas President William Jefferson Clinton signed into law 
     the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act 
     of 1996 (Public Law 104-134), which required the relocation 
     of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting from Washington, D.C., to 
     South Florida;
       Whereas the Office of Cuba Broadcasting was relocated to 
     Miami, Florida in 1998, ahead of schedule and under budget;
       Whereas United States broadcasts to Cuba were initiated to 
     pierce the Castro regime's information blockade and to 
     provide timely, accurate, uncensored, and reliable 
     information to the Cuban people;
       Whereas the Office of Cuba Broadcasting at the United 
     States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) oversees Radio and 
     Television Marti;
       Whereas Radio and Television Marti are multimedia hubs of 
     news, information, and analysis that provide the people of 
     Cuba with interactive programs 7 days a week through 
     satellite television, shortwave and AM radio, and digital 
     platforms, including its website, flash drives, emails, DVDs, 
     and SMS text;
       Whereas Radio and Television Marti aim to inform and engage 
     the people of Cuba by providing credible news and information 
     rooted in respect for fundamental freedoms, democratic 
     principles, and universal human rights;
       Whereas the Office of Cuba Broadcasting facilitates 
     critical technology services, allowing Cubans across 
     provinces to connect, and linking Cuban pro-democracy 
     activists with an expanding worldwide network of activists 
     engaged in their own struggles for freedom and human rights 
     in their respective countries;
       Whereas, on July 14, 2011, independent journalist and 
     former political prisoner Jose Daniel Ferrer said, ``the 
     particular stories, the news selected for A Fondo [a joint 
     Voice of America and Radio Marti program], is what gives the 
     show its quality, very professional. I listened to the show 
     in prison on a daily basis.'';
       Whereas Karen Caballero of Radio and Television Marti 
     received the David Burke Award in 2012 for her inspired 
     coverage of the ``Lights of Liberty Flotilla'', a small group 
     of boats with a mission to sail across the Florida Strait to 
     bring attention to the solidarity between Cuban exiles and 
     those on the island, and to the human rights abuses 
     perpetrated by the regime in Cuba;
       Whereas, on August 13, 2013, Afro-Cuban activist and former 
     political prisoner Jorge Luis Garcia-Perez stated, ``In the 
     17 years that I spent behind bars, Radio Marti was, at times, 
     my `everything'. It was my lifeline.''; and
       Whereas, in 2017, Television Marti's ``Alas de Libertad'' 
     (Wings of Freedom), which documented the activities of the 
     Brigade 2506 Air Force division during the 1961 Bay of Pigs 
     invasion, received the Suncoast Regional Emmy Award from The 
     National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) celebrates the 35th anniversary of Radio Marti and the 
     30th anniversary of Television Marti;
       (2) recognizes the vital role that independent broadcasting 
     to Cuba has served in providing uncensored, reliable, and 
     accurate information to the Cuban people for the past 35 
     years;
       (3) honors the journalists, programming editors, technical 
     support, and many other employees at Radio and Television 
     Marti, administered through the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, 
     who commit to high journalistic standards, tenacity, and 
     providing unbiased, objective information to the Cuban 
     people;
       (4) remembers the deep and lasting contributions that the 
     free flow of information, including broadcasting, to Cuba has 
     provided to the Cuban people in bolstering Cuba's pro-
     democracy movement; and
       (5) reaffirms the importance of the United States 
     strengthening policies in support of promoting democracy, 
     promoting freedom of the press, and supporting the 
     transmission of external, reliable, objective information to 
     some of the most repressed parts of the world.

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