[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 70 (Thursday, April 22, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S2177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 173--COMMENDING THE ACTIONS OF CUBAN DEMOCRACY AND 
 HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST JOSE DANIEL FERRER GARCIA AND THE PRO-DEMOCRACY 
AND HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP, THE PATRIOTIC UNION OF CUBA (UNPACU), TO UPHOLD 
FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS IN CUBA AND CONDEMNING CUBA'S BRUTAL AUTHORITARIAN 
                            COMMUNIST REGIME

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

                              S. Res. 173

       Whereas Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia is a Cuban democracy and 
     human rights activist who has worked tirelessly to ensure 
     fundamental freedoms for the Cuban people;
       Whereas Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia was born in Cuba on July 
     29, 1970, in Santiago de Cuba and has spent most of his adult 
     life fighting for Cubans to have a voice in the matters of 
     their own country and against Cuba's brutal authoritarian 
     Communist dictatorship;
       Whereas Cuba's authoritarian Communist regime retaliated 
     against Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia over decades by repeatedly 
     imprisoning, beating, and torturing him and constantly 
     threatening and harassing his family and members of the pro-
     democracy and human rights group that he founded, the 
     Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU);
       Whereas, in March 2021, Cuba's brutal authoritarian 
     Communist regime committed the latest human rights violation 
     against Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia and members of UNPACU, as 
     Cuban security forces harassed them, kept them from meeting, 
     and blocked their attempts to distribute aid, food, and 
     medical care to fellow desperate residents of Santiago de 
     Cuba;
       Whereas, on March 20, 2021, Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia and 
     other courageous members of UNPACU began a hunger strike to 
     protest the constant harassment, human rights violations, and 
     the police siege of the headquarters of UNPACU in Santiago de 
     Cuba;
       Whereas the hunger strike underscored the importance of 
     defending the right of the members of UNPACU to deliver food 
     and medication to a group of approximately 250 residents of 
     Santiago de Cuba as the need for aid, food, medicine, and 
     basic necessities has risen during the global pandemic; and
       Whereas, on April 10, 2021, Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia and 
     several activists from UNPACU ended the hunger strike after 
     21 days after Cuban security forces lifted the police siege 
     on the headquarters of UNPACU in Santiago de Cuba: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commends the actions of Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia and 
     his unyielding resolve to advance democracy and defend 
     freedoms and human rights for the Cuban people;
       (2) honors the vital contribution and humanitarian efforts 
     of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) and all of its 
     members for their tireless work to defend fundamental 
     freedoms and human rights in Cuba;
       (3) condemns the repression of Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia 
     and other brave Cuban activists;
       (4) condemns Cuba's brutal authoritarian Communist 
     dictatorship and demands an end to the suffering of the Cuban 
     people and the impunity of the regime's human rights abusers, 
     including Miguel Diaz-Canel and Raul Castro;
       (5) calls for the international community to stand with the 
     Cuban people and against Cuba's authoritarian Communist 
     regime for infringing on the freedom of thought, expression, 
     assembly, association, and prosperity of the Cuban people; 
     and
       (6) commends the courage of the pro-democracy movement and 
     activists in Cuba for risking everything to bring freedom to 
     the Cuban people.

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