[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 83 (Thursday, May 13, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H2297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             SOS NICARAGUA

  (Ms. SALAZAR asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SALAZAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention on the 
crisis in Nicaragua in Central America.
  SOS Nicaragua is our motto. SOS Nicaragua is the rallying cry of 
millions of Nicaraguans yearning for freedom, liberty, and the pursuit 
of happiness, just like what we have.
  Managua is closer to Miami than Miami is to D.C., as Ronald Reagan 
once said on national television. What happens in Central America has a 
direct impact on my community in south Florida, home of hundreds of 
thousands of Nicaraguans.
  Since April of 2018, Daniel Ortega's Sandinista regime has carried 
out a repressive crackdown and killed over 325 peaceful protesters, 
while thousands of Nicaraguans have fled to neighboring Costa Rica and 
to the United States, escaping Ortega's reign of terror.
  This November, Nicaragua is scheduled to have Presidential elections, 
yet Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, are actively 
undermining the electoral process and persecuting opposition candidates 
to outright steal the upcoming Presidential election.
  The Nicaraguan people have liberated themselves from the shackles of 
socialist tyranny once before, and they can do it again.
  For that reason, the United States must stand with the people of 
Nicaragua in their struggle for freedom by demanding a free and fair 
election this November. For that reason, Congressman Albio Sires and 
myself have introduced my bipartisan RENACER Act, and I urge my 
colleagues to cosponsor this bill and stand with the people of 
Nicaragua.

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