[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 121 (Monday, July 12, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4832-S4833]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                  CUBA

  Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I rise this evening to express my support 
for the Cuban people who have taken to the streets of their country to 
advocate for a government that can meet their basic needs of food, 
medicine, and political rights.
  The Cuban Government is attempting to deflect responsibility for the 
plight of its own people by blaming the United States of America. It is 
not our country that denies basic political freedoms to ordinary 
Cubans. The oppression is underscored by the fact that these are the 
first significant protests in Cuba in 25 years.
  The people of Cuba cannot be blamed for the actions of a Cuban 
Government

[[Page S4833]]

that greets those who speak out for a different future with violent 
crackdowns. In response to the latest protests, the regime says it is 
``prepared to do anything'' to protect the current system.
  Along with most all American people, I stand in solidarity with the 
demonstrating Cubans, and in a particular way, I seek to improve their 
lives by leading bipartisan legislation that would lift our country's 
60-year-old trade embargo with Cuba. While this legislation would 
provide a new market for our own farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers, 
it also deprives the Cuban Government of its false talking point that 
the United States is somehow the cause of the misery of the Cuban 
people.
  After 60 years of communist rule, 11 million Cubans deserve better. 
They deserve freedom. They deserve dignity. They deserve hope. We have 
witnessed this intense desire in a powerful way this weekend. The 
courage of Cubans who are risking their livelihoods--and possibly their 
lives--does not go unnoticed. They stand alongside those in Hong Kong, 
in Minsk, and in Moscow who challenge governments that disregard 
inalienable rights.
  As demonstrations to enact change in Havana continue, I pray they be 
peaceful and effective at bringing about a brighter tomorrow for the 
citizens of Cuba.

                          ____________________