[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 127 (Tuesday, July 20, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H3678-H3679]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               FREE CUBA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Crenshaw) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. Madam Speaker, I rise today to support and encourage 
the brave men and women of Cuba.
  Last week we saw unprecedented images and videos from across Cuba. 
Tens of thousands of Cubans took to the street. They took to the street 
not because of COVID or vaccines or the embargo but because they demand 
their

[[Page H3679]]

inalienable rights. They demand freedom. They chant: ``Libertad.'' They 
chant: ``Patria y vida.'' And they converged on the Communist Party 
headquarters responsible for 60 years of misery, abuse, and torture of 
the Cuban people.
  Cubans have rejected the failed ideology forced upon three 
generations--the failed ideology of Marxism that has brought suffering 
to hundreds of millions around the world, the failed ideology that 
deserves to be sent to the ash heap of history once and for all.
  As Communists often do, they concocted a conspiracy theory to explain 
the people's protests. The Communist dictator Miguel Diaz-Canel even 
claimed it was a U.S. plot. This is what Marxists do, of course. They 
lie. They will lie, they will commit violence against their own people, 
and they will try to suffocate the calls for freedom.
  But this movement will not be silenced. It cannot. It mustn't. For 
too long this once flourishing island has suffered under Communist 
rule, and now the calls for freedom must be heeded: freedom from 
oppression, freedom from abuse, and freedom from tyranny. The downfall 
of this regime has been a long time coming. No more is it patria o 
muerte--country or death--but as the people across Cuba know, it is 
patria y vida--country and life.
  As Americans--as a people who have inherited the greatest gifts of 
freedom the world has ever known--we must speak with one voice against 
the evils of Marxism. We must speak truth, a truth that not enough 
Americans are used to hearing. Instead, we have American politicians 
who openly advocate for the very same Marxist ideology that Cubans 
would die to escape from. This ignorant and foolish flirtation with 
Marxism must end, and we must make it clear that we will always support 
freedom-loving people around the world.
  Our message will be one of empowerment: empower the brave Cuban 
people as they begin to throw off the chains of Communism and seek 
their inalienable, God-given rights of life, liberty, personal 
property, and the right to pursue their happiness.

  So to the men and women of Cuba, I say this:
  (English translation of the statement made in Spanish is as follows:)
  We see you. We hear you. We are with you. Let us no longer shout 
homeland or death but homeland and life. And begin to build what we 
dream of. What they destroyed with their hands.
  Te vemos. Te oimos. Estamos con ustedes. Ya no gritemos patria o 
muerte sino patria y vida. Y empezar a construir lo que sonamos. Lo que 
destruyeron con sus manos.
  Madam Speaker, to the Communist regime in Cuba, I say this: Your lies 
are exposed, your foundations are shaken to the core, and your days are 
numbered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Texas will provide a 
translation of his remarks to the desk.

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