[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 27, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H3914-H3915]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               FREE CUBA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
New York (Ms. Malliotakis) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. MALLIOTAKIS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to talk to you about why 
it is important to me and why it should be important to the American 
people that we support those in Cuba who are fighting right now for 
their future, for their freedom, for democracy, for human rights, and 
for dignity.
  I am the daughter of a Cuban refugee. My mother came to this great 
country in 1959 to escape the oppression of the Castro regime. Sadly, 
my family had been split apart, and my grandfather had remained in Cuba 
to stay with his small businesses. He had two gas stations there, and 
the regime had come in and taken his businesses and his home. 
Unfortunately, my family never really reconnected.
  As we look at what is happening right now in this island that is just 
90 miles from our shore, it is incredibly important to note the role 
that Cuba has played in spreading communism and socialism throughout 
the Western Hemisphere. They have aligned themselves with the most 
dangerous nations--our adversaries--across the world from Iran to China 
to Venezuela to Russia and to North Korea. Mr. Speaker, you see them 
all right now at this moment propping up this Communist regime.

                              {time}  1030

  We, the leader of the free world, must stand with the Cuban people at 
this moment. We have a moment in history that is very similar to what 
Ronald Reagan faced in 1987 with the Iron Curtain. This is our Berlin 
Wall moment. The people in Cuba, my family included, have suffered for 
six decades under a brutal murderous regime.
  Tens of thousands of people have died at the hands of the Castro 
brothers. Many, many more have been jailed and beaten simply for 
peacefully protesting communism and wanting to live in freedom.
  This regime has also played a very important role, unfortunately, in 
spreading communism in the Western Hemisphere, as I mentioned. We saw 
Venezuela, one of the richest nations in South America, be destroyed by 
Hugo Chavez, Nicolas Maduro, propped up by the Castro regime. We see it 
going into Nicaragua, Bolivia, and even here in the United States of 
America.
  And I can tell you, firsthand, in New York City, how painful it was 
to me to see the communist symbol, the hammer and sickle, painted on 
our government buildings last summer. If we end communism in Cuba, we 
end its spread in the Western Hemisphere. And that is what we as the 
American people, freedom-loving Americans, should be doing at this 
moment in time.
  And there is a reason why the Cuban people are marching in the 
streets right now holding the American flag. It is because we are that 
symbol of freedom, that beacon of hope and opportunity, and we must 
rise to the occasion, garner support from our allies,

[[Page H3915]]

democracies from all around the world, to put pressure on this 
illegitimate regime to exit.
  One last thing I want to address is the issue of what some of my 
colleagues say is the embargo. It is unconscionable to me that we would 
have Members of Congress that would actually blame America for what is 
occurring in Cuba.
  What people need to understand is they do business with nearly every 
country around the world, yet, nothing has changed in six decades. That 
is because everything that comes into this island, whether it is food, 
whether it is medicine, money, the regime takes it, and they use it to 
weaponize against their people. You either go along with their 
communist revolution or you get nothing, you starve. And that is the 
reality. So lifting the embargo will only further prop up this regime.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge the President, I urge my colleagues, and there 
are Democrats and Republicans who do support Cuba at this moment, and 
especially those of us who are of Cuban descent. Let's have a Berlin 
moment here. Let's make history together. We need to just do it by 
encouraging democracies from around the world to join us, and we need 
our leadership to be extremely strong at this moment.
  (English translation of the statement made in Spanish is as follows:)
  Live free Cuba. We are with you. We hope to see liberty in Cuba soon.
  Viva Cuba libre. Estamos contigo. Espero que vemos libertad pronto.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from New York will provide a 
translation of her remarks to the Clerk.
  The Chair will remind all Members to maintain proper decorum in the 
Chamber.

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