[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 192 (Monday, December 12, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1255]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING REPRESENTATIVE ALBIO SIRES

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARIO DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, December 12, 2022

  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of our 
colleague and dear friend, Albio Sires. Chairman Sires is retiring 
after ten years of admirable service in the U.S. Congress. In that 
time, he has been a steadfast advocate for human rights, democracy, and 
for those struggling for freedom in the most repressed places in the 
world.
  As Chairman of the Subcommittee of the Western Hemisphere, Civilian 
Security, Migration and International Economic Policy of the House 
Foreign Affairs Committee, Chairman Sires worked tirelessly on behalf 
of the American people to manifest our American values and interests 
abroad.
  If you were to compare our voting records, you might conclude that we 
have little in common. That would be wrong. Like my family, Chairman 
Sires' family was forced into exile to escape the tyranny of the Castro 
dictatorship. We share the gratitude of being warmly welcomed into 
freedom, while also feeling compelled to help those still languishing 
in their island prison. So when it came to pressing for freedom for the 
people of Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Communist China, Iran, and 
elsewhere, Chairman Sires was a fierce and adept advocate.
  Chairman Sires and I also co-chaired the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, 
a bipartisan congressional organization that focuses on preserving 
freedom and self-government for the people of Taiwan, providing Taiwan 
with the tools it needs to defend itself, and strengthening the U.S.-
Taiwan relationship. We also co-chaired the Colombia Caucus, which 
built on the success since Plan Colombia to ensure that the country did 
not backslide into the violence and narcoterrorism of the 1990s. No one 
could be a better ally in the struggle for democracy and human rights 
than my friend, Chairman Sires.
  I thank him for his service, and will always be proud of the 
accomplishments we achieved together to advance freedom in the Pacific 
and our hemisphere. He has left a lasting legacy befitting the 
foundational values of freedom, self-rule, and fundamental rights.
  Chairman Sires is a friend, patriot, and a beloved brother in the 
cause for freedom. I am grateful that our country has been blessed by 
his leadership. Indeed, his example represents the best of America, and 
the best of this body.

                          ____________________