[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 51 (Friday, March 22, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H1491]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       FOCUSING ON CUBA AND HAITI

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 9, 2023, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Salazar) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Ms. SALAZAR. Mr. Speaker, President Ronald Reagan warned in 1985 that 
America has an unrelenting obligation to halt communist penetration in 
our hemisphere.
  If we fail to meet this obligation, we will send the unmistakable 
signal that the greatest power in the world is unwilling and incapable 
of stopping communist aggression in our own backyard.
  Right now we are facing that scenario in the islands of Cuba and 
Haiti.
  History teaches us that the current threats in our hemisphere must be 
addressed with the utmost seriousness, for these issues go to the heart 
of American security and American history.
  I stand here today to ensure that once again we learn from history 
and understand that the turmoil in our hemisphere in America's own 
backyard can and must be stopped or the price we pay will be dear.
  Let's focus on Cuba and Haiti. The stakes are incredibly high. The 
Cuban people live in a perpetual cycle of misery and despair at the 
hands of their communist oppressors.
  They are deprived of basic necessities, like food and electricity, 
living in literal darkness for hours a day, a product of the communist 
regime's intentional rolling blackouts.
  The regime has adopted the slogan ``patria o muerte'' or ``patriotism 
or death'' while subjecting the Cuban people for the last 60 years to 
conditions that will surely lead them to the latter--death from 
deprivation.
  A few days ago, Cuban protestors bravely took to the streets of 
Santiago and other cities on the island after once again being 
subjected to massive food shortages and blackouts for up to 18 hours a 
day.
  Now the protestors are crying out ``patria y vida'' or ``patriotism 
and life.''
  In response, the Cuban regime did what they always do: blame us, the 
United States, for our embargo. But we fully understand the operations 
manual for the communist Cuban regime's propaganda machine.
  They have been exploiting, starving, imprisoning, and beating their 
own people for decades.
  But we know the truth. We as a Congress, as an American people, can 
take several steps to ensure the protestors' voices are not shouting in 
vain.
  First, I am calling on President Biden and the administration to take 
a stronger stance against the Cuban regime and stand in solidarity with 
the brave freedom fighters pouring into the streets all over Cuba.
  United States support of the Cuban freedom fighters is not a partisan 
issue. It is morally right and intimately linked to our own security 
and our own history, freedom, and democracy.
  We know that information is power, so let's provide internet access 
to the Cubans now so they can have a window to the free world.
  Now, I am talking to the Cuban military commanders. I have a crucial 
message for you. History has its eyes on you. It is inevitable that 
peaceful protestors will continue to take to the streets in Cuba in the 
hopes of finding freedom. And there will come a time when your moral 
integrity will face the ultimate test, whether or not to raise your 
weapons against your own neighbors and your own friends.
  My message from this floor is very clear to the Cuban military 
commanders: Make the right choice. Do not shoot at your own fellow 
citizens. Do not shoot at the Cuban people.
  Myself as a Member of this Congress, the United States of America, 
and history itself will recount these days, and your own legacies will 
be a result of you holding your fire.

                              {time}  1230

  Now, it is not just Cuba that needs our attention. Another monster is 
looming large in our backyard to threaten American security: Haiti.
  Haiti is crumbling, a completely failed state in anarchy, overrun by 
gangs, violence, and chaos. Haiti's humanitarian, political, and 
security crisis grows worse by the second, while most people are on the 
brink of starvation.
  There is currently a Haitian refugee crisis unfolding. Haitian 
refugees will pour into our own country by the thousands. For the last 
2 years, the Biden administration has swept the problems brewing in 
Haiti under the rug, and now their worst nightmare has appeared.
  We must call for a coalition of our allies in Latin America to help 
restore order in Haiti and halt the threat before it impacts additional 
countries like the Dominican Republic.
  America's enemies, hostile countries like China, Iran, and Russia, 
would love nothing more than to force communism onto our small 
neighbors like Haiti, just like they did in Cuba 60 years ago. We 
cannot sit idly by, nor afford to ignore the flames that are growing. 
We must take action now.
  I urge the Biden administration to pay close attention to my 
warnings. We need a clean strategy on the situation in Haiti, and we 
need this Congress to lead the way.
  We must extinguish the flames of instability and communism burning in 
our backyard. If we don't, they will surely continue all the way 
through to our own American kitchen. We cannot ignore Haiti or Cuba.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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