[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 8611]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           TEXT OF AMENDMENTS

  SA 525. Mr. SESSIONS (for Mr. Nelson of Florida) proposed an 
amendment to the resolution S. Res. 97, expressing the sense of the 
Senate regarding the arrests of Cuban democracy activists by the Cuban 
Government; as follows:

       Delete the preamble and insert in lieu thereof:
       Whereas on March 18, 2003, Fidel Castro and the Government 
     of Cuba began an island-wide campaign to arrest and jail 
     dozens of prominent democracy activists and critics of the 
     repressive regime;
       Whereas since March 19, 2003, the Cuban police have 
     arrested approximately 80 Cubans for engaging in free speech 
     under Law 88, the Law for the Protection of National 
     Independence and the Economy of Cuba, which is a notorious 
     law passed 3 years ago by the communist country;
       Whereas the imprisoned political opponents of Castro 
     include librarians, journalists, and others who have 
     supported the Varela Project, which seeks to bring free 
     speech, open elections, and democracy to the island nation;
       Whereas during this crackdown, widely recognized as the 
     most severe in some time, Fidel Castro is inhumanely pursuing 
     the harshest punishments for these political prisoners, 
     including pursuing life sentences for as many as 12; and
       Whereas the failure to condemn the Cuban Government's 
     renewed political repression of democracy activists will 
     undermine the opportunity for freedom on the Island.

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