[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7801-7805]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING THE TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF 
                   THE HUMAN RIGHTS CRACKDOWN IN CUBA

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 81) expressing the 
sense of Congress regarding the two-year anniversary of the human 
rights crackdown in Cuba.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 81

       Whereas in March 2003, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro arrested 
     more than 75 journalists, labor union organizers, civic 
     leaders, librarians, and human rights activists as political 
     prisoners;
       Whereas the Cuban regime, after summary trials which were 
     denounced by the international community, sentenced these 
     innocent men and women to a total of more than 1,000 years in 
     prison for trying to exercise their civil and political 
     rights, many of whom are anticipated to die in prison before 
     their sentence is completed;
       Whereas the Charter of the United Nations reaffirms a 
     commitment to fundamental human rights and to the dignity and 
     worth of all people;
       Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which 
     establishes global human rights standards, asserts that all 
     human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, 
     and that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or 
     detention;
       Whereas these arrests and convictions were an atrocious 
     attempt by the Cuban regime to crush the citizens' movements 
     for a free and democratic Cuba;
       Whereas Fidel Castro has tentatively released a limited 
     number of prisoners from jail but these political activists 
     are subject to arrest and imprisonment at any time pursuant 
     to ``extra penal licenses'';
       Whereas in 2004, the Cuban regime continued its suppression 
     of democracy and repression of human rights activists, 
     imprisoning a significant number of political dissidents 
     during the year on such charges as disrespect

[[Page 7802]]

     for authority, public disorder, disobedience, and resisting 
     arrest;
       Whereas in April 2004, the United Nations Commission on 
     Human Rights adopted a resolution deploring the sentencing of 
     ``political dissidents and journalists'' in 2003 and calling 
     for a visit to Cuba by a Personal Representative of the High 
     Commissioner for Human Rights which was later denied by the 
     Cuban regime;
       Whereas Fidel Castro continues to hold hundreds of 
     political prisoners in his jail cells;
       Whereas Amnesty International has recognized all 
     journalists and activists who were arrested in the crackdown 
     in March 2003 as prisoners of conscience;
       Whereas the Cuban regime engages in torture and other 
     cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment and punishment 
     against political prisoners to force them into submission, 
     including intense beatings, extended periods of solitary 
     confinement, and denial of nutritional and medical attention, 
     according to the Department of State's Country Report on 
     Human Rights 2004;
       Whereas religious freedom in Cuba is severely 
     circumscribed, and clergy and lay people suffer sustained 
     persecution by the Cuban State Security apparatus;
       Whereas the Cuban regime denies the people of Cuba equal 
     protection under the law, disallows them recourse for 
     remedying violations of human rights and civil liberties, and 
     instead enforces a judicial system which infringes upon 
     fundamental rights; and
       Whereas the United States Congress has stood, consistently, 
     on the side of the Cuban people and supported their right to 
     be free: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring),  That Congress--
       (1) condemns in the strongest possible terms the arrest of 
     more than 75 journalists, labor union organizers, civic 
     leaders, librarians, and human rights activists as political 
     prisoners in March 2003 and the Cuban regime's continuing 
     repressive crackdown against the brave internal opposition 
     and the independent press;
       (2) expresses its profound admiration and firm solidarity 
     with the internal opposition and independent press of Cuba;
       (3) demands that the Cuban regime immediately release all 
     political prisoners, legalize all political parties, labor 
     unions, and the press, and hold free and fair elections;
       (4) declares the acts of the Cuban regime, including its 
     widespread and systematic violation of human rights, to be in 
     violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the 
     Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
       (5) declares that the rule of law should replace the rule 
     of force so that the fundamental and inalienable rights of 
     every individual in Cuba are protected;
       (6) calls for the European Union, as well as other 
     countries and international organizations, to continue to 
     pressure the Cuban regime to improve its human rights record; 
     and
       (7) calls for United Nations member countries to vote 
     against the Cuban regime's membership in the United Nations 
     Commission on Human Rights and the passage of a resolution at 
     the 61st session of the United Nations Commission on Human 
     Rights that holds the Cuban regime accountable for its gross 
     violations of human rights and civil liberties.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, 2 years ago, with the world's attention riveted on Iraq, 
Fidel Castro ordered his feared state security apparatus to round up at 
least 75 of Cuba's best and bravest and brightest, prominent and even 
lesser-known dissidents. Among these are 28 independent journalists and 
40 Varela project workers. With sickening speed, these men and women 
were paraded before kangaroo courts and given prison sentences ranging 
from 6 to 28 years; 61 remain in prison.
  When the Committee on International Relations met on April 16, 2003 
to decry this vile abrogation of justice, I stated at that time that 
``Even some of the most outspoken leftists who once saw in Fidel Castro 
something to admire now admit that Castro's unbridled cruelty, his 
thirst for blood, and extreme paranoia are indefensible.'' I regret to 
report that Castro has not given me and, frankly, he has given no one 
else as well, any reason to reassess that statement or those 
sentiments.
  What were the so-called crimes that these brave men and women 
committed? They were advocating democracy, writing as independent 
journalists, and being men and women of faith.
  Their real offense was to dare to question the authority of a single 
man: Fidel Castro. The Cuban Revolution is really about Castro's vanity 
and pursuit of personal power. From the beginning, Castro has shot and 
jailed anyone, even close friends, who have dared to get in the way of 
his personal ambitions.
  Dictatorships, reflecting the whims of a despot, always subject their 
people to deprivations and absurdities. The Castro regime recently let 
a handful of its political prisoners out on parole, citing health 
reasons. The regime's callousness toward ailing political prisoners is 
well documented.
  Now, independent Cuban journalists are reporting that Cuba's prisons 
have been virtually emptied of medical personnel. Why? Mr. Castro 
decided to send them to Venezuela and other places to advance his 
personal expansionist agenda.
  Mr. Speaker, writing in the Spanish newspaper, El Pais, Nobel Prize 
winner Jose Saramago, a Portuguese Communist and close friend of 
Castro, commented after 3 alleged Havana ferry hijackers were killed by 
a firing squad in Cuba in May of 2003, ``Cuba has won no heroic victory 
by executing these three men, but it has lost my confidence, damaged my 
hopes, and robbed me of illusions.''

                              {time}  1615

  Illusions, as Castro-lover Jose Saramago has only now begun to 
acknowledge, often persist despite overwhelming evidence to the 
contrary. Nowhere has this been more evident than in the case of 
Castro's Cuba.
  Despite decades of credible reports of widespread egregious 
violations of human rights, including the pervasive use of torture and 
vicious beatings of political prisoners by the Cuban Government, some 
have clung to indefensibly foolish illusions of Castro's revolution.
  Despite the fact that the Cuban Government systematically denies its 
people freedom of speech, press freedom, assembly and association, and 
severely restricts workers' rights, including the right to form 
independent trade unions, some have nevertheless clung to illusion.
  Despite the fact that Cuba and Castro maintain an unimaginably vast 
network of surveillance by the thugs in his secret police and the 
committees for the defense of the revolution, or CDRs, neighbors spying 
on neighbors, some continue to embrace bogus perceptions, illusions 
about Castro and about Cuba.
  In his book ``Against All Hope,'' the book that I have actually read 
twice now, a memoir of life in Castro's gulags, Armando Valladares, a 
courageous and amazing man who spent 22 years in Cuban prisons wrote: 
``The government of Cuba and its defenders of the Cuban revolution 
denied that the incidents that I recount in the book ever happened.'' 
He says, ``Castro sympathizers who were more subtle said the incidents 
that he described were exaggerations. And there were others, well 
meaning who simply could not bring themselves to believe that such 
horrors, crimes and torture existed in the political prisons of Cuba.
  ``My response,'' Armando Valladares goes on to say, ``to those who 
still try to justify Castro's tyranny with the excuse that he built 
schools and hospitals, is this: Stalin and Hitler and Pinochet all 
built schools and hospitals, and like Castro, they all tortured and 
assassinated opponents. They built concentration and extermination 
camps and eradicated all liberties, committing the worst crimes against 
humanity.''
  Armando Valladares goes on to say: ``Unbelievably while many NGOs 
like Amnesty International and America's Watch have denounced the human 
rights situation in Cuba, there has been a continuing love affair on 
the part of the media and many intellectuals with Fidel Castro.''
  Mr. Speaker, that love affair, that illusion seemed to crash and burn 
with the onset of the current crackdown on dissidents. The EU for its 
part took action in June of 2003 by limiting high-level EU governmental 
visits and inviting Cuban dissidents to National Day

[[Page 7803]]

celebrations. But, sadly, their memories are short. In January of this 
year, at the initiative of the Spanish Government, the EU temporarily 
suspended these measures for a 6-month period.
  Mr. Speaker, at the 61st session of the U.N. Commission on Human 
Rights in Geneva, which was held this past month, the United States, I 
am very proud to say the United States offered a resolution on the 
human rights situation in Cuba. The resolution recalled the resolutions 
of the previous 15 years; and I would just say, parenthetically, I was 
there 15 years ago when Armando Valladares led the U.S. delegation, 
having been sent out of the government or out of Cuba by Castro, and 
got that body, which is dysfunctional in many ways, to finally focus on 
these ongoing and persistent violations of human rights in Cuba, and 
that was the first time.
  I am glad to say that we just, at U.S. insistence, were able to get 
another statement by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights focused on the 
ongoing abuses by Cuba. The resolution passed by a vote of 21 to 17 
with 15 abstentions, but only after a full court press by the U.S. 
delegation led by Rudy Boschwitz, which included personal pleas from 
President Bush to the presidents of Ukraine and Mexico.
  I am sad to point out that China, Congo, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, 
Ethiopia, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Qatar, 
Russia, South Africa, Sudan and Zimbabwe all voted against the 
resolution, in effect putting their stamp of approval on Castro's 
actions.
  Let me just say finally, Mr. Speaker, that this resolution we have 
today is a reiteration. It is a bipartisan resolution offered by my 
friend and colleague from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez). And I hope that 
every member will vote in favor of it.
  Two years ago, with the world's attention riveted on Iraq, Fidel 
Castro ordered his feared State Security apparatus to round up at least 
75 of Cuba's bravest and brightest, prominent and lesser-known 
dissidents. Among these are 28 independent journalists and 40 Varela 
project workers. With sickening speed, these men and women were paraded 
before kangaroo courts and given prison sentences ranging from 6 to 28 
years. Sixty-one remain in jail.
  When the Committee on International Relations met April 16, 2003 to 
decry this vile abrogation of justice, I stated at that time: ``Even 
some of the most outspoken leftists, who once saw in Fidel Castro 
something to admire, now admit that Castro's unbridled cruelty, thirst 
for blood and extreme paranoia are indefensible.''
  I regret to report that Castro has given me no cause to reassess that 
statement.
  What were the so-called crimes of these brave men and women? 
Advocating democracy . . . writing as independent journalists . . . 
being men and women of faith.
  Their real offense was to dare to question the authority of a single 
man, Mr. Castro. The Cuban Revolution is really about Castro's vanity 
and pursuit of personal power. From the beginning, Castro has shot and 
jailed anyone--even his close friends--who has dared get in the way of 
his personal ambition.
  Dictatorships, reflecting the whims of a despot, always subject their 
people to deprivations and absurdities. The Castro regime recently let 
a handful of its political prisoners out on ``parole,'' citing health 
reasons. The regime's callousness towards ailing political prisoners is 
well documented.
  Now, independent Cuban journalists are reporting that Cuba's prisons 
have been virtually emptied of medical personnel. Why? Mr. Castro 
decided to send them to Venezuela and other places to advance his 
personal expansionist agenda.
  Writing in the Spanish newspaper, El Pais, Noble prize winner Jose 
Saramago, a Portuguese communist and close friend of Castro commented 
after three alleged Havana ferry hijackers were killed by firing squad 
in Cuba in May 2003, ``Cuba has won no heroic victory by executing 
these three men, but it has lost my confidence, damaged my hopes and 
robbed me of illusions.''
  Illusions, as Castro lover Jose Saramago has only now begun to 
acknowledge, often persist despite overwhelming evidence to the 
contrary.
  Nowhere has this been more evident than in the case of Castro's Cuba.
  Despite decades of credible reports of widespread egregious 
violations of human rights, including the pervasive use of torture and 
vicious beatings of political prisoners by the Cuban government, some 
have clung to indefensibly foolish illusions of Castro's revolution.
  Despite the fact that the Cuban government systematically denies its 
people the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association, and 
severely restricts workers' rights, including the right to form 
independent trade unions, some have, nevertheless, clung to illusion.
  Despite the fact that Castro maintains an unimaginably vast network 
of surveillance by the thugs in his secret police and Committees for 
the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs)--neighbors spying on neighbors--
some continue to embrace bogus perceptions--illusions about Cuba.
  In his book, ``Against All Hope, a Memoir of Life in Castro's 
Gulags'' Armando Valladares, a courageous and amazing man who spent 22 
years in Cuban prisons wrote:

       The government of Cuba and defenders of the Cuban 
     Revolution denied that incidents that I recount (in the book) 
     ever happened. Castro sympathizers, who were more subtle, 
     said the incidents I described were exaggerations. And there 
     were others, well meaning, who simply could not bring 
     themselves to believe that such horrors, crimes and torture 
     existed in the political prisons of Cuba.
       My response to those who still try to justify Castro's 
     tyranny with the excuse that he has built schools and 
     hospitals is this: Stalin, Hitler and Pinochet also built 
     schools and hospitals, and like Castro, they also tortured 
     and assassinated opponents. They built concentration and 
     extermination camps and eradicated all liberties, committing 
     the worst crimes against humanity.
       Unbelievably, while many non-governmental organizations 
     like Amnesty International and America's Watch have denounced 
     the human rights situation in Cuba, there has been a 
     continuing love affair on the part of the media and many 
     intellectuals with Fidel Castro.

  That love affair--that illusion--seemed to crash and burn with the 
onset of the current crackdown on dissidents. The EU took action in 
June 2003 by limiting high-level EU governmental visits and inviting 
Cuban dissidents to national day celebrations. But their memories are 
short. In January of this year, at the initiative of the Spanish 
government, the EU temporarily suspended these measures for a six-month 
period.
  At the 61st session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights 
in Geneva this past month, the United States offered a resolution on 
the human rights situation in Cuba. The resolution recalled the 
resolutions of the previous 15 years which the Commission had passed on 
Cuba, and asked that the mandate of the Personal Representative of the 
High Commissioner be continued. The resolution passed by a vote of 21-
17, with 15 abstentions, but only after a fullcourt lobbying press by 
the U.S. delegation which included personal pleas from President Bush 
to the Presidents of Ukraine and Mexico. China, Congo, Cuba, Egypt, 
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, 
Qatar, Russia, South Africa, Sudan and Zimbabwe all voted against the 
resolution, in effect putting their stamp of approval on Castro's 
actions.
  Let me mention a few of the ones who were summarily sentenced and 
remain in prison. Omar Rodriguez Saludes, an independent journalist 
known to ride his bicycle to news conferences: 27 years. Hector 
Palacios, one of the key figures promoting the Varela Project: 25 
years. Oscar Espinosa Chepe, who wrote critical articles about the 
Cuban economy for the Internet: 25 years. The President of the 
Independent United Confederation of Cuban Workers (CUTC), Pedro Pablo 
Alvarez, 25 years. Journalist Raul Rivero and Ricardo Gonzalez Afonso, 
an editor at ``De Cuba'' magazine, each got 20 years. The list goes on 
and on.
  For its part, the Bush Administration has made its deep and abiding 
concern for the political prisoners and the protection of elemental 
human rights in Cuba abundantly clear. At the time of the crackdown, 
former Secretary of State Colin Powell declared:

       In recent days the Cuban government has undertaken the most 
     significant act of political repression in decades. We call 
     on Castro to end this despicable repression and free these 
     prisoners of conscience. The United States and the 
     international community will be unrelenting in our insistence 
     that Cubans who seek peaceful change be permitted to do so.

  In like manner, the Congress has consistently demanded the immediate 
release of all the prisoners and support of the right of the Cuban 
people to exercise fundamental political and civil liberties. H. Res. 
179, a resolution offered by Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen in April 2003, 
passed by a vote of 414-0, 11 present. In April of 2001, I sponsored a 
resolution, H. Res. 91, calling on the U.N. Human Rights Commission in 
Geneva to condemn Cuba's human rights abuse and appoint a Special 
Rapporteur for Cuba. While it passed, there were a disturbing number of 
negative

[[Page 7804]]

votes. That vote was 347-44 with 22 voting present.
  We have another opportunity today to move forward a resolution 
offered by my Colleague, Mr. Menendez, to show that these prisoners are 
not forgotten. Fidel Castro, his brother Raul, and numerous leaders of 
Cuba's dictatorship, are directly responsible for crimes against 
humanity past--and present. Some day these oppressors will be held to 
account and the people of Cuba will live in freedom.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of our time.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume. 
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution. Let me first 
thank my colleague, the distinguished chairman of the International 
Relations Committee, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), for 
facilitating our body's consideration of the resolution so 
expeditiously. And let me thank my two friends on the other side, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the gentlewoman from Florida 
(Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), for their indefatigable fight for all human rights 
issues globally. I also want to thank my friend, the ranking Democratic 
member of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Menendez), for his ongoing battle for human rights in Cuba.
  Mr. Speaker, it is inexcusable that 2 years after 75 Cuban lovers of 
freedom were tried in kangaroo courts in Havana, sentenced to prison 
terms ranging from 6 to 28 years for a total prison term of a thousand 
years and imprisoned in rat-infested dank cells, Castro's totalitarian 
machine is still trying to crack the backs of that Caribbean island's 
internal opposition by continuing to lock up some of its most 
distinguished civic and human rights leaders.
  These political prisoners, Mr. Speaker, are suffering unspeakable 
horrors at the hands of Cuban police agents simply because they dare to 
articulate their disagreement with Castro's Communist government; 
because they dared to share their personal book collections with their 
friends and neighbors; because they dared to advocate for labor unions; 
and because they refused to compromise their journalistic integrity.
  These soldiers of freedom, Mr. Speaker, who stand shoulder to 
shoulder in spirit with the likes of Poland's Lech Walesa and the Czech 
Republic's Vaclav Havel, were thrown behind bars because they practiced 
their professions or attempted to exert their political rights and 
civil liberties without the blessings of Castro's oppressive regime.
  Many of those arrested were supporters of the so-called Varela 
Project, a grassroots, nonviolent citizens' movement in Cuba that seeks 
fundamental political change on the island by petitioning the Cuban 
Government for a referendum on reform.
  Mr. Speaker, it is painfully clear that Castro still does not grasp 
what has become obvious to many leaders of isolated countries, that the 
ideological contest between democratic liberty and totalitarian 
suppression was won over a decade ago. There is no question today, as 
there was during World War II or throughout the long years of the Cold 
War, that systems and individuals who seek to repress and terrorize 
their people ultimately will not prevail.
  It is only a matter of time before the Communist government of Cuba 
will realize that the choice before it is not whether the cronies of 
Castro will be able to maintain power, for the answer to that question 
is a clear and resounding no; but rather whether they want to 
participate constructively in a process that will surely transition 
Cuba to a future of freedom, democracy, and economic opportunity for 
all.
  Mr. Speaker, recently, the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere 
convened a remarkable hearing at which members of the internal 
opposition spoke via telephone from Havana, despite placing themselves 
at risk of state persecution. These courageous political dissidents 
forcefully argued that we in Congress should call upon the 
international community to denounce Cuba's human rights record at every 
opportunity.
  Mr. Speaker, here in this House we may disagree on how best to bring 
about change in Cuba. But we stand together in steadfast solidarity 
with those who endure the depths of human depravity solely because they 
strive each day to loosen the shackles of communist repression for 
themselves and their fellow countrymen and women.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 81, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may 
consume to the distinguished gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen).
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I am greatly humbled to follow such 
internationally recognized human rights leaders as the distinguished 
gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), my good friend, and my equally 
wonderful friend, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith). I am 
honored to be in their presence.
  And we stand here today, Mr. Speaker, 2 years after a cruel, 
despotic, and vicious act by one of the most cowardly and evil men in 
the world, Fidel Castro, the unlawful arrest of over 70 peaceful 
dissidents on the island of Cuba.
  The arrest of these innocent men and women are promulgated by a 
culture of fear, Mr. Speaker, one that has banned libraries, one that 
has banned books, one that maintains a system of remote and unmonitored 
gulags for prisoners of conscience, one that forbids independent labor 
unions, one that causes the systematic mistreatment of religious 
believers, one that mandates the summary execution of independent 
journalists and conscientious objectors.
  This important resolution before us demands that the Cuban regime 
release all political prisoners, legalize all political parties, labor 
unions and the press, and hold free elections. In other words, to be 
afforded their basic freedoms.
  Further, it calls for the European Union, as well as other countries 
and international organizations, to pressure the Cuban regime to 
improve its deplorable human rights record.
  As we convene in this great Hall of democracy, many in Cuba continue 
to be dragged down stairs, strapped to chairs and beaten for wanting 
one thing and one thing only, freedom, and with that, the freedom to 
express their thoughts and their ability to exercise their basic 
universally held human rights.
  In passing this legislation, Mr. Speaker, we are once again in the 
Congress reaffirming our commitment to the brave people of the island 
of Cuba, especially those 75 men and women who were cruelly arrested 
for advocating peacefully in favor of freedom, democracy, and respect 
for human rights.
  I commend my good friend, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Menendez), as well as the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) and 
the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), for this bill, and 
wholeheartedly support this legislation. And I ask my colleagues to 
vote in favor of it today.
  Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Con. 
Res. 81, a resolution which condemns the crackdown on political 
dissidents that was orchestrated by the regime of Fidel Castro two 
years ago. Through this remarkable violation of human rights, the Cuban 
government arrested more than 75 journalists, labor union organizers, 
civic leaders, librarians, and human rights activists, and took them as 
political prisoners. On this occasion, it is important that we keep in 
mind the struggle in which our brothers and sisters in Cuba continued 
to be engaged--that is, the struggle for freedom and true democracy.
  One of the many dissenters arrested in March 2003 was Mr. Jose Daniel 
Ferrer Garcia, a pro-democracy activist in Cuba who has been jailed for 
his outspoken leadership in the Cuban democracy movement. Mr. Garcia is 
the regional coordinator for the Christian Liberation Movement in 
Santiago Province. Through this leadership position, he has moblilzed 
many Cuban youth for democratic change, and has focused on 
accomplishing the movement's chief objective: to unite citizens that 
are willing to defend and promote human rights and achieve changes in 
the Cuban society through peaceful means. Because of the efforts of 
determined individuals such as Mr. Garcia, the struggle for democracy 
in Cuba continues, and we should keep

[[Page 7805]]

this in mind when considering any potential changes in United States 
policy towards Castro's regime.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that all of my colleagues in the House of 
Representatives join me in supporting H. Con. Res. 81, and continue to 
voice their solidarity with Mr. Garcia and all other pro-democracy 
activists in Cuba as they continue their push for true freedom.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker. A todos mis hermanos y hermanas quienes 
sufren en las carceles de Castro bajo su regimen, a sus familias y 
amistades aqui en los Estados Unidos y en Cuba, les digo que el pueblo 
americano esta con ustedes. Y, aqui en el Congreso de los Estados 
Unidos, vamos a defender su libertad y ganar la lucha contra la 
brutalidad y la opresion.
  Por eso, junto con mis otras colegas en el Congreso, escribi esta 
resolucion que condena la ola represiva contra los disidentes que hizo 
la regimen Castro hace dos anos y que declara que la gente cubana debe 
tener los derechos humanos y la libertad--la libertad de expresion y de 
asociacion--y el derecho de tener elecciones libres.
  To all my friends here today who don't speak Spanish, don't worry, I 
won't spend the rest of my time speaking in Spanish. But I did want to 
take a moment to speak directly to the Cuban people to let them know 
that we stand with them in their fight for freedom and human rights.
   We are debating this resolution today under the shadow of the 2nd 
anniversary of the crackdown on dissidents in Cuba. We often think of 
an anniversary as a moment to celebrate--but clearly we have nothing to 
celebrate today. Instead, we use this anniversary to mark a tragedy in 
the lives of the Cuban people and to the lives of all those who support 
democracy and human rights in the hemisphere.
  The whole world was horrified as more than 75 journalists, human 
rights activists, and opposition political figures were arrested, given 
summary trials, and then sentenced to prison terms of up to 28 years. 
Many of the prisoners, along with other prisoners of conscience, spent 
over a year in solitary confinement. Some have been deprived of 
adequate medical treatment and reports from Cuba detail beatings and 
harassment.
  I am not fooled by the recent release of a number of dissidents, by 
this attempt to trick the international community. I am not fooled 
because I know that when they released those dissidents, who should 
never have been in jail in the first place, they also arrested new 
dissidents. I am not fooled because I know that they only released 
these dissidents on ``parole,'' meaning that they could be arrested 
again at any time.
  Hundreds of political prisoners remain in Castro's jails today. 
Clearly, the Castro regime has no respect for the Universal Declaration 
of Human Rights, which states in Article 4 that, ``No one shall be 
subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or 
punishment.'' And the world has recognized these injustices. The State 
Department calls this wave, ``the most despicable act of political 
repression in the Americas in a decade.''
  Castro's human rights record has been condemned by Amnesty 
International, Freedom House, and other human rights groups.
  In a statement, Amnesty International said that these ``prisoners of 
conscience'' should be immediately released and called on the Cuban 
regime to, ``comply with the principles laid out in international 
rights standards for the treatment of prisoners.''
  Freedom House included Cuba in its report entitled, ``The Worst of 
the Worst, The World's Most Repressive Societies, 2004.'' And the House 
of Representatives has condemned Castro's human rights record as well, 
in multiple resolutions. This year, on the two-year anniversary, we are 
here to pass a resolution that condemns Castro's brutal crackdown and 
demands that the Cuban regime immediately release all political 
prisoners, legalize all political parties, labor unions, and the press, 
and hold free and fair elections.
  Today is a time for all of us to come together, from both sides of 
the aisle, to stand together for a universal cause: human rights.
  Today, in voting for this resolution, we will celebrate the strength 
and perseverance of the Cuban people.
  Today, we will vote for the universal values which we all share.
  So I call on all of the Members of the House of Representatives to 
join me in the fight for human rights and democracy for the Cuban 
people.
  Now is the time for us to stand together against brutality, torture 
and dictatorship.
  Now is the time for us to stand together for freedom, for the right 
to free speech and free association, and for human rights in general.
  Now is the time for us to stand together as we call on the Cuban 
regime to immediately release these prisoners of conscience, who were 
jailed for standing up for democracy and human rights against a brutal 
dictatorship.
  To my brothers and sisters who suffer in Castro's jails, to their 
families and friends both here in the United States and Cuba, and to 
the Cuban people, I say that Castro will not succeed in his vain 
attempt to suppress the spirit of the Cuban people. I look forward to 
the day, which is coming soon, when we will all celebrate a free and 
democratic Cuba. It is the spirit of the Cuban people and their courage 
that will ultimately be Castro's downfall.
  So, I ask each of you to join me in voting yes for this resolution.
  Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 81, 
expressing the sense of Congress regarding the two-year anniversary of 
the human rights crackdown in Cuba.
  The people of Cuba have suffered under the authoritarian dictatorship 
of Fidel Castro for more than 45 years. Rather than allowing Cubans to 
thrive and live prosperous lives, the Castro regime has instead created 
a legacy of suppression, harm and failure. Cubans are ready for 
freedom, but their government does not want them to have even a taste.
  Freedom-loving countries widely recognize that human rights 
violations against innocent Cubans are a sign Castro is afraid. Whether 
it is fear that Cubans will love freedom more than socialism, fear that 
a faltering economy will lead to more unrest, or fear of political 
opposition, it is clear Castro's government is a regime of fear. Rather 
than securing rights for the good of the people, Fidel Castro has 
imprisoned those who have spoken against human rights violations and 
other injustices within Cuba.
  I hope with the passage of this resolution we will again unite our 
voices with those who dream of a free Cuba and join with those whose 
voices have been silenced by a repressive government.
  In March 2003 Castro arrested 75 people who were bold enough to speak 
out against harmful policies of the government. Men and women whose 
occupations included librarians, union organizers and civic leaders 
were charged with innocuous crimes and sentenced to long prison terms. 
While a few of those arrested have been conditionally released, most of 
these voices of freedom remain behind bars.
  Ignoring international condemnation for its actions, the Cuban 
government continues down its path of suppression.
  However, as history has shown, when one group of voices are silenced, 
other voices will fill the void and cry out. The yearning for freedom 
within the human spirit can be suppressed, but it cannot be 
extinguished.
  One Cuban group speaking on behalf of Castro's political prisoners 
are the mothers, daughters, wives and sisters of those arrested more 
than two years ago. Every Sunday for the past two years, a band of 30 
women, called the Women in White, attend mass at Santa Rita Catholic 
Church before proceeding down a sidewalk on a silent protest. Even 
after intimidation from Castro's thugs, this little band of women are 
determined to peacefully expose the injustice of what is happening to 
their relatives. I hope the Women in White, along with thousands of 
other Cubans, will have the strength to continue fighting for the right 
to live in freedom.
  I urge my colleagues to join me today in voting for H. Con. Res. 81 
and send a strong message that the American people stand in solidarity 
with all freedom-loving Cubans.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, we have no further requests for 
time.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, we have no additional requests for time, and 
I yield back the balance of our time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Boozman). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 
81.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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