[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12656-12657]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           OSCAR LOPEZ RIVERA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, Oscar Lopez Rivera is the last Puerto 
Rican political prisoner still held in Federal custody, now for more 
than 35 years. He never killed anyone and wasn't charged with killing 
anyone, but he is still in jail.
  The man who shot President Reagan, John Hinckley, Jr., is no longer 
being held. Other high-profile offenders get clemency and have their 
sentences reduced.
  All of us have seen in the past months that the Obama administration 
commuted the sentences of hundreds of nonviolent drug offenders. Most 
of us have applauded that decision, and Oscar Lopez Rivera is still in 
jail for 35 years--35 years.
  No matter what party or faction or class or race or walk of life you 
are from in Puerto Rico or in the Puerto Rican communities all over the 
United States, you know about Oscar Lopez Rivera and what he symbolizes 
for the Puerto Rican people. He is our elder statesman, our Nelson 
Mandela, our pride, and our sense of nationhood.
  We all cheered for Monica Puig at the Olympics and heard our national 
anthem played for the very first time. Yet there is a piece missing 
from our national identity, a piece missing from our souls because 
Oscar Lopez may be forgotten and may die in jail.
  It is with deep sadness that I say that it is looking more and more 
like there is no meaningful review of his case going on at the Justice 
Department or at the White House or anywhere else.
  I met with President Obama on June 8 in his office, and I took the 
opportunity to ask him about the case of Oscar Lopez Rivera. Lin-Manuel 
Miranda said that Oscar's case was on the President's desk when they 
met, and everyone in Puerto Rico relaxed. But the President told me: 
No, his case is not on my desk. You need to talk to McDonough, my Chief 
of Staff. I did that at 3 that afternoon. He said: I don't know 
anything about the case, but the Deputy Attorney General will meet with 
you and discuss the case.
  I tried and tried and tried to get the information from her about 
where the case stood and how the process of clemency works under the 
Obama administration. Well, 10 weeks later--yes, 10 weeks later--I 
heard from the DOJ's assistant to the assistant's assistant in 
legislative affairs, and he said: I don't know anything about Oscar's 
case. He went on to say that Deputy Attorney General Yates will not 
meet with me or anyone else. The reason is they only make contact with 
outside parties when they initiate it, when they are reaching out for 
more information on a candidate to make a decision. So they are not 
making a decision.
  Basically, they said, don't call us, we will call you. But no one I 
know--no one--has received any kind of contact from the DOJ, which 
makes it pretty clear to me that they are not seriously reviewing the 
case.
  To recap, the President said: It is not on my desk. The Chief of 
Staff said: I don't know anything about the case, talk to this person 
at DOJ; and that person, more than 2 months later, told someone to tell 
me that we will call you if we are seriously reviewing the case. And 
there has been nothing from the Obama administration.
  That is why I continue to call on Puerto Ricans and people of good 
conscience to come on October 9 to Washington, D.C., as we join 
together to show our unity and resolve that Oscar Lopez Rivera should 
be set free to return to Puerto Rico.
  Mr. Speaker, I don't mean to be rude, but my message to Puerto Ricans 
about Oscar Lopez Rivera is so important, I will deliver the rest in 
Spanish with a translation provided to the House.
  (English translation of the statement made in Spanish is as follows:)
  I am sad to say that our optimism and confidence that President Obama 
would finally set Oscar Lopez Rivera free is in jeopardy.
  Every indication I am getting from the President and his staff is 
that the review of Oscar's case is not progressing, so we need to make 
our voices perfectly clear and work together to send the strongest 
possible message to the President.

[[Page 12657]]

  If you need to walk, take a bus, crawl, or swim to get to Washington 
on October 9, you should do so.
  We will be gathering on Sunday, October 9, across the street from the 
White House in Lafayette Park with celebrities, leaders and Puerto 
Ricans of all kinds.
  We cannot let our brother die in jail.
  We cannot let our nation be ignored.
  We must stand together as Puerto Ricans--no matter who we are, no 
matter where we were born, no matter where we live now--and tell the 
President of the United States and the government here in Washington 
that 35 years is enough. Enough.
  We want our brother, Oscar Lopez Rivera, to walk amongst us and to 
touch his feet on the warm land of Puerto Rico again.
  Show that you care and that you will not be silent. Join us on 
October 9.
  Me da tristeza decir que el optimismo y la confianza que el 
Presidente Obama liberara a Oscar Lopez Rivera esta en grave peligro.
  Cada vez que me he comunicado con el personal del Presidente me han 
indicado que la evaluacion del caso de Oscar no esta progresando; por 
eso tenemos que hacer nuestras voces perfectamente claras y trabajar 
juntos para mandarle el mensaje mas fuerte posible al Presidente.
  Si tienen que caminar, tomar un autobus, gatear o nadar para llegar a 
Washington el 9 de octubre, haganlo.
  Estaremos reunidos con celebridades, lideres, y Puertorriquenos de 
todo tipo el domingo, 9 de octubre al cruzar la calle de la Casa 
Blanca, en Lafayette Park.
  No podemos dejar que nuestro hermano muera encarcelado.
  No podemos dejar que nuestra patria sea ignorada.
  Debemos seguir unidos como Puertorriquenos--sin importar quienes 
somos, donde nacimos y donde vivimos ahora--y decirle al Presidente de 
los Estados Unidos y al gobierno aqui en Washington que 35 anos es 
suficiente. Ya basta.
  Queremos que nuestro hermano, Oscar Lopez Rivera, camine entre 
nosotros y que sus pies toquen la tierra calida de Puerto Rico una vez 
mas.
  Demuestren que esto les importa, y que no se quedaran callados. Unete 
a nosotros el 9 de octubre.

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