Expressing Sense of House of Representatives Regarding July 2005 Measures of Extreme Repression on Part of Cuban Government

Floor Speech

Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 388) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the July, 2005, measures of extreme repression on the part of the Cuban Government against members of Cuba's prodemocracy movement, calling for the immediate release of all political prisoners, the legalization of political parties and free elections in Cuba, urging the European Union to reexamine its policy toward Cuba, and calling on the representative of the United States to the 62d session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to ensure a resolution calling upon the Cuban regime to end its human rights violations, and for other purposes.

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GENERAL LEAVE

Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 388.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Arkansas?

There was no objection.

Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the chairman of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) would normally be here. The gentleman is very, very concerned about this resolution and is very, very supportive of it, but he currently has a markup, a committee vote that he is in the process of doing, so, again, I have the opportunity and honor of going ahead with this in his stead.

H. Res. 388 is a resolution which condemns the gross human rights violations committed by the Cuban regime and expresses support for the right of the Cuban people to exercise fundamental political and civil liberties.

As a member of the Committee on International Relations, I would like to thank my colleague the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart) for introducing this resolution, which highlights the atrocious human rights violations the Cuban people continue to suffer at the hands of Castro's oppressive regime.

Mr. Castro continues to hone his craft, that is to say, his systematic reign of fear and intimidation of his own population. This past July, the Castro regime renewed its efforts to stamp out the pro-democracy movement.

This resolution sends a strong message to the Cuban Government that the world will not forget those people who are languishing in Cuban prisons for the so-called crime of speaking out against the injustices perpetrated by the Castro regime. Many of the dissidents arrested July remain in custody, and several of them face long sentences in prison for threatening to undermine Cuba's Communist government, according to Amnesty International and other organizations.

As U.S. service men and women put their lives on the line to bring freedom and democracy to areas of the world that have long suffered in the shadow of tyranny, Cuba represents a prime example in our own hemispheres of what can happen if any nation shuns democracy and subjugates itself to the whims of dictatorship.

As it stands now, Cuba is the only nation in the hemisphere that is a complete dictatorship, and since the earliest days of the regime, Castro has not only stifled efforts to promote freedom and democracy in Cuba, but he has also actively been involved in promoting communism and dictatorships around the world, most especially in Central and South America. The fall of Castro's principal benefactor, the Soviet Union, may have caused a shift in Castro's tactics, but he has never abandoned his ambition to export communism.

I am very concerned about the state of affairs in the Western Hemisphere, and I am convinced that there will never be true, lasting peace and freedom in the region until we solve the Cuba problem once and for all. The only acceptable solution is a free and democratic Cuba. I have hope there will be a day when the light of democracy shines in Havana, a day when free expression and free elections replace the current hopeless status quo.

I urge my colleagues to support this resolution. We owe it to the thousands of Cubans who risk their lives every year to flee the Communist regime by any means necessary, even attempting to brave the hazardous 90-mile crossing between the United States and Cuba on makeshift rafts, as well as those languishing in Cuban jails, to further open the eyes of the world community to the true evils of the Castro regime. We must never forget them.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Ranking Member Lantos and Chairman Hyde for their leadership and such a bipartisan effort for these human rights issues. Again, we truly appreciate their leadership.

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