Freedom For The Cuban People

Floor Speech

Madam Speaker, we have had a number of interesting debates in the last year, last few weeks in particular. One of the things that we should never forget is how precious freedom is and how frail freedom is. Just 90 miles away from our shores at this very moment, at this very instant, there are people who have been enslaved for over half a century under the boot of the same oppressive regime, the dictatorship of the Castro brothers. Half a century of brutality.

Just last week marked the seventh anniversary of the beginning of what was known as the Black Spring in Cuba. The Cuban Black Spring in 2003 was where 75 human rights activists, independent journalists, librarians, economists and other peaceful, pro-democracy activists and leaders were jailed for expressing their desire for democracy and democratic change in Cuba. All of them were sentenced to up to 25 years in prison in the worst possible conditions, in the worst possible prisons. Now,

that is just some of the thousands of heroes who are standing up for freedom in the enslaved island of Cuba.

The majority of this Congress for many, many years has always stood with the Cuban people, has stood in solidarity with the Cuban people and their struggle for that freedom which is inevitable but has cost so dearly for so long. I have a lot to talk about on this issue, Madam Speaker, but before I proceed, I, frankly, am deeply honored to be able to yield time to an individual who has been a leader in this Congress for issues of freedom, a leader in this Congress who has always been speaking out for the oppressed wherever they may be, but who is so well known by the dissidents, by the opposition leaders, by the pro-democracy leaders in Cuba because his name rings as freedom for the Cuban people who have been enslaved. So I yield to the gentleman from Indiana, because it is a privilege to be able to share tonight with a person who everyone in Cuba--and there are those Cubans who live in freedom, whether it is in the United States or other parts of the world--recognizes this gentleman, DAN BURTON from Indiana, as a fighter for freedom.

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I thank the gentleman for his steadfast support for freedom.

I am going to approach the well because I want to show some pictures on some boards of some individuals that I want to briefly talk about.

Madam Speaker, the gentleman from Indiana just mentioned Orlando Zapata Tamayo. This is his picture here. He is a 42-year-old plumber and bricklayer in Cuba. He was arrested and thrown in prison, a peaceful pro-democracy advocate. While he was there, he was constantly being beaten and beaten and beaten, which is not unusual treatment for how that regime treats its political prisoners. It has hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of political prisoners.

So in order to protest the beatings against him and the inhumane treatment of all of the other political prisoners and to highlight the cause of freedom, the cause of freedom that so many are struggling for and are suffering so thoroughly for, he stopped eating and went on a hunger strike on December 3. Again, he continued to suffer from that brutality.

He had been arrested in 2003 during the Black Spring that I mentioned. Again, he was a person who had been declared a prisoner of conscience by international organizations like Amnesty International. So he went on this hunger strike, and after 80 days, 80 days, he passed away. He passed away because he refused to give up on the cause of freedom, and he refused to accept, as a normal everyday occurrence that should be accepted, the fact that the political prisoners should be beaten, mistreated, or incarcerated at all.

Let me also put up this poster now. This poster is of Orlando Zapata Tamayo's mother. What she is holding up here is the bloodied T-shirt of her son. That's the kind of beatings that he was receiving in prison as a political prisoner, as a prisoner of conscience, as a peaceful man who was just asking for freedom. And because of that, this is the kind of treatment that he was getting: constant beatings, constant, constant beatings in prison.

And after he died, after Orlando Zapata Tamayo, that hero for freedom that, hopefully, all of us will always remember, because history must remember him for his incredible sacrifice, after that, one would ask, well, is that it? Is the cause dead?

No, because there are other heroes that have come after him like the many heroes that came before. And they will continue to come until Cuba is free. And right after he died, another well-known political prisoner, very well-known activist, a very well-known pro-democracy activist also then stopped eating and went on a hunger strike. He's been on this hunger strike since the 24th of February.

I want everybody to see him. This is a man who's a psychologist; he's a freelance writer. He's on a hunger strike, and he knows what the consequences of that hunger strike may be because he saw what happened to Zapata Tamayo; and he's on a hunger strike, knowing that his fate may very well be the same, that he may give his life so that others will finally wake up and speak out about the horrible atrocities that have taken place just 90 miles away from our shore.

And, again, he says, he has stated that he will remain on this hunger strike until a number of other political prisoners who are--26 of them that are seriously ill, seriously ill--are set free. As you can see by this image, his condition is, well, very fragile. It doesn't take a medical doctor, because I'm not one, to understand that his condition is very, very fragile.

Felix Bonet Carcases, I don't have a picture of him here, unfortunately. But he's an engineer and a former university professor. He has already publicly vowed that he will also go on a hunger strike if Guillermo Farinas were to die on his hunger strike; that he will replace him in the hunger strike until, as he said, the final consequences, to highlight the condition of the political prisoners, to highlight the lack of freedom of the Cuban people, to highlight the fact that that freedom is something that's desired by all, and yet receives so little attention, so little international attention, because where are the international communities? Where are the international groups? Where are they speaking out for the freedom of the Cuban political prisoners? Where are they asking and demanding elections for the Cuban people? Very few are anywhere to be heard, which is why, now, Felix has also said that he will go on a hunger strike as well, again, I repeat, as he said, until the final consequences.

And the story goes on and on and on. I want to now put up a picture of Jorge Luis Garcia Perez and his wife, Iris Perez Aguillera. He is known as Antunez, by one word; everybody knows him as one word. He was arrested while talking to some friends in a public square. In 1990 he was talking about the lack of freedom in 1990 and he was arrested, and he spent 17 years as a political prisoner, and he was consistently and constantly beaten in prison and yet he never gave up. He never lost faith. And he was finally released in 2007.

And what has he done since his release in 2007? Madam Speaker, he's continued to speak out. Madam Speaker, he's continued to speak out. He's continued to complain and denounce the treatment of the political prisoners and the lack of freedom and demanding democracy for Cuba. And just like he was beaten in prison, he and his wife, another hero, are now constantly arrested and rearrested; and they're beaten and beaten and beaten, time and time again. He's 45 years old, another hero that the American people need to know about.

These are heroes 90 miles away from the United States. Both of these individuals are heroes.

Another hero, Madam Speaker, Oscar Elias Biscet. He's a physician. He's a doctor. He was incarcerated. It started because he refused to perform forced abortions. They actually have forced abortions in the island of Cuba. He has dedicated his life to advancing human rights and democracy in Cuba. He's a medical doctor, as I said, and a total pacifist, a believer in Martin Luther King and in Gandhi, a person, who, again, continues to speak out, even from prison, even after the repeated beatings that he has received time and time and time again. He has been placed in solitary confinement. He has lost many of his teeth. And yet he continues to speak out.

And, unfortunately, where are the international organizations demanding his release?

And I can continue to go on and on and on, and we

need to talk about some of these heroes that can never be forgotten, that we need to stand with them, next to them, behind them in solidarity.

But to also speak on this issue and tell us a little bit about it--and I know that he actually even, I believe he spoke, I think the gentleman spoke to Dr. Biscet.

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To Farinas. I'm sorry. To Farinas who is on a hunger strike recently. To talk a little bit about that is a person who has dedicated his life to the cause of freedom, who has spent many years in public service, who will, even though he will be leaving Congress soon, will not stop fighting for the cause of freedom everywhere, not only in Cuba, but obviously, also in particular fighting for the political prisoners, for democracy, for the just causes, for the suffering of the Cuban people, and that is the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart).

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If the gentleman will yield on that point.

I think it's interesting to note this legislation that you're mentioning, it was filed on the same day that Orlando Zapata Tamayo died in prison in a hunger strike, the same day where you would expect solidarity, where you would expect somebody to say, What can we do to help those that are struggling, suffering in prison. That same day, some in this Congress filed a bill to unilaterally lift sanctions, asking nothing in return for that day.

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I'm also going to ask you to relay a little bit of the conversation that you had with one of the heroes. We were speaking about how the majority of Congress has always had great solidarity with the people of Cuba.

One of the gentlemen that you most admire--and I knew of him before I got elected to Congress by having conversations with you, and then seeing his record. I also remember seeing a publication. I don't remember exactly what the quote was, but they called him one of the heroes of the oppressed. Not in Congress, just in our country.

And so it's a privilege to have the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith). Again, a hero of those who are oppressed, a hero if anyone is struggling in a political prison, in a gulag, for his or her belief. It's a privilege to have you here.

We're talking about heroes and the gulags. We have it easy here because we live in freedom. But we can't forget the struggles of those around the world, including just 90 miles away. I want to thank you for never forgetting, never forgetting those that are struggling like Dr. Biscet who is in there for, frankly, just because he is pro-life. So thank you for being here.

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Before you leave, though, again, the atrocities are such. I would like, if it is possible, there is a poster there right next to you. It's the last one, I believe. And it shows the women in white. The ladies in white. They're the wives and mothers of, daughters of, spouses of political prisoners. And they demonstrate in Havana. And all they do is very quietly they just march. And it's a demonstration basically asking for a release of their loved ones.

This picture is from last week. That demonstration, that march--it's a march, it's a peaceful, quiet, march--was led by Reina Tamayo, whose son had just died in an 80-day hunger strike in a prison as a political prisoner.

And there you see what happens to those women, peaceful women who just walk quietly, peacefully.

A little while ago I showed the T-shirt held up by Reina Tamayo of her son who died in prison, a political prisoner who died in prison after a hunger

strike. Imagine the beatings. Imagine the beatings that that human being had to endure. Just look at that T-shirt. And look at that mother. Look at that mother and how anybody can then say, You know something? We're going to unilaterally give that regime what they want, asking nothing in return. Why is that happening?

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You mentioned Brothers to the Rescue. I think it is important to note that this is a regime that obviously incarcerates, and oppresses its own people, but it also has a history of murdering Americans.

You mentioned Brothers to the Rescue. Two airplanes, American airplanes, civilian American airplanes in international airspace that were shot down by Cuban MiGs one fine day just because, because they could, because they wanted to, killing four individuals, four innocent individuals that, I guess, their sin was trying to save people in the ocean, looking for people that were in the ocean seeking freedom.

And the same regime that killed those individuals is the same regime that harbors multiple terrorists and criminals and fugitives of American law, including cop killers who are living in Cuba; the same regime that right now as we speak, as some will file bills to unilaterally give concessions and asking nothing in return, has another American hostage. That's the regime that we are dealing with.

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I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for spending this time and really explaining what is at stake here.

It is interesting how those who do get it--and again it is important to note that the majority of Congress has stood next and by the Cuban people and continues to stand by the Cuban people, but there are others as well that do. You mentioned the Lithuanians, the Poles, the Czechs, the Romanians. Those who have suffered from lack of freedom understand the frailty of freedom, also particularly understand the horrors of that Marxist regime 90 miles away from the United States, because they suffered under very similar types of totalitarian regimes.

But it is interesting to note, I mention this again, that this Congress in a bipartisan fashion stands by the Cuban people, stands by the political prisoners, stands by those relatives who have lost loved ones in the gulags and in the ocean, will continue to stand by the Cuban people, will not be swayed by propaganda.

This Congress does not forget the suffering of the Cuban people and does not forget that the most important thing that any human being has is freedom.

So I am so grateful to the solidarity of the American people, and I am so grateful because of that strong solidarity of the majority of this Congress. The Cuban people will be free. This Congress will do everything it can to make sure that they know that we are with them. They will be free. They are giving it all. They are sacrificing even their lives. And it is important that tonight they know that they are not alone, they are not forgotten. We know they are there. We admire you, we respect you, and we stand 100 percent behind you.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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