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CALLING FOR FREEDOM AND LIBERTY IN CUBA
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mooney) for 5 minutes.
Mr. MOONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to address the topic of the recent protests in Cuba, where individuals there are simply asking for freedom and liberty.
My mother is one of 14 children. Her maiden name is Suarez, Eulalia Maria Suarez. She came from Cuba at 20 years old in 1961. My mother and my father raised me to defend freedom, freedom of speech. My father fought in Vietnam against the communist advance there.
What we in America sometimes don't realize is, many other countries, especially communist countries that are tyrannical like Cuba, do not enjoy the basic human rights that we enjoy in this country and many other people in the world enjoy.
Those rights, such as free speech and uncensored internet access, they don't have that in Cuba. Freedom of the press, freedom to protest, freedom to criticize your government, the right to vote in an actual election with more than one candidate who doesn't get 100 percent of the vote, they don't have those rights in Cuba.
What they have is a tyrannical, evil regime that oppresses their people every day. They arrest demonstrators. We saw brave men and women in Cuba for the first time since 1994, almost 30 years, thousands of brave men and women, people in Cuba, protesting against their government, asking for freedoms, asking for basic rights like the ones I just mentioned that they don't have.
What did they do? They all got arrested. They put them in jail. They say it is for a year. When that year goes by, when the regime in Cuba hopes nobody else is looking, they are going to make it 5 years. And they abuse them in jail. That is what happens to protesters in these types of countries.
Now, look, I want to say that I actually agree with Joe Biden on this, on what he said. Joe Biden said, on July 12, this year, and I am going to quote him: ``We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba's authoritarian regime. The Cuban people are bravely asserting fundamental and universal rights.''
President Biden continues: ``Those rights, including the right of peaceful protest and the right to freely determine their own future, must be respected. The United States calls on the Cuban regime to hear their people and serve their needs at this vital moment rather than enriching themselves.''
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Look, President Biden and, unfortunately not all, but many, Democrats and Republicans agree on this issue, but we need aggressive solutions to the issue.
If the United States of America does not lead, no one else will. They are looking to us for leadership. They are looking to President Biden for leadership. They are looking to Congress for leadership. We need every freedom-loving country to condemn this evil, tyrannical regime and their constant abuses of their people.
America and other countries should not do business with this Communist regime. As Biden himself said, they will only ``enrich themselves,'' and that is what they do. Instead, we should use every pressure point we can to defend freedom and the basic rights for the Cuban people.
This is a heartfelt issue for many. We enjoy these freedoms, and sometimes we forget how tough it is and how much support people need in struggling countries like Cuba. Right now is the time to show strong support for the people of Cuba and for their basic human rights.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 131
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