[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1358 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1358
Calling for accountability for grave violations of internationally
recognized human rights in Cuba and malign activities against the
United States and democratic countries in the Western Hemisphere
committed by the Communist regime in Cuba.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 11, 2024
Ms. Salazar (for herself, Mr. Moskowitz, Mr. Mooney, Mrs. Gonzalez-
Colon, Mr. Gimenez, Ms. Malliotakis, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Ms. Wasserman
Schultz, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Waltz, Mr. Soto, and Mr. Lawler)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means,
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of
the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Calling for accountability for grave violations of internationally
recognized human rights in Cuba and malign activities against the
United States and democratic countries in the Western Hemisphere
committed by the Communist regime in Cuba.
Whereas Freedom House's Freedom in the World 2024 Report states, ``Cuba's one-
party Communist state outlaws political pluralism, bans independent
media, suppresses dissent, and severely restricts basic civil
liberties.'';
Whereas the Department of State's 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices, in addition to numerous international human rights
organizations, established that the Communist regime in Cuba continues
to violate the tenets of the Covenant Against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted at New York
December 10, 1984, to which Cuba is a signatory;
Whereas the Cuban regime has imprisoned or continues to harass thousands of
Cuban citizens, including youths who participated in the unprecedented
July 11, 2021, demonstrations on behalf of freedom for Cuba;
Whereas the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report continues
to cite Cuba as a Tier 3 country due to its failure to fully comply with
the minimum standards against human trafficking, and further designates
Cuba as a state sponsor of human trafficking;
Whereas, in this regard, the Cuban regime sends medical personnel overseas into
servitude in Mexico and other countries in which they are paid only 10
to 25 percent of what the host nation compensates Cuba for their
services and denies them their fundamental rights;
Whereas Cuba continues to a be source of regional instability, as noted by a
United Nations independent fact-finding mission report in 2022 that
found Cuban personnel were advising and instructing Venezuelan
intelligence agencies committing crimes against humanity in Venezuela;
Whereas Cuban security assistance to Venezuelan narco-terrorist dictator Nicolas
Maduro emboldens him to continue to resist free and fair elections in
Venezuela and has resulted in thousands of Venezuelans fleeing the
country and contributing to overwhelming numbers of illegal United
States border crossings;
Whereas the Cuban regime uses illegal immigration as a weapon to overwhelm the
United States border by profiting from international smuggling,
exporting dissent, infiltrating spies, and fortifying a self-serving
black market economy;
Whereas the Cuban regime maintains mutually supportive relationships with Iran,
Syria, and North Korea, the three other countries the United States has
designated as state sponsors of terrorism;
Whereas Cuba harbors United States fugitives from justice wanted on charges of
political violence, including the murders of United States law
enforcement officers, including fugitives who have resided in Cuba for
decades and criminals such as Joanne Chesimard, William Morales, Charlie
Hill, Victor Manuel Gerena, who are responsible for planning and
carrying out violent crimes against Americans;
Whereas the Cuban regime maintains mutually supportive relationships with groups
the United States has designated as foreign terrorist organizations,
including Hamas, Hezbollah, and Colombia's National Liberation Army;
Whereas the Cuban regime also maintains mutually supportive relationships with
anti-American countries such as Iran, Russia, and China;
Whereas the Cuban regime has been one of the most active defenders of Vladimir
Putin's invasion of Ukraine, providing diplomatic support and votes in
international fora, serving as an amplifier of Russian propaganda on a
global scale, and sending Cubans to fight on behalf of Putin;
Whereas the Cuban regime has allowed Russian warships, including a nuclear-
powered submarine, to conduct military exercises in the Caribbean,
bringing the flotilla within 30 nautical miles from the United States
coast;
Whereas the Wall Street Journal reported in June 2023 that the Cuban regime has
allowed China to establish an electronic surveillance facility on the
island, which ``would allow Chinese intelligence services to scoop up
electronic communications throughout the Southeastern U.S., where many
military bases are located, and monitor U.S. ship traffic''; and
Whereas it has been the longstanding goal of United States policy to bring about
freedom, prosperity, and democracy to the Cuban people: Now, therefore,
be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) calls for a policy that promotes democratic government
and respect for fundamental rights in Cuba and opposes lifting
of sanctions until a genuine democratic transition is underway
in Cuba, as specified in United States law;
(2) believes that the promotion of democracy abroad is a
core foreign policy objective of the United States Congress;
(3) believes that the spread of democracy globally
preserves the security of the United States and enhances our
Nation's prosperity;
(4) calls on the United States Government to use every
diplomatic tool to persuade foreign governments and
international organizations to join its efforts and coordinate
activities to bring freedom and democracy to Cuba;
(5) believes that the United States should work with allies
and like-minded democracies to seek Cuba's expulsion from the
United Nations Human Rights Council;
(6) believes that, due to Cuba's mutually supportive
relationships with foreign terrorist organizations and state
sponsors of terrorism, the Secretary of State should maintain
Cuba on the Department of State's State Sponsors of Terrorism
list;
(7) encourages the United States Trade Representative to
enter in consultations with the Government of Mexico and all
the other countries that engage in the trafficking of Cuban
doctors, not just in Mexico but in all other countries that are
in violation of the labor provisions of the United States-
Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA);
(8) calls on the Department of State to submit biannual
reports to Congress on March 1st and September 1st of each year
on its efforts to bring freedom and democracy to Cuba based on
the principles outlined in this resolution; and
(9) emphasizes the readiness of the people of the United
States to assist the Cuban people, who are emerging from a
decades-long authoritarian nightmare, to rebuild their lives
and country and to rejoin the community of free, peaceful, and
democratic nations.
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