[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 868 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 868
Condemning the comments of Senator and Democratic Socialist
Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders (I-VT), disregarding the history
of systemic human rights abuses, forced indoctrination, and
authoritarian actions of the literacy and education policies of the
Communist Castro dictatorship in Cuba.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 27, 2020
Mr. Diaz-Balart (for himself, Ms. Cheney, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Waltz, Mr.
Gonzalez of Ohio, Mr. Scalise, Miss Gonzalez-Colon of Puerto Rico, Ms.
Shalala, and Ms. Mucarsel-Powell) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning the comments of Senator and Democratic Socialist
Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders (I-VT), disregarding the history
of systemic human rights abuses, forced indoctrination, and
authoritarian actions of the literacy and education policies of the
Communist Castro dictatorship in Cuba.
Whereas, on February 23, 2020, during a ``60 Minutes'' interview aired on CBS,
Senator Bernie Sanders refused to condemn the Communist dictatorship of
Fidel Castro in Cuba outright and expressed support for the literacy and
education policies of the dictatorship;
Whereas, on February 24, 2020, during a televised town hall in Charleston, South
Carolina, Senator Bernie Sanders defended his remarks praising the
literacy and education policies of the Castro dictatorship in Cuba;
Whereas, on February 25, 2020, during the Democratic Presidential debate in
Charleston, South Carolina, Senator Bernie Sanders further stated:
``Cuba made progress on education'' and ``when dictatorships, whether it
is the Chinese or the Cubans do something good, you acknowledge that'';
Whereas the literacy and education policy of the tyrannical Castro dictatorship
served to indoctrinate the Cuban people with Marxist-Communist ideology
and anti-United States sentiment;
Whereas the objective of the Castro regime's literacy and education policies was
to promote loyalty and reverence for Fidel Castro above all else;
Whereas Fidel Castro and the Communist Party of Cuba blocked access to
independent sources of information and imposed outright censorship of
books, libraries, and educational sources;
Whereas Cubans who resisted Communist indoctrination by Fidel Castro and his
regime risked human rights abuses including violence, imprisonment, and
execution;
Whereas most Cubans indoctrinated by the regime's education system were forced
to work for the state;
Whereas the revolution led by Fidel Castro in Cuba in 1959 started 60 years of
an ongoing dictatorship, systemic human rights abuses, and a lack of
basic freedoms of press, religion, assembly, and association that
continue to this day under the Communist oppression of Raul Castro and
his puppet, Miguel Diaz-Canel;
Whereas by the early 1960's Fidel Castro held as many as 60,000 political
prisoners;
Whereas killings ordered by Fidel Castro are estimated to be as high as 17,000;
Whereas over 1,000,000 Cubans were forced to flee their homeland and risked
their lives to escape the Castro dictatorship;
Whereas prior to the Castro regime, from 1953 to 1958, according to professor
emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh Carmelo Mesa-Lago, Cuba's
infant mortality rate was the lowest in the region;
Whereas a State Department report, ``Zenith and Eclipse: A Comparative Look at
Socio-Economic Conditions in Pre-Castro and Present Day Cuba'',
indicated that in 1957 Cuba had an infant mortality rate of 32 per 1,000
births, the lowest in Latin America and the 13th lowest in the world;
Whereas prior to Castro's Communists seizing power, Cuba led virtually all
countries in Latin America in the category of life expectancy in 1959;
Whereas prior to the Castro regime, in 1957, Cuba had lower infant mortality
than France, Belgium, West Germany, Israel, Japan, Austria, Italy,
Spain, and Portugal;
Whereas the Cuban dictatorship today under Raul Castro and his puppet, Miguel
Diaz-Canel, continues to stifle dissent through violence and harassment
and violate the basic human rights of the Cuban people;
Whereas the Communist regime in Cuba continues to export its Communist, anti-
American, and authoritarian ideology throughout the Western Hemisphere
and bolsters authoritarian regimes in Venezuela and Nicaragua; and
Whereas Communism has claimed at least 100,000,000 victims, and has led to
financial ruin and brutal oppression in Asia, Europe, and the Western
Hemisphere: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns the comments of Senator and Democratic
Socialist Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders (I-VT),
disregarding the history of systemic human rights abuses,
forced indoctrination, and authoritarian actions of the
literacy and education policies of the Communist Castro
dictatorship in Cuba;
(2) condemns the use of firing squads, imprisonment,
torture, and acts of repudiation to suppress dissent in
totalitarian Cuba, as well as the forced Communist
indoctrination policies carried out by the Castro dictatorship
in Cuba;
(3) rejects the false claims that healthcare, literacy, and
education have improved under the Castro regime;
(4) calls for democratic government, liberation of all
political prisoners, freedom of belief and expression, and the
respect of all basic human rights for the Cuban people; and
(5) stands in solidarity with the Cuban people in their
struggle to achieve essential freedoms and liberties.
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