May 21, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 85 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Pages S3010-S3011]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 215--CALLING FOR GREATER RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL 
                FREEDOMS IN CUBA, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

  Mr. BRAUN (for himself, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Cruz) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 215

       Whereas the Castro regime has used arbitrary 
     incarcerations, harassment, and intimidation to deny basic 
     freedoms to thousands of Cubans since the Cuban Revolution;
       Whereas, in April 2019, a family was sent to prison by 
     authorities in Cuba for homeschooling their children;
       Whereas the children were enrolled in a Christian distance 
     school in Honduras;
       Whereas the families involved, which included a pastor, 
     cited religious reasons for homeschooling their children;
       Whereas the Government of Cuba has a history of arresting 
     individuals who chose to homeschool their children and 
     sentencing them to prison time and hard labor;
       Whereas the Government of Cuba's insistence on state-
     controlled education is a sign of authoritarianism, enabling 
     them to indoctrinate youth with a communist ideology;
       Whereas parents have the right to teach their children free 
     from the state indoctrination of an autocratic regime;
       Whereas the United States Commission on International 
     Religious Freedom formerly condemned Cuba for actions 
     pertaining to the April 2019 imprisonment of those who 
     homeschool their children;
       Whereas the United States has instituted an embargo on Cuba 
     in 1960;
       Whereas the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity 
     (Libertad) Act of 1996 (22 U.S.C. 6021 et seq.) does not 
     permit these sanctions to be lifted until the Castro regime 
     has been deposed and Cuba has legalized political activity 
     and made a commitment to free and fair elections; and
       Whereas, despite the 2014 Executive branch decision to 
     normalize relations with Cuba, it is still in the power of 
     Congress to lift an embargo: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) expresses solidarity with the people of Cuba in their 
     pursuit of religious freedom;
       (2) calls on the Government of Cuba to release all 
     political prisoners, including those who have been imprisoned 
     for homeschooling their children;
       (3) calls on the OAS Inter-American Commission on Human 
     Rights to grant the Precautionary Measures requested on April 
     25, 2019;
       (4) calls on the Government of Cuba to recognize the right 
     of parents to teach their own children free from state 
     communist indoctrination;
       (5) calls on the Government of Cuba to institute democratic 
     reforms, including reforms that guarantee freedom of 
     religion; and
       (6) calls for the continued implementation of the Cuban 
     Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996.

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