SENATE RESOLUTION 637--COMMEMORATING THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY OF UNITED STATES BROADCASTING TO CUBA; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 115
(Senate - June 23, 2020)
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[Page S3159]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENATE RESOLUTION 637--COMMEMORATING THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY OF UNITED
STATES BROADCASTING TO CUBA
Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. Menendez, and Mr. Scott of Florida)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on Foreign Relations.:
S. Res. 637
Whereas the Radio Broadcasting to Cuba Act (Public Law 98-
111) passed by a wide margin in the House of Representatives
on September 29, 1983, and passed unanimously by voice vote
in the Senate on September 12, 1983;
Whereas, upon signing the Radio Broadcasting to Cuba Act
into law on October 4, 1983, President Ronald Reagan said
that the law ``responds to an important foreign policy
initiative of my administration: to break Fidel Castro's
monopoly on news and information within Cuba'', further
explaining that the purpose of providing impartial news to
the Cuban people was so that they ``will be in a better
position to make Cuba's leaders accountable for their conduct
in foreign policy, economic management, and human rights.'';
Whereas radio service into Cuba was named ``Radio Marti''
after renowned 19th century Cuban patriot Jose Marti;
Whereas, on May 20, 1985, the 83rd anniversary of Cuba's
Independence Day, Radio Marti began its first broadcast into
Cuba;
Whereas, in 1990, Congress passed and President George H.W.
Bush signed into law the Television Broadcasting to Cuba Act
(Public Law 101-246), which expanded broadcasting to include
television, and ``Television Marti'' commenced broadcasting
later that year;
Whereas President William Jefferson Clinton signed into law
the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act
of 1996 (Public Law 104-134), which required the relocation
of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting from Washington, D.C., to
South Florida;
Whereas the Office of Cuba Broadcasting was relocated to
Miami, Florida in 1998, ahead of schedule and under budget;
Whereas United States broadcasts to Cuba were initiated to
pierce the Castro regime's information blockade and to
provide timely, accurate, uncensored, and reliable
information to the Cuban people;
Whereas the Office of Cuba Broadcasting at the United
States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) oversees Radio and
Television Marti;
Whereas Radio and Television Marti are multimedia hubs of
news, information, and analysis that provide the people of
Cuba with interactive programs 7 days a week through
satellite television, shortwave and AM radio, and digital
platforms, including its website, flash drives, emails, DVDs,
and SMS text;
Whereas Radio and Television Marti aim to inform and engage
the people of Cuba by providing credible news and information
rooted in respect for fundamental freedoms, democratic
principles, and universal human rights;
Whereas the Office of Cuba Broadcasting facilitates
critical technology services, allowing Cubans across
provinces to connect, and linking Cuban pro-democracy
activists with an expanding worldwide network of activists
engaged in their own struggles for freedom and human rights
in their respective countries;
Whereas, on July 14, 2011, independent journalist and
former political prisoner Jose Daniel Ferrer said, ``the
particular stories, the news selected for A Fondo [a joint
Voice of America and Radio Marti program], is what gives the
show its quality, very professional. I listened to the show
in prison on a daily basis.'';
Whereas Karen Caballero of Radio and Television Marti
received the David Burke Award in 2012 for her inspired
coverage of the ``Lights of Liberty Flotilla'', a small group
of boats with a mission to sail across the Florida Strait to
bring attention to the solidarity between Cuban exiles and
those on the island, and to the human rights abuses
perpetrated by the regime in Cuba;
Whereas, on August 13, 2013, Afro-Cuban activist and former
political prisoner Jorge Luis Garcia-Perez stated, ``In the
17 years that I spent behind bars, Radio Marti was, at times,
my `everything'. It was my lifeline.''; and
Whereas, in 2017, Television Marti's ``Alas de Libertad''
(Wings of Freedom), which documented the activities of the
Brigade 2506 Air Force division during the 1961 Bay of Pigs
invasion, received the Suncoast Regional Emmy Award from The
National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) celebrates the 35th anniversary of Radio Marti and the
30th anniversary of Television Marti;
(2) recognizes the vital role that independent broadcasting
to Cuba has served in providing uncensored, reliable, and
accurate information to the Cuban people for the past 35
years;
(3) honors the journalists, programming editors, technical
support, and many other employees at Radio and Television
Marti, administered through the Office of Cuba Broadcasting,
who commit to high journalistic standards, tenacity, and
providing unbiased, objective information to the Cuban
people;
(4) remembers the deep and lasting contributions that the
free flow of information, including broadcasting, to Cuba has
provided to the Cuban people in bolstering Cuba's pro-
democracy movement; and
(5) reaffirms the importance of the United States
strengthening policies in support of promoting democracy,
promoting freedom of the press, and supporting the
transmission of external, reliable, objective information to
some of the most repressed parts of the world.
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