S.Amdt. 482

SA 482. Mr. BRAUN (for himself, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Cruz) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 1790, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2020 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle G of title XII, add the following:

SEC. 1290. SENSE OF SENATE CALLING FOR GREATER RELIGIOUS AND
POLITICAL FREEDOMS IN CUBA.

(a) Findings.--The Senate makes the following findings:

[[Page S3509]]

(1) The Castro regime has used arbitrary incarcerations,
harassment, and intimidation to deny basic freedoms to
thousands of Cubans since the Cuban Revolution.
(2) In April 2019, a family was sent to prison by
authorities in Cuba for homeschooling their children.
(3) The children were enrolled in a Christian distance
school in Honduras.
(4) The families involved, which included a pastor, cited
religious reasons for homeschooling their children.
(5) 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.
(6) The Government of Cuba's insistence on state-controlled
education is a sign of authoritarianism, enabling them to
indoctrinate youth with a communist ideology.
(7) Parents have the right to teach their children free
from the state indoctrination of an autocratic regime.
(8) 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.
(9) The United States has instituted an embargo on Cuba in
1960.
(10) 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.
(11) Despite the 2014 Executive branch decision to
normalize relations with Cuba, it is still in the power of
Congress to lift an embargo.
(b) Sense of Senate.--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.
______