Albio Sires

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize my good friend Luis Quintana, the Councilman at Large in the City of Newark, New Jersey. Councilman Quintana is being honored as the Grand Marshall of this year's Puerto Rican Day Parade on September 18, 2022. Luis is a dedicated public servant and inspiring role model for the Puerto Rican community and the people of Newark who has served on the City Council for 28 years. Born in Anasco, Puerto Rico, Luis moved to Newark, NJ when he was seven years old. He faced challenges as he found himself in a new city where his classmates spoke a different language, but he overcame them and went on to graduate from Barringer High School before attending Seton Hall University. Luis became an advocate for Newark's youth, believing that all students deserved access to the same quality education regardless of background. At the same time, he was actively involved in the community, becoming a member of the Democratic County Committee in 1981 before serving as Deputy Mayor from 1986 to 1994. In 2013, Luis broke boundaries when he became the first Hispanic Mayor of Newark, NJ. I could continue to list his many accomplishments, but I think the most important one is a goal he set himself during his time as Mayor. Luis said in an interview that his ``only mission is to make Newark a better place'' and he has undoubtedly done just that. His work has benefitted the many New Jerseyans who call Newark home, and he is a role model for the Puerto Rican community. I am proud to call Councilman Luis Quintana a colleague and friend.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be an original cosponsor and co-author of House Resolution 760, which demonstrates the United States' firm commitment to standing with the Cuban people.

On July eleventh, we witnessed an awakening in Cuba. It began in San Antonio de los Banos, just ten miles from Bejucal, the town where I was born, and then spread to over sixty towns and cities throughout Cuba. The Cuban people rose up and spoke with one voice to call for freedom. Cubans risked their lives by demonstrating against this repressive regime.

As members of the United States Congress, we must make clear that we stand with them. Many Cubans have paid a steep price for their courage. More than seven hundred people were detained or forcibly disappeared in the wake of the protests. This regime showed its true colors, firing live ammunition into crowds and using beatings, arbitrary arrests, and torture to try to stop people from protesting. It blocked internet access to prevent Cubans from communicating with each other and with the world. But I believe that the Cuban people can and will prevail.

These protests, while historic, did not emerge from thin air. For more than sixty years, the Cuban people have endured unspeakable suffering. But as the regime has expanded its repression to go after not just dissidents but also artists and academics and bloggers, a new generation of Cubans has shown its creativity and bravery. The San Isidro movement, which came together in response to a decree aimed at censoring artistic expression, has unlocked something very powerful. By bringing together artists, academics, and Cubans from all walks of life, the leaders of the San Isidro movement have shown the power of collective action to strip away the veneer that the regime tries to present to the world. Underneath the propaganda and the myths, we see a fragile and failed dictatorship that can only hold onto power through repression, corruption, and cronyism. The brutal treatment of the Associated Press journalist Ramon Espinosa showed just how desperate this regime is to hide the reality in Cuba from the rest of the world.

That desperation is the reason why the regime is now prohibiting planned protests for November 15th. The regime is threatening those who plan to demonstrate that they will face severe repercussions, even though they are merely asking to express themselves peacefully, as is their fundamental right.

The question before the U.S. Congress is whether we will answer the call of the Cuban people. Will we acknowledge them and say ``we see you, we hear you, and we are with you''? I hope the answer is yes.

As many of my colleagues know, I left Cuba at the age of eleven. Ever since then, I have never given up hope that one day Cuba would become a democracy. I will never stop fighting to help the Cuban people become free.

I thank my good friends, Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz and Congressman Diaz-Balart, for their leadership. And I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to address S. 1064, the Reinforcing Nicaragua's Adherence to Conditions for Electoral Reform Act of 2021, or the RENACER Act. I introduced the House version of the RENACER Act in April with Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, Ranking Member of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Mark Green, and Reps. Deutch, Wasserman Schultz, Murphy, and other bipartisan colleagues. This bill builds on the Nicaragua Investment Conditionality Act of 2018, or the NICA Act, and expands the United States' toolbox to address the challenges to democracy faced in Nicaragua. Congress passed the NICA Act in 2018 in the aftermath of Ortega's brutal crackdown of protesters that year. Since 2018, the Ortega regime's criminalization of dissent has only continued; and since I introduced RENACER in April, the regime arrested almost 40 opposition figures, including eight possible presidential candidates.