Bob Menendez

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 238, Eugene S. Young, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, to be Ambassador of the United States to the Republic of Congo.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 239, Michele Jeanne Sison, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, to be Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, here is one where it is a monumental mistake to not permit this person to be confirmed when we want to stop fentanyl from coming into our country. I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 240, Todd D. Robinson, of New Jersey, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, to be Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 241, Daniel J. Kritenbrink, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, to be the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 317, Marc Evans Knapper, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, to be Ambassador of the United States to Vietnam; and that the Senator from Texas' remarks, which he has made repeatedly, be inserted each and every time after the motion that I have made.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, now is here one where we heard a lot even during the debate we just had about the United Nations and the need for reform. Well, here is an opportunity. I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 318, Christopher P. Lu, to be Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations for U.N. Management and Reform, with the rank of Ambassador.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 319, Christopher P. Lu, to be an Alternate Representative of the United States of America to the General Assembly of the United Nations.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 320, Rufus Gifford, to be Chief of Protocol, with the rank of Ambassador.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, and I will be brief for the sake of everybody here. There is a lot more to be said. But, look, first of all, this legislation was just introduced today--today. It has not been brought before the committee. It has not had a full vetting. And it is not quite fair to say that it is exactly the same. It isn't. I was just looking through it. Secondly, I know that the Senator believes that he can dictate to the President of the United States, duly elected by the American people, what the foreign policy should be. I believe we should have a role in foreign policy. I share that with the Senator. But you can't say: If it passes the Senate, if it passes the House, signed by the President, then I will release my hold. I mean, I guess that would be nice if the Senator could accomplish it for his goals, but it is not the way the system ultimately works. And I would just say President Trump, for the longest period of time, did not issue the sanctions that were necessary because he was so cozy with Vladimir Putin, and the result was that the pipeline was almost finished by the time President Biden came to office. And had he done what the Senator wishes, we wouldn't be in this position today. So for all of those reasons, I object to the Senator's unanimous consent request.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, one thing that is demonstrably true is that Donald Trump did nothing as it relates toward this pipeline, and there wasn't much effort to try to get them to stop the pipeline at the time. And while I disagreed with President Trump on a whole host of foreign policy issues, I did not hold up all his nominees just to get my view to be the order of the day. Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar Mr. President, therefore, I ask that it be in order to make the same request that I made previously with respect to Executive Calendar No. 234, Elizabeth Moore Aubin, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, to be Ambassador of the United States to Algeria.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I would just simply say that the Senator from Texas did not hold up any of the nominees of President Trump as it relates to this. I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 235, Maria E. Brewer, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, to be Ambassador of the United States to the Kingdom of Lesotho.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to Executive Calendar, No. 236, Christopher John Lamora, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, to be Ambassador of the United States to Cameroon.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, now, here is a generational mistake if we do not confirm the next person. We are in the midst in Latin America and the Caribbean of turmoil all around. We have the challenges of Venezuela, the Cuban people crying out for change, the situation in Haiti after the assassination, Nicaragua becoming a new dictatorship. We need to have the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere be out there helping us in the hemisphere. So I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 322, Brian A. Nichols, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, to be Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I don't get to serve on every committee, and I don't have the questions for the record of every committee hearing. Eventually, they get printed, and they are available to all Senators. But the suggestion that the Senator is being denied something when he is not a member of the committee is a unique one, to say the least. But nonetheless, I think there would have been another objection even if his interests were answered. I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 323, Marcela Escobari, to be an Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 324, Monica P. Medina, to be the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, before I yield, finally, to my colleague from Connecticut, a member of the committee, I just want to say that in 30 years of doing foreign policy between the House and the Senate, sitting on both the House and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, God forbid that something happens in one of these countries or in these regions where we do not have a confirmed Ambassador, Assistant Secretary of State, or Development Official to promote our interests, to respond to it, to be able to deal with it. I wouldn't want to be the Senator who held up that person when that happens at some point. I wouldn't want to be the Senator who held up that person when that happens at some point in the world. I yield to the Senator from Connecticut. Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I strongly support the gentleman's amendment. In fact, the Biden administration is in the midst of trying to find out what is the greatest technological ability to create internet access for the people of Cuba and limiting the ability of the regime to jam that internet access, and I hope that we will see this shortly. This reserve fund would be in good order and in line with what the administration is seeking to do as well. Vote on Amendment No. 3097

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, the U.S. Government already has laws in place to prevent U.S. taxpayer dollars from going to terrorist organizations and laws that specifically prevent funds from going to Hamas and Palestinian Jihad. So this is purely a messaging amendment that does absolutely nothing in practice, but it is a message we can all get behind. And because Democrats stand against terrorist organizations that threaten innocent civilians in Israel and anywhere else in the world, we support the amendment, and we would urge the Senator to take a voice vote. Vote on Amendment No. 3383

Mr. MENENDEZ. Madam President, it is past 3 a.m., and we are dealing with another messaging amendment. Like the junior Senator from Alaska, we all oppose terrorism; we condemn state sponsors of it. But this amendment goes well beyond that and is drafted so broadly, whether intentionally or not, that it signals a cutoff of funding to every international organization--every single one--including the United Nations because some members are bad actors. Now, our Republican colleagues are well aware that adversaries such as China are expanding their influence at some of the most important international organizations. They are calling the shots because we are not there. This amendment would cede the field to the Chinese so we can sit on the sidelines and watch them make the rules. When Israel is wrongly signaled out at the U.N. Human Rights Commission, we will not be there to defend her. And when international standards are being created for high-tech issues, we will not lead the world, as we should. That is why this amendment should be defeated.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the accelerating political crisis in Nicaragua and the Ortega regime's anti-democratic efforts to hold illegitimate elections in November. On November 7, Daniel Ortega will attempt to deny the Nicaraguan people their most basic right: the right to choose their country's leaders in free and fair elections. This grave restriction on basic democratic freedoms confirms that the Ortega regime is consolidating the Western Hemisphere's third dictatorship. In the lead up to these elections and in response to unrestrained assaults against democracy, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed my legislation entitled the ``Reinforcing Nicaragua's Adherence to Conditions for Electoral Reform (RENACER) Act.'' This bipartisan legislation, taken together with the Biden administration's additional imposition of visa restrictions against individuals affiliated with the regime, demonstrates the United States is firmly committed to the restoration of democracy to Nicaragua. The legislation is also consistent with our commitments to promote and defend democracy in the Americas. As the 20th anniversary of the Inter-American Democratic Charter approaches next month, we must recognize that a growing trend of deeply flawed and fraudulent electoral processes jeopardizes regional consensus in support of free, fair, and transparent elections across the Americas. Whether in Nicaragua in 2016, Honduras in 2017, Bolivia in 2019, Guyana in 2020, or Venezuela in 2017, 2018, and 2020, democratic elections are under attack by autocrats and populists alike. Regretfully, the Ortega regime is taking steps to continue this trend. Today, Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo hold more than 140 political prisoners, including eight opposition candidates for President and Vice President. These individuals represent a broad political spectrum and include Arturo Cruz, Felix Maradiaga, Juan Sebastian Chamorro, Medardo Mairena, and Miguel Mora. Three more contenders, Berenice Quezada, Cristiana Chamorro, and Noel Vidaurre, are under house arrest. On July 27, the regime incarcerated the country's 76-year-old former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Aguirre Sacasa, under bogus charges of treason and without regard for his health or well-being. The regime is holding Sacasa and many others at El Chipote detention center: a facility infamous for acts of torture and ill-treatment, according to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. The regime continues to deny prisoners due process, access to family contact, and legal counsel. Essentially, many of them have been disappeared. On Friday, Ortega cancelled the registration of the last remaining opposition political party that was positioned to participate in the November elections, Ciudadanos por la Libertad--Citizens for Freedom. The regime went as far as to strip the head of that party of her Nicaraguan citizenship. These are not actions that would be tolerated in any democratic system in the world; these are the actions of a tin- pot dictator. The events since June are the culmination of the Ortega regime's years-long process to dismantle democracy in Nicaragua. When Nicaraguans took to the streets to protest their living conditions in 2018, the regime responded with a brutal campaign of violence. Over 330 protesters were killed. Today, the number of Nicaraguans fleeing the country is on the rise, increasing the complexity and reach of the challenge. The Ortega-Murillo regime's authoritarian power grab poses a direct challenge to U.S. national security and regional stability. I am proud to have authored the RENACER Act and to lead the bipartisan, bicameral effort to send a clear message to Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo: Reverse course now and the international community stands ready to support the restoration of democracy; or continue down the current path and face consequences. The RENACER Act requires the United States, working with our partners in the European Union, Canada, and Latin America and the Caribbean, to align our diplomatic efforts and sanctions tools to push for one goal, democratic elections. The bill requires increased intelligence reporting on the regime's corruption and its malign partnership with Russia. This legislation will provide for better documentation of human rights violations and guarantee that the regime and its enablers are held accountable. The law further calls for the President to review Nicaragua's participation in the Central America Free Trade Agreement--CAFTA. The United States would never sign a free trade agreement with Belarus given the authoritarian conditions that exist in the country. And the United States should not turn a blind eye if one of our free trade partners becomes the Belarus of Central America. In closing, let there be no doubts--the United States will continue to support defenders of democracy in Nicaragua, condemn violence and intimidation, and hold accountable the Ortega regime and those who support it. If Daniel Ortega assumes a fourth consecutive term via sham elections, he will rule without a shred of legitimacy. I urge my colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass the RENACER Act so that we can speak with a single voice and make it clear that Daniel Ortega's paranoia of losing at the ballot box is no excuse for his systematic dismantling of Nicaragua's democratic system.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I rise to discuss Zambia's upcoming elections and the erosion of democracy under President Edgar Lungu. On August 12, the people of Zambia will go to the polls to elect their President and members of the National Assembly. They will do so under the cloud of growing authoritarianism, with troops in the streets, protesters in prison, and dissenting voices muzzled by censorship. Indeed, many Zambians have good reason to be dissatisfied with their present government and, in a free and fair vote, might very well reject President Lungu's bid for reelection. But I fear they may not have that opportunity. For nearly 30 years, Zambians have enjoyed a relatively free and open political environment. In 1991, Zambia's founding father Kenneth Kaunda lost the country's first multiparty election in decades and gracefully stepped aside after 27 years in power. President Kaunda died in June of this year, at the age of 97, with a complicated legacy; he was a liberator, but also held an iron grip on power for nearly three decades. However, his final act of public service paved the way for democracy to take root in his country in the years that followed. Sadly, President Lungu is erasing that monumental contribution to the Zambian people. Since President Lungu's rise to power in 2014, he has used the organs of the state to intimidate his political opponents and consolidate power for his Patriotic Front--PF--party. Freedom House rates Zambia as only ``partly free,'' citing laws and government actions which have had the effect of restricting the activities of opposition parties, limiting civil society participation, and curbing free expression. Similarly, the U.S. Department of State, in its 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, noted ``significant human rights issues'' in Zambia, particularly in the area of elections and political participation. In March, the Zambian political analyst Dr. Sishuwa Sishuwa published an essay in which he warned that ``Zambia may burn after the August elections.'' He wrote that the public's distrust of Zambia's institutions and the ruthless competition between its political elites had contributed to a climate of fear and anger that could plunge the country into chaos. The subversion of the independence of the courts and other public institutions has led to a lack of confidence. Credible allegations of corruption and impunity have been made against leaders. A collapsing economy, mismanaged by President Lungu to the point of defaulting on its foreign loans, has resulted in mass youth unemployment and rising inequality. Dr. Sishuwa also noted Western countries' declining assistance to Zambia and their silence on its democratic backsliding. He painted a vivid image of a once-peaceful and prosperous country on the brink of calamity. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Zambian police began investigating Dr. Sishuwa for sedition shortly after the essay's publication. Indeed, political violence has already arrived on the streets of Zambia. Fighting between supporters of the PF and the opposition United Party for National Development--UPND--left at least two people dead last week. Troops have been mobilized to restore order, but Zambian security forces have also been accused of using deadly force against peaceful protesters. The United States has a clear interest in ensuring that Zambia remains a free and stable country. We have provided approximately $500 million in assistance to Zambiaa every year. At a time of increasing instability in Southern Africa, with unrest in South Africa and Eswatini, crackdowns in Zimbabwe, a brutal insurgency in Mozambique, and the rampant spread of COVID-19, the region cannot afford Zambia's collapse. We know that instability anywhere has a rippling effect that impacts U.S. interests and our allies. Moreover, Zambia presents a test for the Biden administration's commitment to promoting and protecting democracy abroad. I encourage the administration to more address Zambia's democratic backsliding. I hope that is corrected before elections commence. We should be clear with President Lungu that the United States does not tolerate authoritarianism and that the generosity of the American people is not without limits. The United States should increase support for Zambian civil-society and democracy and governance programming in Zambia. Finally, the Biden administration can demonstrate its commitment to the bilateral relationship by nominating a skilled and experienced diplomat to serve as ambassador to Zambia. While the United States stands with the Zambian people, ultimately, responsibility for Zambia's democratic decline lies squarely with President Lungu and his government. In the short term, President Lungu must commit to holding free and fair elections on August 12 and ensure transparency in the process by permitting election monitors to observe the vote without restrictions. He must also publicly commit to accept the outcome of the election, and step aside should he lose. Regardless of the outcome, the PF, UPND, and all other parties must work together to restore the integrity and independence of public institutions, end impunity for state violence, and address corruption. They must do this by partnering with civil society, restoring freedom of the press, and respecting civil liberties. They must accept that dissent and protest are not a threat to their power, but rather proof of a healthy polity. This will be a long and difficult process which will test the courage and patriotism of Zambia's elites. Next week's elections may be the first step towards Zambia's renewal or else the next step towards its ruin. Perhaps President Lung can take inspiration from Kenneth Kendal's final act of leadership and put his country before his own political interests.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I come to talk about the process that we are in here; first of all, the process that brings us the legislation that is before us. Now, I respect my colleagues on both sides of the aisle have come together to draft the legislation that we have been debating on and off, voting even less, but that process shortchanges, I think, the Senate and the American people. It is a process that our colleagues--well-intentioned and working incredibly hard but had no geographic diversity, had no ethnic diversity, had no racial diversity, and that is consequential. It is consequential in the legislation that we are dealing before us. For example, this legislation does very well in taking care of dealing with abandoned mines, but it doesn't do all that well with dealing with Superfund sites--the sites that most Americans who happen to be from disadvantaged communities ultimately reside along. This legislation does much to help with the challenges of wildfires in our country, which I support, but doesn't do very much for the questions of flooding--flooding that takes place along the Mississippi, flooding that takes place in Louisiana, flooding that takes place in my home State of New Jersey and along the Atlantic coast. So that lack of diversity is not only consequential in terms of the legislation--geographic, ethnic, and racial--it is also consequential to disadvantaged communities. For too long, our infrastructure and transportation system have often been used to divide communities, split communities, where a highway goes through it and ultimately divides the community into the ``right side of the track'' and ``wrong side of the track.'' This was an opportunity to actually change that dynamic. This was an opportunity to create equity in our infrastructure system, to make sure that those divided communities no longer were divided and that all of them had a highway to opportunity, to make sure that transit access to minority communities struggling for employment could be realized. Even though, you know, there is a transit provision, it is $9 billion less than what we were originally told, but other elements are much, much higher. Those provisions not only have a consequence to the communities for which transit mobility is a critical element in order for employment, it often deals with minority communities that find themselves disadvantaged in terms of mobility for minority communities to opportunities for employment. Look at the pay-fors. The pay-fors, it is pretty remarkable, one of them particularly ends a rebate that is supposed to ultimately end up for consumers at the prescription drug counter. I often hear from people across the spectrum that we need to ultimately ensure that the cost of prescription drugs are lowered, but then here we have a pay-for that has absolutely nothing to do with lowering the cost of prescription drugs. Then I hear that, ``well, we are waiting for amendments.'' Well, I have bipartisan amendments, amendments on flooding, amendments on our national ferry system that many parts of our Nation depend upon, amendments about eligibility for bus terminals; and they are bipartisan, but the gatekeepers are keeping us away. Here we are. It is 5:30 in the evening. We have yet to vote on one single amendment. We have yet to vote on anything today. So this cannot be the process by which the world's most deliberative body operates under. And I just want to serve notice that, as it relates to this Senator, this Senator has no intention of supporting legislation that comes through this process again and that ultimately does not have that diversity of geography, of ethnicity, of race. It doesn't have a committee process which provides for that diversity to be represented and those points of view. I may not win, but I would like to have my point of view and those of the communities I represent have a shot. After all, that is what the American dream is all about, having a shot at it. So 5:30, no votes. This is a fantastic process, but one that I can serve notice on, I have no intention of supporting in the future. I yield the floor.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, for the Committee on Foreign Relations I report favorably the following nomination lists which were printed in the Records on the dates indicated, and ask unanimous consent, to save the expense of reprinting on the Executive Calendar that these nominations lie at the Secretary's desk for the information of Senators.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I am proud to come to the floor today to ask for unanimous consent on this bipartisan resolution expressing solidarity with the people of Cuba. This resolution passed out of the Foreign Relations Committee by a voice vote, with overwhelming bipartisan support. I want to thank the senior Senator from Florida for his partnership on this resolution, which has the support of Senators Durbin, Kaine; Senator Risch, the ranking member on the Foreign Relations Committee; as well as many others on both sides of the aisle. In passing this resolution today, the U.S. Senate can send a powerful message about the truly historic events occurring in Cuba in recent weeks. On July 11, in an unprecedented wave of demonstrations across the island, the Cuban people peacefully took to the streets and raised their voices to call for freedom and an end to tyranny. We saw the courage of the Cuban people. Images of Cubans chanting ``abajo la dictadura,'' which means ``down with the dictatorship,'' and singing ``Patria y Vida,'' or ``Fatherland and Life,'' spread around the globe. Yet the Diaz-Canel regime responded with an authoritarian crackdown and violent repression out of fear of losing its iron grip over the Cuban people. The regime cut the internet to stop the Cuban people from accessing social media--a tool they were bravely using to open the eyes of the world. Who does that? Only a country that fears its people shuts down the internet. But it was too late. The truth went viral. The regime has arrested more than 700 people, and most remain incommunicado. Dozens more are already being subjected to summary trials, without access to legal defense or even a veneer of due process. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights have all spoken out against the Cuban regime's campaign of oppression. President Biden rightfully and repeatedly denounced the regime's actions and has announced two rounds of Global Magnitsky sanctions on human rights abusers. The President has brought together allies of Cuban freedom both at home and abroad. On Friday, the President convened a meeting of Cuban-American leaders to discuss this crisis and hear our suggestions on how to best support the pro-democracy efforts underway in Cuba. Last week, Secretary of State Blinken led a coalition of 20 countries in a joint statement to express international solidarity with the Cuban people and their rights to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom to determine their own future. While important steps are being taken, more needs to be done. The Cuban people, in this unprecedented hour of uncertainty and need, cannot afford anything less than our full support. With this resolution, the Senate will add its voice to the ongoing efforts and reinforce U.S. solidarity with the Cuban people and their efforts to restore democracy and human rights in their country. It is the same resolution that is also being offered in the House of Representatives on the same bipartisan basis. Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 111, S. Res. 310; further, that the committee-reported substitute amendment to the resolution be agreed to; the resolution, as amended, be agreed to; the preamble be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. Thereupon, the Senate proceeded to consider the resolution (S. Res. 310) expressing solidarity with Cuban citizens demonstrating peacefully for fundamental freedoms, condemning the Cuban regime's acts of repression, and calling for the immediate release of arbitrarily detained Cuban citizens, which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign Relations, with an amendment to strike all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed in italic, as follows S. Res. 310 Whereas, on July 11, 2021, thousands of Cuban citizens took to the streets to peacefully protest and to call for respect for basic human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the end of the dictatorship in Cuba; Whereas the demonstrations were the largest protests witnessed on the island in 25 years, with courageous Cuban men, women, and youth taking to the streets in at least 50 different cities and towns across every province to affirm a deep aspiration for democratic change and to denounce the regime's corruption; Whereas the nationwide protests represent the full diversity of Cuban society, with demonstrators proudly proclaiming ``Patria y Vida!'' (Homeland and Life!) and calling for ``libertad'' (liberty); Whereas the demonstrations in Cuba follow months of severe shortages of food and basic medicine, frequent power outages, record high rates of transmission of COVID-19, and the Cuban regime's ineffective response, in addition to the Cuban regime's continued repression and arbitrary imprisonment of citizens, peaceful activists, and artists; Whereas, despite the authoritarian regime's blocking of internet service to prevent the spread of information about the demonstrations, Cubans witnessed examples of their compatriots demanding change in their country and courageously joined the growing protests; Whereas, despite the peaceful nature of the demonstrations, Miguel Diaz-Canel incited violence among Cubans and encouraged his supporters to attack peaceful protestors, declaring in a televised address, ``the order to fight has been given--into the streets'' and pledged his supporters' lives: ``Over our dead bodies. We are prepared to do anything''; Whereas Diaz-Canel has sought to delegitimize peaceful protesters, crudely stating they constitute a small group of ``vulgar criminals'' that are ``paid'' to be disruptive; Whereas Diaz-Canel sought to blame the endemic problems causing so much human suffering by the Cuban people on outside forces instead of on the Cuban regime's long-standing corruption, mismanagement, and theft of public resources; Whereas the Cuban regime's domestic security apparatus, including military and police, were recorded on video violently repressing peaceful Cuban citizens, including by using live ammunition and attacking journalists; Whereas numerous reports indicate deaths of and injuries to Cuban protestors at the hands of the regime's security forces, including instances of police firing live ammunition into crowds and at least one documented police beating that led to a civilian death; Whereas independent Cuban civil society groups have reported that hundreds of individuals have been arrested, detained, or are missing; Whereas defying regime repression, continued internet shutdowns, and illegal searches of the homes of activists and protestors, Cuban men, women, and youth continued to peacefully protest throughout the island on Monday, July 12, using social media to organize themselves and document acts of regime repression; Whereas international human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, have long condemned the Cuban regime for violating human rights and fundamental freedoms; and Whereas for years the Cuban regime has exported its authoritarian methods to Venezuela, sending intelligence personnel to assist Venezuelan security forces as they repressed similar peaceful protests calling for democratic change: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, [That the Senate-- [(1) expresses its strong solidarity with the people of Cuba in their desire to live in a free and democratic country with uncensored access to information, justice, and economic prosperity; [(2) condemns the violence ordered by Miguel Diaz-Canel against peaceful protesters as violations of internationally recognized human rights that does nothing to address Cuba's challenges; [(3) calls on Cuban forces-- [(A) to respect the Cuban people's exercise of freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, and other universal human rights; [(B) to refrain from restricting internet access and connectivity in the country; and [(C) to permit Cuban citizens to freely communicate on digital platforms, as is their fundamental right; [(4) calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all arbitrarily detained Cuban citizens and all Cuban political prisoners; [(5) calls on members of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, the Cuban Ministry of the Interior, and Cuba's National Revolutionary Police Force to refrain from violently repressing peaceful protesters and committing other human rights violations; and [(6) urges democratic governments and legislatures in Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean-- [(A) to pledge their support for freedom and democracy in Cuba; and [(B) to speak out against the repression of demonstrators in Cuba.] That the Senate-- (1) expresses its strong solidarity with the people of Cuba in their desire to live in a free and democratic country with uncensored access to information, justice, and economic prosperity; (2) condemns the violence ordered by Miguel Diaz-Canel against peaceful protesters as violations of internationally recognized human rights that does nothing to address Cuba's challenges; (3) calls on Cuban forces-- (A) to respect the Cuban people's exercise of freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, and other universal human rights; (B) to refrain from restricting internet access and connectivity in the country; and (C) to permit Cuban citizens to freely communicate on digital platforms, as is their fundamental right; (4) calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all arbitrarily detained Cuban citizens and all Cuban political prisoners; (5) calls on members of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, the Cuban Ministry of the Interior, and Cuba's National Revolutionary Police Force to refrain from violently repressing peaceful protesters and committing other human rights violations; (6) urges foreign governments, including authoritarian regimes, to halt the provision of technology, equipment, and other forms of assistance that are increasing the capability of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, the Cuban Ministry of the Interior, and Cuba's National Revolutionary Police Force to violently repress peaceful protestors, curtail freedom of expression through censorship of the internet, and commit other human rights abuses; and (7) urges democratic governments and legislatures in Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean-- (A) to pledge their support for freedom and democracy in Cuba; and (B) to speak out against the repression of demonstrators in Cuba.