McConnell: The People of Cuba Deserve Our Strong Support
'My hometown of Louisville is actually home to one of the largest Cuban American populations in any American city outside Florida. In recent days, this vibrant community has rallied by the hundreds in support of the Cuban protestors. As one of these fellow Kentuckians of mine put it, quote, ‘The only voice they have is us.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Cuba:
“Throughout my career, I’ve been proud to amplify the voices of freedom fighters around the world: Brave men and women working to secure the blessings of liberty that we enjoy here in America. And I’ve repeatedly shone a floodlight on the oppressive regimes that stand in their way.
“I’ve championed the pro-democracy movement in Burma. The brave advocates for freedom in Hong Kong.
“Right now, the loudest cries for liberty are coming from close to home. After enduring 60-plus years of socialist tyranny just 90 miles from American soil, the people of Cuba are telling the world they’ve had enough.
“They’ve had enough of a regime that has stolen their dreams for decades. They’ve had enough of its stranglehold on information and prosperity. They’ve had enough of its intimidation and repression.
“The past week’s demonstrations in the streets of Havana should represent a major turning point in the Cuban people’s movement toward liberation.
“The regime’s failed communist ideology has saddled generations of Cubans with a backward economy, inadequate services, and no means of justice or dissent.
“Now, some naïve Americans on the left seem intent on once again running interference for the Cuban regime.
“They still buy the propaganda that Cuba is a socialist paradise, with a model health care and education system that we should emulate.
“But the Cuban people see a different reality: an open-air prison that communism has run into the ground.
“Since the 1950s, the blight of Castro rule has driven many Cubans to flee to the United States.
“Generations of immigrants and their descendants have lived out, and are living out, American dreams of prosperity, achievement, and service. We’re blessed to call them fellow Americans.
“As Senator Rubio put it so well this week, quote, ‘the only country on this planet where Cubans are not successful is Cuba.’
“My hometown of Louisville is actually home to one of the largest Cuban American populations in any American city outside Florida.
“In recent days, this vibrant community has rallied by the hundreds in support of the Cuban protestors. As one of these fellow Kentuckians of mine put it, quote, ‘The only voice they have is us.’
“The brave men and women who have taken to the streets in Cuba are demanding freedoms they’ve been denied all their lives.
“They deserve our strong support.
“I’m proud to be cosponsoring a new resolution with Senator Rubio and several other colleagues to communicate precisely that.”
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