II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 539 

To designate the area between the intersections of 16th Street, Northwest 

and Fuller Street, Northwest and 16th Street, Northwest and Euclid 

Street, Northwest in Washington, District of Columbia, as ‘‘Oswaldo 

Paya ́ Way’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 7, 2017 

Mr. CRUZ (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, and Mr. MENENDEZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To designate the area between the intersections of 16th 

Street, Northwest and Fuller Street, Northwest and 16th 

Street, Northwest and Euclid Street, Northwest in Washington, District of Columbia, as ‘‘Oswaldo Paya ́ Way’’. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds that— 

5 (1) Fidel Castro or Raul Castro has been the 

6 autocratic ruler of Cuba for 58 years; 


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•S 539 IS

1 (2) Fidel Castro and Raul Castro have relent2 lessly and consistently oppressed any efforts to bring 

3 democratic freedoms and human rights to the people 

4 of Cuba during that 58-year period; 

5 (3) Oswaldo Paya ́ was a Cuban political dis6 sident dedicated to promoting democratic freedoms 

7 and human rights in Cuba; 

8 (4) the Communist Party of Cuba has always 

9 viewed that commitment to freedom as a threat to 

10 the existence of the Communist Party of Cuba; 

11 (5) on July 22, 2012, a violent car crash, wide12 ly believed to have been carried out by the Castro re13 gime, took the lives of Oswaldo Paya ́ and Harold 

14 Cepero, another dissident; 

15 (6) the official investigation into the crash has 

16 been demonstrated to be compromised, and the Cas17 tro regime has offered no plausible evidence of the 

18 innocence of the Castro regime in the crash, leaving 

19 the circumstances of the death of Oswaldo Paya ́ un20 known; 

21 (7) opposition by Oswaldo Paya ́ to the Com22 munist Party of Cuba began at a young age, when 

23 he refused to become a member of the Young Com24 munist League as a primary school student, and 

25 continued through high school, when he publicly 


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1 criticized the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the So2 viet Union; 

3 (8) the Communist Party of Cuba responded to 

4 the opposition by Oswaldo Paya ́ to the invasion of 

5 Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union by sending 

6 Oswaldo Paya ́ to a labor camp for 3 years; 

7 (9) Oswaldo Paya ́ forewent a chance to escape 

8 Cuba in the 1980 Mariel boatlift, deciding instead to 

9 continue the fight for democracy in Cuba, saying, 

10 ‘‘This is what I am supposed to be, this is what I 

11 have to do.’’; 

12 (10) by creating the Varela Project in 1998, 

13 Oswaldo Paya ́ demonstrated his staunch commit14 ment to peacefully advocating for freedom of speech 

15 and freedom of assembly for his fellow Cubans; 

16 (11) in recognition of his determination for po17 litical reforms through peaceful protests, Oswaldo 

18 Paya ́ was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom 

19 of Thought by the European Parliament in 2002 

20 and the W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award 

21 from the National Democratic Institute for Inter22 national Affairs in 2003 and was nominated for the 

23 Nobel Peace Prize by former Czech President Va ́clav 

24 Havel in 2005; and 


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1 (12) renaming the street in front of the Em2 bassy of Cuba in the District of Columbia after 

3 Oswaldo Paya ́ serves as an expression of solidarity 

4 between the people of the United States and the peo5 ple of the Cuba, who are engaged in a long, non6 violent struggle for fundamental human rights. 

7 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF OSWALDO PAYA ́ WAY. 

8 (a) DESIGNATION OF WAY.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The area between the inter10 sections of 16th Street, Northwest and Fuller 

11 Street, Northwest and 16th Street, Northwest and 

12 Euclid Street, Northwest in Washington, District of 

13 Columbia, shall be known and designated as 

14 ‘‘Oswaldo Paya ́ Way’’. 

15 (2) REFERENCES.—Any reference in a law, 

16 map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of 

17 the United States to the area referred to in para18 graph (1) shall be deemed to be a reference to 

19 Oswaldo Paya ́ Way. 

20 (b) DESIGNATION OF ADDRESS.— 

21 (1) DESIGNATION.—The address of 2630 16th 

22 Street, Northwest, Washington, District of Colum23 bia, shall be redesignated as 2630 Oswaldo Paya ́

24 Way. 


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1 (2) REFERENCES.—Any reference in a law, 

2 map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of 

3 the United States to the address referred to in para4 graph (1) shall be deemed to be a reference to 2630 

5 Oswaldo Paya ́ Way. 

6 (c) SIGNS.—The Administrator of General Services 

7 shall construct street signs that shall— 

8 (1) contain the phrase ‘‘Oswaldo Paya ́ Way’’; 

9 (2) be similar in design to the signs used by 

10 Washington, District of Columbia, to designate the 

11 location of Metro stations; and 

12 (3) be placed on— 

13 (A) the parcel of Federal property that is 

14 closest to Oswaldo Paya ́ Way; and 

15 (B) the intersections of 16th Street, 

16 Northwest and Fuller Street, Northwest and 

17 16th Street, Northwest and Euclid Street, 

18 Northwest in Washington, District of Columbia. 

Æ 


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