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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 323 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 323

  Commemorating the 62d anniversary of the Bay of Pigs operation and 
  remembering the members of Brigada de Asalto 2506 (Assault Brigade 
                                 2506).

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 25, 2023

 Mr. Diaz-Balart (for himself, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Malliotakis, 
    Mr. Mooney, Mr. Gimenez, Ms. Salazar, and Mrs. Gonzalez-Colon) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                           on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
  Commemorating the 62d anniversary of the Bay of Pigs operation and 
  remembering the members of Brigada de Asalto 2506 (Assault Brigade 
                                 2506).

Whereas April 17, 2023, marks the 62d anniversary of the first day of the Bay of 
        Pigs operation, an event held dear in the hearts of many who long for 
        the return of freedom, democracy, and justice to Cuba;
Whereas the Communist dictatorship in Cuba that resulted from the January 1, 
        1959, revolution in Cuba has systematically denied the Cuban people 
        their most basic human rights and fundamental freedoms;
Whereas, from 1959 until his death in 2016, dictator Fidel Castro, who promised 
        to implement a revolution against tyranny, systematically violated the 
        human rights of the Cuban people, curtailed freedom of the press, 
        arbitrarily imprisoned and killed an untold number of members of the 
        political opposition in Cuba, and confiscated the properties of citizens 
        of Cuba and the United States;
Whereas, 64 years after Castro took control of Cuba by force, the people of Cuba 
        today continue to be denied their ability to vote in free, fair, 
        multiparty elections with independent and opposition candidates;
Whereas the Castro dictatorship has supported terrorism by providing safe haven 
        and logistics to terrorist groups and fugitives throughout the world, 
        and is listed as a state sponsor of terrorism by the Department of 
        State;
Whereas Cuba's dictatorship has actively fostered and supported antidemocratic 
        parties and actors throughout the Western Hemisphere, including the 
        regimes of Nicaragua and Venezuela;
Whereas the men and women participating in the Bay of Pigs operation assumed the 
        title of Brigada de Asalto 2506 (Assault Brigade 2506), which was named 
        after the serial number (2506) of Carlos Rodriguez Santana, a founding 
        member of the brigade who died during training exercises in September 
        1960;
Whereas Assault Brigade 2506 consisted of individuals, primarily Cuban exiles in 
        the United States, from diverse backgrounds, including doctors, nurses, 
        engineers, architects, priests, cooks, musicians, actors, business 
        owners, barbers, bankers, construction workers, office clerks, students, 
        pilots, and many other individuals representing different sectors in 
        Cuba;
Whereas, on April 17, 1961, approximately 1,400 individuals selflessly 
        volunteered to free the Cuban people from tyranny;
Whereas, in the ensuing days, and in the course of a battle against the Cuban 
        military, which was superior in manpower and firepower, more than 100 
        men lost their lives;
Whereas the events of April 17 through April 20, 1961, ended with the capture 
        and imprisonment of 1,204 members or more than 75 percent of Assault 
        Brigade 2506;
Whereas a large number of the 1,204 captured members of Assault Brigade 2506 
        were imprisoned in deplorable conditions for close to 18 months, 
        subjected to harsh and inhumane treatment, and later sentenced without 
        due process to 30 years of imprisonment;
Whereas, in September 1961, the Cuban regime executed 5 members of Assault 
        Brigade 2506 who had been captured during the operation;
Whereas 67 members of Assault Brigade 2506 died in combat, including 4 American 
        pilots and 10 Cuban pilots and navigators, 10 members died while trying 
        to flee Cuba on a fishing boat that drifted in the Gulf of Mexico for 
        almost 15 days, 10 members died while being transported to prison by 
        their Cuban captors inside a sealed truck with limited oxygen, 9 members 
        were executed by firing squads, and 3 members died while in prison due 
        to lack of medical attention;
Whereas 1 of the most heinous acts relating to the operation was ordered by then 
        Captain Osmany Cienfuegos, who forced nearly 100 male prisoners into a 
        closed trailer in which they were transported for 8 hours with limited 
        oxygen;
Whereas the Cuban regime is a party to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, which 
        require the humane treatment of prisoners of war;
Whereas, in March 1962, as the trial of the captured fighters approached, the 
        President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 
        appealed to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, asking that the provisions of 
        Article 3 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of 
        Prisoners of War, done at Geneva August 12, 1949, be fully applied, and 
        for permission to visit the prisoners, but all the requests went 
        unanswered;
Whereas the 1,113 members of Assault Brigade 2506 who finally returned to the 
        United States after the operation have made significant and valuable 
        contributions to the United States, while never forgetting their beloved 
        homeland;
Whereas, on December 29, 1962, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was presented 
        with the banner of Assault Brigade 2506 that had reached the shores of 
        Cuba during the operation, and the President pledged, ``I can assure you 
        that this flag will be returned to this brigade in a free Havana.'';
Whereas, on April 24, 1986, a joint resolution (Public Law 99-279; 100 Stat. 
        398) was approved ``Commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 
        Bay of Pigs invasion to liberate Cuba from Communist tyranny.'';
Whereas Cuba's authoritarian regime continues to arbitrarily detain thousands of 
        critics, activists, and opponents; and
Whereas the Cuban people continue to struggle and demand respect for democratic 
        values, civil liberties, freedom, and justice: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) remembers all the veterans of Brigada de Asalto 2506 
        (Assault Brigade 2506), both living and deceased;
            (2) honors the courageous brigade veterans who fought for 
        freedom, including those who suffered torture, or perished in 
        the struggle for a democratic Cuba;
            (3) calls on the Government of the United States to 
        continue to support policies that promote the respect for 
        democratic principles, civil liberties, freedom, and justice in 
        Cuba, in a manner consistent with the aspirations of the Cuban 
        people;
            (4) recognizes that individual members of Assault Brigade 
        2506 later joined the United States Armed Forces and fought in 
        the Vietnam war;
            (5) calls for the international community to support and 
        express solidarity with the Cuban people in their demands for 
        freedom against the Communist regime; and
            (6) recognizes that many veterans of the Bay of Pigs 
        operation settled across the United States to become productive 
        members of the society of the United States, including public 
        officials and industry leaders.
                                 <all>
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