I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6867 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2022 

Mr. DIAZ-BALART (for himself, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. 

SIRES, Mr. GIMENEZ, and Mrs. MURPHY of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

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) the dictatorship imposed by Fidel Castro in 

6 Cuba in 1959 started 61 years of an ongoing dicta7 torship, systemic human rights abuses, and a lack of 


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1 basic freedom of press, religion, assembly, and asso2 ciation that continue to this day under Communist 

3 rule; 

4 (2) Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as was a Cuban pro5 democracy activist dedicated to promoting demo6 cratic freedoms and human rights in Cuba; 

7 (3) the Communist Party of Cuba has always 

8 viewed that commitment to democracy and freedom 

9 as a threat to the existence of the Communist Party 

10 of Cuba; 

11 (4) 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 prodemocracy activist; 

15 (5) the regime in Cuba has offered no plausible 

16 evidence of the innocence of the Castro regime in the 

17 crash, leaving the circumstances of the death of 

18 Oswaldo Paya ́ suspicious; 

19 (6) opposition by Oswaldo Paya ́ to the Com20 munist Party of Cuba began at a young age, when 

21 he refused to become a member of the Young Com22 munist League as a primary school student, and 

23 continued through high school, when he publicly 

24 criticized the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the So25 viet Union; 


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1 (7) the Communist Party of Cuba responded to 

2 the opposition by Oswaldo Paya ́ to the invasion of 

3 Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union by sending 

4 Oswaldo Paya ́ to a labor camp for 3 years; 

5 (8) Oswaldo Paya ́ forewent a chance to escape 

6 Cuba in the 1980 Mariel boatlift, deciding instead to 

7 continue the fight for democracy in Cuba, saying, 

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

9 have to do.’’; 

10 (9) Oswaldo Paya ́ repeatedly demonstrated his 

11 staunch commitment to peacefully advocating for 

12 freedom of speech, religious liberty, and freedom of 

13 assembly for his fellow Cubans; 

14 (10) in recognition of his determination for po15 litical reforms through peaceful protests, Oswaldo 

16 Paya ́ was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom 

17 of Thought by the European Parliament in 2002 

18 and the W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award 

19 from the National Democratic Institute for Inter20 national Affairs in 2003 and was nominated for the 

21 Nobel Peace Prize by former Czech President Va ́clav 

22 Havel in 2005; 

23 (11) on April 11, 2018, the Senate unanimously 

24 passed S. Res. 224, recognizing the sixth anniver25 sary of the death of Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as, comVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Mar 04, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6867.IH H6867

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1 memorating his legacy and commitment to demo2 cratic values and principles, and calling for an im3 partial, third-party investigation into the cir4 cumstances surrounding his death; and 

5 (12) renaming the street in front of the Em6 bassy of Cuba in the District of Columbia after 

7 Oswaldo Paya ́ serves as an expression of solidarity 

8 between the people of the United States and the peo9 ple of Cuba, who are engaged in a long, nonviolent 

10 struggle for fundamental human rights. 

11 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF OSWALDO PAYA ́ WAY. 

12 (a) DESIGNATION OF WAY.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The area between the inter14 sections of 16th Street, Northwest and Fuller 

15 Street, Northwest and 16th Street, Northwest and 

16 Euclid Street, Northwest in Washington, District of 

17 Columbia, shall be known and designated as 

18 ‘‘Oswaldo Paya ́ Way’’. 

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

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

21 the United States to the area referred to in para22 graph (1) shall be deemed to be a reference to 

23 Oswaldo Paya ́ Way. 

24 (b) DESIGNATION OF ADDRESS.— 


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

2 Street, Northwest, Washington, District of Colum3 bia, shall be redesignated as 2630 Oswaldo Paya ́

4 Way. 

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

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

7 the United States to the address referred to in para8 graph (1) shall be deemed to be a reference to 2630 

9 Oswaldo Paya ́ Way. 

10 (c) SIGNS.—The District of Columbia shall construct 

11 2 street signs that shall— 

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

13 (2) be placed immediately above existing signs 

14 at the intersections of 16th Street, Northwest and 

15 Fuller Street, Northwest and 16th Street, Northwest 

16 and Euclid Street, Northwest in Washington, Dis17 trict of Columbia; and 

18 (3) be similar in design to the signs used by the 

19 District of Columbia to designate the location of 

20 Metro stations. 

Æ 


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