IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 971 

Commemorating the 35th anniversary of broadcasting to Cuba. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 15, 2020 

Mr. DIAZ-BALART submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the 35th anniversary of broadcasting to 

Cuba. 

Whereas the Radio Broadcasting to Cuba Act passed by a 

wide margin in the House of Representatives on September 29, 1983, and passed with strong voice vote support in the Senate on September 12, 1983; 

Whereas upon signing the Radio Broadcasting to Cuba Act 

into law on October 4, 1983, President Ronald Reagan 

said that the law ‘‘responds to an important foreign policy initiative of my administration: to break Fidel Castro’s monopoly on news and information within Cuba’’ 

and further explained that the purpose of providing impartial news to the Cuban people was so that they ‘‘will 

be in a better position to make Cuba’s leaders accountable for their conduct in foreign policy, economic management, and human rights’’; 


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•HRES 971 IH 

Whereas radio service into Cuba was named ‘‘Radio Marti’’ 

after renowned 19th century Cuban patriot Jose Marti; 

Whereas, on May 20, 1985, the 83rd anniversary of Cuba’s 

Independence Day, Radio Marti began its first broadcast 

into Cuba; 

Whereas, in 1990, the Congress passed and President George 

H.W. Bush signed into law a bill expanding broadcasting 

to include television through the Television Broadcasting 

to Cuba Act, and ‘‘Television Marti’’ broadcasting began 

later that year; 

Whereas President William Jefferson Clinton signed into law 

the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996, which required the relocation of the 

Office of Cuba Broadcasting from Washington, DC, to 

south Florida; 

Whereas the Office of Cuba Broadcasting was relocated to 

Miami, Florida, in 1998, ahead of schedule and under 

budget; 

Whereas United States broadcasts to Cuba were initiated to 

pierce the Castro regime’s information blockade to provide timely and reliable information to the Cuban people; 

Whereas the Office of Cuba Broadcasting oversees Radio and 

Television Martı ́; 

Whereas Radio and TV Martı ́ are a multimedia hub of news, 

information, and analysis that provide the people of Cuba 

with interactive programs 7 days a week through satellite 

television and shortwave and AM radio, as well as 

through flash drives, emails, DVDs, and SMS text; 

Whereas Radio and TV Martı ́ aim to inform and engage the 

people of Cuba by providing credible news and information that encourages freedom and democracy; 


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•HRES 971 IH 

Whereas the Office of Cuba Broadcasting uses shortwave, 

medium wave, direct-to-home satellite, satellite radio, 

internet, social media, flash drives, and DVDs to help 

reach audiences in Cuba; 

Whereas the Office of Cuba Broadcasting provides a critical 

service by connecting Cubans across provinces, and linking Cuban pro-democracy activists with an expanding 

worldwide network of activists engaged in their own 

struggles for freedom and human rights in their respective countries; 

Whereas Karen Caballero of Radio and TV Martı ́ received 

the David Burke Award in 2012 for her inspired coverage of the ‘‘Lights of Liberty Flotilla’’, a small group 

of boats with a mission to sail across the Florida Strait 

to bring attention to the solidarity between Cuban exiles 

and those on the island, and to the human rights abuses 

perpetrated by the regime in Cuba; 

Whereas, in 2017, Television Martı ́’s ‘‘Alas de Libertad’’ 

(Wings of Freedom), which documented activities of the 

Brigade 2506 Air Force division during the 1961 Bay of 

Pigs invasion, received the Suncoast Regional Emmy 

Award from the National Academy of Television Arts & 

Sciences; 

Whereas, on July 14, 2011, independent journalist and 

former political prisoner Jose Daniel Ferrer said, ‘‘the 

particular stories, the news selected for A Fondo [a joint 

Voice of America and Radio Marti program], is what 

gives the show its quality, very professional. I listened to 

the show in prison on a daily basis.’’; 

Whereas, on May 30, 2013, Berta Soler, leader of the prodemocracy group the Ladies in White, stated while visVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR971.IH HR971

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iting the Office of Cuba Broadcasting while appearing on 

the ‘‘Con Voz Propia’’ (‘‘In Their Own Voice’’) program, 

‘‘I feel like I am home. I wake up [in Cuba] with this 

show every morning, and I can’t believe I am here!’’; and 

Whereas, on August 13, 2013, Afro-Cuban activist and 

former political prisoner Jorge Luis Garcı ́a-Pe ́rez stated, 

‘‘In the 17 years that I spent behind bars, Radio Martı ́

was, at times, my ‘everything’. It was my lifeline.’’: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes the vital role that broadcasting 

3 to Cuba serves in providing uncensored, outside in4 formation to the Cuban people over the past 35 

5 years; 

6 (2) honors the journalists, programming edi7 tors, technical support, and many other employees at 

8 Radio and TV Martı ́, administered through the Of9 fice of Cuba Broadcasting, for their steadfast com10 mitment, hard work, and dedication to informing the 

11 Cuban people; 

12 (3) remembers the deep and lasting contribu13 tions that broadcasting to Cuba has provided to the 

14 Cuban people in bolstering Cuba’s pro-democracy 

15 movement; and 

16 (4) celebrates the United States policy of pro17 moting democracy and providing outside information 


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1 to some of the most of the repressed parts of the 

2 world. 

Æ 


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