I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1782 
To promote human rights in Cuba, urge the Cuban Government to meet 
certain human rights milestones, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 14, 2015 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. DIAZ- 
BALART, Mr. SIRES, Mr. CURBELO of Florida, Mr. LANCE, Mr. MAC-
ARTHUR, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, and Mr. LOBIONDO) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on For-
eign Affairs 
A BILL 
To promote human rights in Cuba, urge the Cuban Govern-
ment to meet certain human rights milestones, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Cuba Human Rights Act of 2015’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; Table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
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Sec. 3. Sense of Congress. 
Sec. 4. Statement of policy. 
Sec. 5. United States public diplomacy. 
Sec. 6. Religious freedom. 
Sec. 7. Trafficking in persons. 
Sec. 8. Support for the Cuban people. 
Sec. 9. Annual report. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) United States foreign policy towards the 
Government of Cuba is governed by a variety of 
Federal laws, including the Trading with the Enemy 
Act of 1917, the International Claims Act of 1949, 
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the Cuban As-
sets Control Regulations of 1963, the International 
Economic Powers Act of 1977, the Food Security 
Act of 1985, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the 
Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, the Cuban Liberty 
and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996, the Depart-
ment of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropria-
tions Act of 1999, and the Trade Sanctions Reform 
and Export Enhancement Act of 2000. 
(2) Since 1961, it has been the stated policy of 
the United States to institute a commercial and eco-
nomic embargo against the Government of Cuba, 
supported and buttressed by the Federal laws re-
ferred to in paragraph (1), with the Cuban Assets 
Control Regulations of 1963 being the principal 
means through which the United States enforces its 
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embargo against Cuba. These Federal laws and re-
lated regulations regulate commerce, trade, travel, 
and telecommunications with Cuba. 
(3) The Cuban regime, which is effectively syn-
onymous with the Communist Party of Cuba, forbids 
public challenge to the legitimacy of its single-party 
rule, and restricts freedom of assembly, association, 
expression, press, religion, and speech, as well as 
tightly limits access to the Internet and tele-
communications. This includes attempts to jam ac-
cess to the Internet and the signals of some foreign 
radio and television stations, including the United 
States sponsored Radio y Televisio´n Martı´. 
(4) The Government of Cuba continues to har-
bor fugitives wanted in the United States, such as 
Joanne Chesimard, who is on the top of the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation’s Most Wanted Terrorist 
List. Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur, was 
convicted of murdering New Jersey State trooper 
Werner Foerster. After escaping prison, Chesimard 
fled to Cuba, where Fidel Castro granted her polit-
ical asylum. This deplorable failure to extradite has 
caused ongoing suffering and stress to Mr. 
Foerster’s surviving family and friends. 
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(5) The Government of Cuba continues to de-
tain, imprison, place under house arrest, convict, or 
otherwise restrict its citizens for peacefully express-
ing any dissenting political views, deny workers the 
right of free association and the related right to or-
ganize and collectively bargain outside the state mo-
nopoly on power, and limit freedom of religion, re-
strict the operations of independent religious organi-
zations, and persecute believers whose religious ac-
tivities or views the Government of Cuba regards as 
a potential threat to its monopoly on power. 
(6) The Government of Cuba, through its Office 
of Religious Affairs of the Central Committee of the 
Communist Party of Cuba and the Ministry of Jus-
tice, controls all religious activity on the island and 
often represses religious freedom, including the har-
assment, beating, detainment, and jailing of individ-
uals involved in religious activities, typically on a 
weekly basis. The Government of Cuba also unjustly 
uses treason laws to repress religious freedom by ac-
cusing religious peoples of being ‘‘counter-revolution-
aries’’ and then illegally harassing, beating, detain-
ing, and jailing them. 
(7) Individuals arrested by the Government of 
Cuba because of their political or religious affili-
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ations and activities are not accorded due legal proc-
ess as they lack full access to lawyers of their choice, 
may experience closed trials, have often been de-
tained for years without trial, and have been sub-
jected to the use of torture to admit to crimes that 
they did not commit or to falsely denounce others. 
(8) Cuba continues to be a destination country 
for the commercial sexual exploitation of women and 
young girls in the form of sex tourism, as well as a 
source country for the forced labor of individuals 
who subsequently face conditions of debt bondage or 
forced labor. 
(9) The United Nations Commission on Human 
Rights and several Latin American countries have 
passed resolutions condemning the human rights 
abuses of the Government of Cuba. 
(10) In anticipation of the Summit of the 
Americas in Panama, on April 8, 2015, persons af-
filiated with the Castro regime attacked Cuban pro- 
democracy activists Jorge Luis Garcia Perez 
‘‘Antunez’’, Yris Perez Aguilera, Juan Carlos 
Gonza´lez Leyva, Leticia Ramos Herrerı´a, and 
Rolando Rodrı´guez Lobaina and United States citi-
zens Orlando Gutierrez, Silvia Iriondo, and Gus 
Monge during a peaceful gathering. 
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(11) According to media reports, Colonel Alexis 
Frutos Weeden, who is the head of Cuban intel-
ligence in Venezuela, was identified as one of the as-
sailants in Panama who attacked the Cuban pro-de-
mocracy activists and United States citizens. 
(12) Despite the continued presence of these 
aggravating circumstances, President Obama re-
cently announced his intention to comprehensively 
modify and normalize relations between the United 
State and Cuba, all without the advice and consent 
of Congress or with any attempt to amend or modify 
the myriad of Federal laws and regulations that gov-
ern the United States-Cuba relationship or the re-
lated embargo. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that the United States- 
Cuba relationship should not be changed, nor should any 
Federal law or regulation be amended, until the Govern-
ment of Cuba ceases violating the human rights of the 
people of Cuba. 
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It should be the policy of the United States to— 
(1) continue to vigorously oppose and denounce 
the human rights violations of the Government of 
Cuba; 
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(2) maintain the status quo of Federal law with 
respect to the Government of Cuba, including sanc-
tions and embargo, on the Government of Cuba so 
long as it continues to violate the human rights of 
the people of Cuba, and to deny the Government of 
Cuba any embassy or consulates in the United 
States due to security concerns stemming from past 
illicit espionage activities; 
(3) seek the cooperation of other democratic 
countries in this policy; 
(4) make clear to other countries that, in deter-
mining its relations with them, the United States 
will take into account their willingness to cooperate 
in such a policy; and 
(5) not amend the Federal laws and regulations 
referred to in section 2(1) and not reduce the sanc-
tions against the Government of Cuba until the Gov-
ernment of Cuba ceases violating and, in fact, pro-
tects, the human rights of the people of Cuba, in-
cluding— 
(A) releasing all political and religious 
prisoners; 
(B) respecting the right to freedom of reli-
gion, including the right to participate in reli-
gious activities and institutions without inter-
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ference, harassment, or involvement of the Gov-
ernment of Cuba for all of Cuba’s religious 
communities; 
(C) returning estates and properties con-
fiscated from churches and religious commu-
nities; 
(D) respecting the right to freedom of as-
sembly, association, expression, press, and 
speech, including releasing all independent jour-
nalists, bloggers, and democracy and labor ac-
tivists; 
(E) repealing or revising laws that crim-
inalize peaceful dissent, independent media, 
unsanctioned religious activity, and nonviolent 
demonstrations and rallies, in accordance with 
international standards and treaties to which 
Cuba is a party; 
(F) allowing Cuban nationals free and 
open access to United States refugee programs; 
(G) respecting the human rights of mem-
bers of all racial and ethnic minorities, includ-
ing Afro-Cubans, who face discrimination; 
(H) taking all appropriate steps to end any 
complicity of officials of the Government of 
Cuba or companies wholly or partly owned or 
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controlled by the Government of Cuba in 
human rights violations, including severe forms 
of trafficking in persons, and vigorously inves-
tigating, prosecuting, convicting, and sentencing 
such officials and the complicit individuals in 
such companies for such conduct; 
(I) satisfying, to the satisfaction of the in-
dividual claims holders, all claims outstanding 
under the International Claims Act of 1949 and 
the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity 
Act of 1996, which now total roughly $7 billion; 
(J) returning all fugitives from justice con-
victed in the United States of crimes, including 
Joanne Chesimard, Guillermo Morales, Victor 
Manuel Gerena, and Charles Hill; and 
(K) ceasing the sponsorship of terrorist or-
ganizations abroad or otherwise giving support 
and refuge to such terrorist organizations, in-
cluding the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias 
(FARC) of Colombia, the Basque separatist 
group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), and the 
Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacio´n Nacional 
(FALN) of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 
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SEC. 5. UNITED STATES PUBLIC DIPLOMACY. 
(a) RADIO Y TELEVISIO´N MARTI´ TRANSMISSIONS TO 
CUBA.—It is the sense of Congress that the United States 
should take all necessary measures to overcome the jam-
ming of all radio and television signals of the Radio y 
Televisio´n Martı´ by the Government of Cuba and that the 
Broadcasting Board of Governors should not cut staffing, 
funding, or broadcast hours for Radio y Televisio´n Martı´. 
(b) UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL.— 
It is the sense of Congress that if the conditions described 
in section 4 are not met, the United States Permanent 
Representative to the United Nations should strongly op-
pose, and encourage other Member States of the United 
Nations to strongly oppose, Cuba’s continued membership 
on the United Nations Human Rights Council which acts 
as an affront to the legitimacy of such Council. 
SEC. 6. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. 
It is the sense of Congress that if the conditions de-
scribed in subparagraph (B) of section 4(5) are not met, 
Cuba should be designated as a country of particular con-
cern for religious freedom pursuant to subsection (b) of 
section 402 of the International Religious Freedom Act 
of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442). 
SEC. 7. TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS. 
It is the sense of Congress that the annual report 
to Congress required under paragraph (1) of section 
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110(b) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 
(22 U.S.C. 7101(b); Public Law 106–386) should include 
an in-depth analysis of the facilitation of or involvement 
in severe forms of human trafficking by any type of official 
of the Government of Cuba or of companies wholly or par-
tially owned by the Government of Cuba, including wheth-
er such officials or companies were involved in providing 
minors for commercial sex in the tourism industry. 
SEC. 8. SUPPORT FOR THE CUBAN PEOPLE. 
Nothing in this Act may be construed as— 
(1) prohibiting the donation of food to non-
governmental organizations or individuals in Cuba; 
(2) restricting the export of medicine or medical 
supplies, instruments, or equipment to Cuba as spec-
ified in the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 or any 
other applicable Federal law; 
(3) abrogating any requirement that the exports 
described in paragraph (2) be verified in conformity 
with the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 or any other 
applicable federal law; or 
(4) prohibiting or restricting any other form of 
assistance specified in the Cuban Democracy Act of 
1992, including telecommunications, mail, and sup-
port for democracy. 
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SEC. 9. ANNUAL REPORT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, 
the Secretary of State shall submit to Congress a report 
on the following: 
(1) Whether the conditions described in sub-
paragraphs (A) through (K) of section 4(5) have 
been met, as applicable. 
(2) Efforts by the United States to promote ac-
cess by the Cuban people to Radio y Televisio´n 
Martı´ transmissions. 
(3) Lists of persons believed to be imprisoned, 
detained, or placed under house arrest, tortured, or 
otherwise persecuted by the Government of Cuba 
due to their pursuit of internationally recognized 
human rights. In compiling such lists, the Secretary 
shall exercise appropriate discretion, including con-
cerns regarding the safety and security of, and ben-
efit to, the persons who may be included on such 
lists and their families, but if such persons are not 
identified by name then they shall disclosed in cam-
era to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
House of Representatives or the Committee on For-
eign Relations of the Senate if requested. In addi-
tion, the Secretary shall include a list of such per-
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sons and their families who may qualify for protec-
tions under United States refugee programs. 
(4) A description of the development of the rule 
of law in Cuba, including information on the fol-
lowing: 
(A) Progress toward the development of in-
stitutions of democratic governance. 
(B) Processes by which statutes, regula-
tions, rules, and other legal acts of the Govern-
ment of Cuba are developed and become bind-
ing within Cuba. 
(C) The extent to which statutes, regula-
tions, rules, administrative and judicial deci-
sions, and other legal acts of the Government of 
Cuba are published and are made accessible to 
the public. 
(D) The extent to which administrative 
and judicial decisions are supported by state-
ments of reasons that are based upon written 
statutes, regulations, rules, and other legal acts 
of the Government of Cuba. 
(E) The extent to which individuals are 
treated equally under the laws of Cuba without 
regard to citizenship, race, religion, political 
opinion, or current or former associations. 
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