IV 
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. 
GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N) 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 sys-
tematically 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 
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•HRES 323 IH 
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 prop-
erties 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 abil-
ity to vote in free, fair, multiparty elections with inde-
pendent 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 sup-
ported 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, pri-
marily Cuban exiles in the United States, from diverse 
backgrounds, including doctors, nurses, engineers, archi-
tects, priests, cooks, musicians, actors, business owners, 
barbers, bankers, construction workers, office clerks, stu-
dents, pilots, and many other individuals representing 
different sectors in Cuba; 
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•HRES 323 IH 
Whereas, on April 17, 1961, approximately 1,400 individuals 
selflessly volunteered to free the Cuban people from tyr-
anny; 
Whereas, in the ensuing days, and in the course of a battle 
against the Cuban military, which was superior in man-
power 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 mem-
bers 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 con-
ditions for close to 18 months, subjected to harsh and in-
humane treatment, and later sentenced without due proc-
ess to 30 years of imprisonment; 
Whereas, in September 1961, the Cuban regime executed 5 
members of Assault Brigade 2506 who had been cap-
tured during the operation; 
Whereas 67 members of Assault Brigade 2506 died in com-
bat, 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 al-
most 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 oxy-
gen; 
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•HRES 323 IH 
Whereas the Cuban regime is a party to the Geneva Conven-
tions 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 fi-
nally returned to the United States after the operation 
have made significant and valuable contributions to the 
United States, while never forgetting their beloved home-
land; 
Whereas, on December 29, 1962, President John Fitzgerald 
Kennedy was presented with the banner of Assault Bri-
gade 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 
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•HRES 323 IH 
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 As-
sault 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 peo-
ple in their demands for freedom against the Com-
munist 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 
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•HRES 323 IH 
United States, including public officials and industry 
leaders. 
Æ 
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