Florida Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R) has reintroduced the FORCE Act. The legislation is an effort to keep the Cuban Communist Regime on the State Sponsor of Terror List.
According to a press release from Rep. Salazar's office, the legislation “stops President Biden from normalizing relations with Cuba unless freedom and democracy are restored on the island.”
For the regime to be removed from the list, it would have to comply with specific demands. The regime must “release all political prisoners and allow for investigations of Cuban prisons by appropriate international human rights organizations,” “transition away from the Castro regime to a system that guarantees the rights of the Cuban people to express themselves freely,” and “commit to holding free and fair elections.”
In a statement, Rep. Salazar commented on the need for the Cuban regime to stay on the list, saying that “the totalitarian communist regime in Cuba is an ever-present national security threat to the United States.”
“Aside from stealing the hopes and dreams of three generations of Cubans, the Castro regime continues to subsidize and provide financial and military support to bad actors across Latin America,” add Salazar.
Rep. Salazar's measure is cosponsored by Representatives Mario Díaz-Balart (FL-25), Carlos Giménez (FL-26), Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11), Alex Mooney (WV-02), Stephanie Bice (OK-05), Neal Dunn (FL-02), Kat Cammack (FL-03), Michael Waltz (FL-06), Michael McCaul (TX-10), Ken Buck (CO-04), Burgess Owens (UT-04), Darrell Issa (CA-48), Mark Rutherford (FL-05), Steve Womack (AR-03), and Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico Jenniffer González-Colón.
Rep. Diaz-Balart further expressed that the regime should be on the “list until it stops spreading its malevolence throughout our hemisphere, returns U.S. fugitives, and ends its brutal repression of the Cuban people.” Moreover, Rep. Gimenez commented on the legislation, urging President Biden to "keep the Castro regime on the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism for harboring fugitives of the American justice system and for unlawfully sentencing thousands of political prisoners in kangaroo courts in the aftermath of the July 11th, 2021 Movement.”
“For 64 years, the murderous Castro regime has employed the use of terrorism to oppress the people of Cuba and intimidate its Latin-American neighbors across our Hemisphere. As the only Cuban-born Member of the 118th Congress, I’m proud to reintroduce the FORCE Act with Congresswoman Salazar to hold the Castro dictatorship accountable for its countless acts of terror.” said Rep. Rep. Giménez. “The Biden Administration must keep the Castro regime on the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism for harboring fugitives of the American justice system and for unlawfully sentencing thousands of political prisoners in kangaroo courts in the aftermath of the July 11th, 2021 Movement.”
