HM 1253

1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the United States Government, urging the
3	United States Government to encourage the government of
4	Cuba to hold free and fair elections.
5
6	WHEREAS, the 11 million people living in Cuba are not
7	allowed the opportunity to live as free people and prosper from
8	their industry, but have been denied the most fundamental
9	freedoms and rights that a democracy provides, and
10	WHEREAS, the government of Cuba, which administered a
11	flourishing economy and was a thriving democracy that held free
12	and fair elections, was replaced by a regime that held instead
13	to the failed promises of communism many years after the demise
14	of the former Soviet Union and its subsidies, and
15	WHEREAS, for nearly fifty years the Cuban people have
16	experienced economic and political poverty and are now among the
17	poorest nations in the western hemisphere, and
18	WHEREAS, a communist reign of nearly fifty years is far too
19	long for any people to be suppressed and denied the privileges
20	for which they once fought, the privileges upon which democratic
21	institutions are built, including the right of citizens to vote,
22	to dissent, and to change their government, and
23	WHEREAS, the people of Florida, cognizant of the recent
24	resignation of Fidel Castro as President of the State Council of
25	Cuba and the appointment of Raul Castro as his successor, are
26	optimistic that these circumstances provide a unique opportunity
27	to institute meaningful change for the Cuban people and
28	encourage a peaceful transition and return to democracy that is
29	measured by the restoration of civil liberties, especially the
30	right to vote in free and fair elections, NOW, THEREFORE,
31
32	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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34	That the United States Government is encouraged to use
35	every political and monetary incentive and every lawful means of
36	persuasion granted to it by the American people to urge the
37	government of Cuba to hold free and fair elections and thereby
38	allow the citizens of Cuba to participate in the democratic
39	process that has been denied them during the rule of Fidel
40	Castro.
41	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be
42	presented to the President of the United States, to the
43	President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
44	United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
45	the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.