McCarthy Presses Biden To Meet With Congressional Leaders Over Crisis In Cuba: ‘Now Is The Time To Act’

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy sent a letter to the White House on Monday urging Democrat President Joe Biden to meet with congressional leaders as soon as possible to come up with a solution for the ongoing crisis in Cuba, warning that “a failure to lead” by the administration could squander a chance to end the Communist dictatorship in Cuba.

The letter from McCarthy comes after he announced last week that he had created the Leader’s Advisory Team on Cuba to “identify policies that will support the protestors and hold the Communist regime accountable for its human rights abuses.”

The letter states:

On this day in 1953, Fidel Castro began his violent, communist revolution in Cuba. After roughly six years, Castro seized control of the Cuban government, installing himself as dictator and ruling the Cuban people with an iron fist. Communism has contributed to the deaths of hundreds of millions of people across the globe over the past century, including in Cuba. The Castro regime spent the past sixty-eight years brutalizing the Cuban people, committing heinous acts of torture and repression, suppressing the Cuban people’s freedoms of speech, assembly, and religion, and becoming a bastion of totalitarianism, all a mere 90 miles off the coast of the United States.

After years of torment, arbitrary imprisonments, brutality, corruption, and human rights abuses, the Cuban people have taken to the streets in protest. On July 11, 2021, the largest protests in years broke out in the towns and cities of Cuba. Sadly, but unsurprisingly, the communist regime decided to block access to the Internet, brutally suppress the protests by attacking and jailing protestors, and refuse to acknowledge the Cuban people’s desires for a better life and freedom. However, the Cuban people and their allies in Congress refuse to be deterred.

This is a moment when the United States can change the course of human history for the better. The United States is a bastion of freedom and democracy; a beacon across the globe for those seeking to cast off the shackles of communist oppression. We must support our Cuban brothers and sisters as they seek to take control of their future and liberate themselves from the communist malignancy. President Ronald Reagan once said, “The West will not contain communism, it will transcend communism.” The time of that transcendence in Cuba is upon us, and we must act. However, we are concerned that this pivotal moment is being squandered by indecision, bureaucracy, and a failure to lead.

Therefore, we request a meeting with you as soon as possible to discuss how Congress and your Administration can work together to bring an end to the oppressive communist regime in Havana and liberate the Cuban people. Now is the time to act.

The individuals selected to serve on the Leader’s Advisory Team on Cuba include Senator Marco Rubio (FL), Senator Rick Scott (FL), House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Ranking Member Devin Nunes (CA-22), House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Mike McCaul (TX-10), House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Cathy Rodgers (WA-05), House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Kay Granger (TX-12), Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25), Rep. Carlos Gimenez (FL-26), Rep. Maria Salazar (FL-27), Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11), Rep. Alex Mooney (WV-02), Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (OH-16), Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon (PR-AL), Rep. Mark Green (TN-07), Rep. Hal Rogers (KY-05), Rep. Ken Calvert (CA-42), Rep. Victoria Spartz (IN-05), and Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04).

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