119-hr4558

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4558 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 4558

 To designate the area between the intersections of 16th Street 
 Northwest and Fuller Street Northwest and 16th Street Northwest and 
 Euclid Street Northwest in Washington, District of Columbia, as 
 ``Oswaldo Paya Way''.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 July 21, 2025

 Mr. Diaz-Balart (for himself, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Salazar, Ms. 
 Wilson of Florida, Mr. Gimenez, Mr. Soto, and Ms. Malliotakis) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To designate the area between the intersections of 16th Street 
 Northwest and Fuller Street Northwest and 16th Street Northwest and 
 Euclid Street Northwest in Washington, District of Columbia, as 
 ``Oswaldo Paya Way''.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds that--

    (1) the revolution led by Fidel Castro in Cuba in 1959 
 started over 6 decades of an ongoing dictatorship, systemic 
 human rights abuses, and a lack of basic freedom of press, 
 religion, assembly, and association that continue to this day 
 under the Communist rule of Raul Castro and his successor, 
 Miguel Diaz-Canel;

    (2) Oswaldo Paya Sardinas was a Cuban political dissident 
 and activist dedicated to promoting democratic freedoms and 
 human rights in Cuba;

    (3) the Communist Party of Cuba has always viewed 
 individuals with a commitment to democracy and freedom as a 
 threat to the existence of the Communist Party of Cuba;

    (4) on July 22, 2012, a violent car crash, widely believed 
 to have been carried out by the Castro regime, took the lives 
 of Oswaldo Paya and Harold Cepero, another democratic activist;

    (5) Cuba's official investigation into the crash has been 
 demonstrated to be compromised, and the Cuban regime has 
 blocked all efforts to conduct a credible and independent 
 investigation into the crash, leaving the circumstances of the 
 death of Oswaldo Paya unknown;

    (6) opposition by Oswaldo Paya to the Communist Party of 
 Cuba began at a young age, when he refused to become a member 
 of the Young Communist League as a primary school student, and 
 continued through high school, when he publicly criticized the 
 invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union;

    (7) the Communist Party of Cuba responded to the opposition 
 by Oswaldo Paya to the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet 
 Union by sending Oswaldo Paya to a labor camp for 3 years;

    (8) Oswaldo Paya forewent a chance to escape Cuba in the 
 1980 Mariel boatlift, deciding instead to continue the fight 
 for democracy in Cuba, saying, ``This is what I am supposed to 
 be, this is what I have to do.'';

    (9) by creating the Varela Project in 1998, Oswaldo Paya 
 demonstrated his staunch commitment to peacefully advocating 
 for freedom of speech and freedom of assembly for his fellow 
 Cubans;

    (10) in recognition of his determination for political 
 reforms through peaceful protests, Oswaldo Paya was awarded the 
 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European 
 Parliament in 2002 and the W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award 
 from the National Democratic Institute for International 
 Affairs in 2003 and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by 
 former Czech President Va1clav Havel in 2005;

    (11) on April 11, 2018, the Senate unanimously passed S. 
 Res. 224, recognizing the sixth anniversary of the death of 
 Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, commemorating his legacy and commitment 
 to democratic values and principles, and calling on the Cuban 
 Government to allow an impartial, third-party investigation 
 into the circumstances surrounding his death; and

    (12) renaming the street in front of the Embassy of Cuba in 
 the District of Columbia after Oswaldo Paya serves as an 
 expression of solidarity between the people of the United 
 States and the people of Cuba, who are engaged in a long, 
 nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights.

SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF OSWALDO PAYA WAY.

    (a) Designation of Way.--

    (1) In general.--The area between the intersections of 16th 
 Street Northwest and Fuller Street Northwest and 16th Street 
 Northwest and Euclid Street Northwest in Washington, District 
 of Columbia, shall be known and designated as ``Oswaldo Paya 
 Way''.

    (2) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, 
 document, paper, or other record of the United States to the 
 area referred to in paragraph

    (1) shall be deemed to be a 
 reference to Oswaldo Paya Way.

    (b) Designation of Address.--

    (1) Designation.--The address of 2630 16th Street 
 Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, shall be 
 redesignated as 2630 Oswaldo Paya Way.

    (2) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, 
 document, paper, or other record of the United States to the 
 address referred to in paragraph

    (1) shall be deemed to be a 
 reference to 2630 Oswaldo Paya Way.
            (c) Signs.--The District of Columbia shall construct 2 street signs 
that shall--

    (1) contain the phrase ``Oswaldo Paya Way'';

    (2) be placed immediately above existing signs at the 
 intersections of 16th Street Northwest and Fuller Street 
 Northwest and 16th Street Northwest and Euclid Street Northwest 
 in Washington, District of Columbia; and

    (3) be similar in design to the signs used by the District 
 of Columbia to designate the location of Metro stations.
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