[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 10] [House] [Page 13392] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]POLITICAL PRISONERS IN CUBA (Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, today is Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet's 49th birthday. This physician and peaceful advocate of freedom has dedicated his life to defending human rights and advancing democracy in Cuba, and for that he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. So while Dr. Biscet and thousands of political prisons sit in Castro's gulags, the Castro regime is using political prisoners as a bargaining chip in a calculated attempt to gain concessions from the United States and the European Union. Even more troubling, however, is the evident collaboration between the Cuban Catholic Church and the Castro regime. The church is cooperating with the regime and reaching out to only those families of political prisoners that the regime asks them to talk to, while Dr. Biscet and others don't even get a call from the church. Mr. Speaker, we must continue to stand tall, to stand with the Cuban people, and to demand the release of every single political prisoner in the Cuban gulags. Until every single one is released, we cannot shut up, we cannot stop speaking. The United States should not be fooled. We will continue to stand with the political prisoners. ____________________