Republicans are trying to make Democrats feel the burn over Sen. Bernard Sanders’ recent comments praising Cuba, introducing legislation in Congress denouncing the self-described socialist’s sentiments.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican whose family fled the island after Fidel Castro’s takeover, announced the move Thursday, saying Mr. Sanders’ praise for Castro is a personal affront to those who had to flee his oppression.
“If anyone wants to know the devastation of socialism, and the tyranny that so often accompanies it, I invite them to speak to some of my constituents, including the thousands of former political prisoners and the relatives of current political prisoners, who have witnessed firsthand the destruction that it causes,” the congressman said.
Mr. Sanders last weekend told CBS’s “60 Minutes” program that the Castro regime had some laudable accomplishments in the area of education.
He has since defended that position, saying President Barack Obama praised the communist Cuban government for the same thing.
“When dictatorships, whether it is the Chinese or the Cubans do something good, you acknowledge that,” Mr. Sanders said Tuesday during a Democratic presidential debate.
Mr. Diaz-Balart’s resolution says that expansion of education under the Castro regime was actually a tool of indoctrination, inculcating a cult of personality around Castro.
Those who resisted indoctrination risked being thrown into prison or executed, Mr. Diaz-Balart says.
One prominent Democrat from south Florida, Rep. Donna Shalala, has vociferously condemned Mr. Sanders’ defense of Castro.
Republicans, though, want to force other Democrats to have to take a position on their leading presidential candidate.
House GOP leaders attempted to force the issue Thursday afternoon, offering a motion that would have derailed a tobacco cessation bill and allowed a chance to vote on the Diaz-Balart measure.
That attempt failed on a party-line vote.
Republicans could have better luck if they were to try in the Senate, where they control the floor and could arrange a vote, putting Mr. Sanders’ own colleagues in a tough spot. Two of his fellow senators are running against him for the Democratic presidential nomination.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.