WASHINGTON D.C. –– Today, Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security, delivered the following opening statement in a hearing to examine suspected efforts by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to build surveillance infrastructure in Cuba, just 90 miles off the United States’ coast. 

Watch Chairman Gimenez’s full opening statement in a hearing entitled, “Beijing’s Air, Space, and Maritime Surveillance from Cuba: A Growing Threat to the Homeland.”

As prepared for delivery:

Today, the Subcommittee convenes to examine an alarming threat developing just 90 miles off our coast. Mounting evidence suggests that the Chinese Communist Party is expanding its strategic partnership with the totalitarian communist regime in Cuba to build advanced surveillance infrastructure capable of targeting the United States.
 
This collaboration represents one of the most brazen intelligence operations ever attempted near the American mainland, and places our military operations, commercial activity, and communications squarely in the crosshairs of a hostile foreign power.
 
Recent satellite imagery and open-source analysis suggest the presence of several Chinese-funded signals intelligence facilities across Cuba. The possibility that these sites are capable of monitoring U.S. military operations, commercial shipping, space launches, and sensitive communications is deeply troubling.
 
The southeastern United States is home to some of the most critical assets in our nation’s security infrastructure. From the space launch center at Cape Canaveral, to the headquarters of U.S. Southern Command in Miami, this region plays a critical role in our defense posture.
 
This region includes my own district, which has long been on the front lines of threats emerging from the Cuban regime. If the Chinese government is in fact leveraging a growing partnership with Cuba to collect intelligence on our activities, that is a threat we cannot ignore.
 
Cuba’s government has a long history of working with foreign adversaries to undermine the United States. What we are potentially witnessing today is a new and dangerous phase of that cooperation that is fueled by Havana’s economic desperation and Beijing’s strategic ambition.
 
The Cuban regime remains a state sponsor of terrorism, harbors fugitives from the U.S. justice system, and relentlessly suppresses the rights of its own people. Its growing reliance on foreign authoritarian powers like China only adds to the danger.
 
Over the past several months, I have taken steps to raise alarms about the malign activities of the Communist Government of Cuba. In March, I sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security requesting an investigation into individuals in the United States suspected of links to Cuban intelligence and the Communist Party. These networks have long operated on U.S. soil and may now be intersecting with China’s activities in the region.
 
Shortly after, in early April, I sent a letter to the Department of the Treasury calling for a full suspension of U.S.-Cuba travel and remittances, with appropriate humanitarian exceptions. We should not be funding a regime that turns around and opens its doors to our greatest adversaries. If reports of rising Chinese activity in Cuba are accurate, then this is no longer just a diplomatic issue. It is a direct security risk to the American people.
 
This hearing is the first step in understanding the scope of this threat. Today, our witnesses will help us assess the potential scale of the threat and what measures the federal government should take to stay ahead of it. We need to be clear-eyed about the risks, and both swift and unified in our response.
 
The United States cannot afford to overlook the possibility that a hostile foreign power is working hand-in-hand with a communist dictatorship in Cuba to employ advanced surveillance capabilities on our doorstep. It is our responsibility to ensure the homeland remains secure, and not just from what we can see, but from what may be gathering just out of sight.
 
I want to thank our witnesses for appearing before the Subcommittee today.
 
I look forward to a productive discussion on how the United States can counter the Chinese Communist Party’s suspected surveillance efforts in Cuba and prevent our adversaries from gaining a strategic foothold so close to the homeland.
 

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