{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://mariodiazbalart.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/diaz-balart-condemns-the-unjust-imprisonment-of-alan-gross-on-the-fifth", "Diaz-Balart Condemns the Unjust Imprisonment of Alan Gross on the Fifth Anniversary of His Imprisonment", "2014-12-03", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "FL", "Mario Diaz-Balart", "D000600", "mariodiazbalart.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON D.C. \u2013 Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) released the following statement on the 5th anniversary of American Alan Gross\u2019 imprisonment by the Cuban regime:\n\"Today marks five years that Alan Gross has been unjustifiably held in a Cuban prison for the so-called \u2018crime\u2019 of helping Cuba's Jewish community connect to the internet.\u00a0 Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that everyone has the right to seek and receive information from any available source, yet the Castro regime sentenced Alan Gross to fifteen years in prison for his efforts to help the Cuban people access information. During Mr. Gross\u2019 unjust imprisonment, his family has been forced to confront many significant moments without their husband, father, and son by their side, like his daughter\u2019s marriage or her battle with breast cancer. The regime also deprived him of attending his mother's funeral when she passed away earlier this year.\n\u201cSadly, the Castro dictatorship has a long history of brutality, imprisoning the innocent, and tearing apart families during its unrelenting campaign to oppress the Cuban people.\u00a0 Alan Gross' unjustifiable imprisonment is a tragic reminder of the moral depravity of the Castro regime, which has no qualms about attempting to use an innocent American with ailing health as a pawn.\n\u201cMy prayers are with Alan Gross and his family as they endure this grim anniversary and begin another day of separation.\u00a0 I urge President Obama to stop appeasing the Castros\u2019 terrorist regime with countless concessions and instead strengthen sanctions against the brutal dictatorship in Cuba.\u201d\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://mariodiazbalart.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/diaz-balart-condemns-the-unjust-imprisonment-of-alan-gross-on-the-fifth"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0791788809001446, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}