[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 279 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 279


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            October 5 (legislative day, September 12), 1994

                                Received

            October 8 (legislative day, September 12), 1994

             Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
   Condemning the July 13, 1994, sinking of the ``13th of March'', a 
  tugboat carrying 72 unarmed Cuban citizens, by vessels of the Cuban 
                              Government.

Whereas there are credible reports that on July 13, 1994, vessels of the Cuban 
        Government fired high-pressure water hoses, repeatedly rammed, and 
        deliberately sank the ``13th of March'', a tugboat carrying 72 unarmed 
        Cuban citizens;
Whereas approximately 40 of the men, women, and children passengers on the 
        ``13th of March'' drowned as a result of the actions of the Cuban 
        Government, including over 20 children aboard;
Whereas President Clinton deplored the sinking of the ``13th of March'' as 
        ``another example of the brutal nature of the Cuban regime'';
Whereas on August 20, 1994, the President pledged that ``The United States will 
        continue to bring before the United Nations and other international 
        organizations evidence of human rights abuses, such as the sinking of 
        the tugboat `13th of March.' Meanwhile, we will pursue this matter with 
        vigor and determination.'';
Whereas all of the male survivors of the ``13th of March'' have been imprisoned 
        by the Cuban Government;
Whereas the freedom to emigrate is an internationally recognized human right and 
        freedom's fundamental guarantor of last resort; and
Whereas the Cuban Government, by prohibiting the existence of a free press and 
        by jamming TV and Radio Marti, denies the Cuban people the right of free 
        access to information, including information about this tragedy: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) condemns the Cuban Government for deliberately sinking 
        on July 13, 1994, the ``13th of March'', a tugboat carrying 72 
        unarmed Cuban citizens, causing the death of approximately 40 
        Cuban citizens, including over 20 children;
            (2) urges the President to direct the United States 
        Representative to the United Nations to urge the United Nations 
        Security Council to adopt a resolution that--
                    (A) condemns the sinking of the ``13th of March''; 
                and
                    (B) provides for a full internationally supervised 
                investigation of the incident;
            (3) urges the President to direct the United States 
        Representative to the United Nations to urge the United Nations 
        High Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate the sinking 
        of the ``13th of March''; and
            (4) urges the Cuban Government--
                    (A) to release from prison and cease intimidation 
                measures against all survivors of the sinking of the 
                ``13th of March'';
                    (B) to identify all individuals missing from such 
                sinking;
                    (C) to recover the bodies of the dead from such 
                sinking; and
                    (D) to return such bodies to their families so that 
                these men, women, and children may have appropriate 
                burial services.

            Passed the House of Representatives October 4, 1994.

            Attest:

                                           DONNALD K. ANDERSON,

                                                                Clerk.