[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 995 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 995

   Commemorating the 12th anniversary of the 1996 shooting down of 2 
   unarmed Brothers to the Rescue civilian aircraft, licensed by the 
                  United States, by the Cuban regime.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 25, 2008

   Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida (for himself, Mr. Sires, Ms. Ros-
 Lehtinen, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida, 
  Mr. Mack, Mr. Fortuno, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. 
 Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Klein of Florida, Mr. Engel, Mr. Mica, 
 Mr. Wexler, Mr. LoBiondo, Mr. Kingston, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. 
    Sam Johnson of Texas, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. 
  McCotter, Mr. King of Iowa, Mrs. Schmidt, Mr. Broun of Georgia, Mr. 
 Garrett of New Jersey, Mr. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, Mr. Buchanan, 
 Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, and Mr. Boyd of Florida) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Commemorating the 12th anniversary of the 1996 shooting down of 2 
   unarmed Brothers to the Rescue civilian aircraft, licensed by the 
                  United States, by the Cuban regime.

Whereas, on February 24, 1996, while conducting a humanitarian search and rescue 
        mission in the Florida Straits, 2 unarmed civilian aircrafts belonging 
        to Brothers to the Rescue, licensed by the United States, were shot down 
        by 2 Cuban Air Force war planes;
Whereas this attack resulted in the deaths of Vietnam War veteran Armando 
        Alejandre, Jr., a corporal in the United States Marine Corps; United 
        States citizens Mario de la Pena and Carlos Costa; and legal United 
        States resident Pablo Morales;
Whereas the planes were shot down with no prior warning or adherence to the 
        protocol established by international law with regard to unarmed 
        civilian planes;
Whereas eyewitness reports and later investigations made it clear the unarmed 
        planes were shot down in international airspace;
Whereas the United Nations Security Council, the United Nations Committee on 
        Human Rights, the European Union, the International Civil Aviation 
        Organization, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the 
        Organization of American States condemned this act of terrorism by the 
        Cuban regime; and
Whereas February 24, 2008 marks the 12th anniversary of this criminal attack: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) commemorating the 12th anniversary of the shoot down;
            (2) condemns the shooting down of the 2 unarmed civilian 
        aircrafts flown by Brothers to the Rescue and the murders of 
        Armando Alejandre, Jr., Mario de la Pena, Carlos Costa, and 
        Pablo Morales; and
            (3) recognizes the efforts of those working to bring 
        international attention to this tragedy.
                                 <all>