[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 123 (Wednesday, August 24, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                             CUBA SITUATION

  Mr. DOLE. Madam President, I have a little different view on Cuba.
  We have had this morning a press conference where President Clinton's 
advisers just announced an expansion of facilities at Guantanamo, 
indefinite detention of Cuban refugees, and possible safe havens 
throughout the hemisphere--but not a word about Castro stepping down 
immediately. Instead of calling around the hemisphere for safe havens, 
President Clinton's goal should be to make Cuba a safe haven--a safe 
haven without Castro for all Cubans.
  President Clinton's new policy on Cuba has failed. The flow of 
refugees fleeing Castro's tyranny has accelerated since last Thursday--
more than 7,000 since the policy shift. President Clinton's Cuba policy 
punishes the wrong Cubans: Freedom seekers are apprehended while Castro 
gets off scot-free.
  The continued refugee flow demonstrates once again that Cuba is not 
Haiti. News reports quote an administration official saying, ``It's not 
clear why the Cubans aren't reacting as expected.'' It may not be clear 
to the administration, but it is pretty clear to me: Cubans continue to 
flee because it is the first time in years they can leave without being 
shot in the back, murdered at sea, or thrown into a political prison by 
Castro's regime.
  After strong criticism last week, the Clinton administration decided 
to include some half-measures to increase pressure on Castro. I support 
efforts to tighten the screws on Castro--including consideration of a 
blockade as mentioned by White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta. 
However, the administration has spent more time denying a blockade is 
an option than they have developing a strategy to bring freedom to 
Cuba.
  The administration has been quick to interdict Cubans but slow to do 
anything against Castro. The anti-Castro measures--halting airplane 
charters, stopping remittances, condemning human rights vioaltions--
have not been implemented. Some question their effect on the Cuban 
people. The administration has no strategy for a transition to 
democracy in Cuba. They announced a series of stop-gap measures but 
there is no plan and no long-term policy. There is concern that a 
hidden agenda of normalization with Cuba will emerge.
  The administration will not even call for Fidel Castro to step 
down immediately. We have all heard months of calls for Cedras and 
other Haitian military leaders to resign, but there is silence about 
Castro. Castro has a 35-year track record of murder, tyranny, export of 
terror, and human rights abuses. Why the reluctance on the part of the 
Clinton administration's policymakers? Do they think Castro can 
contribute to a democratic Cuba? I do not know anyone who thinks Castro 
will be the midwife for Cuban democracy. The administration's first 
step should be to call for the immediate removal of Castro from power--
no conditions, no waffling. Castro's ideology and ambition have created 
the Cuban crisis, and it will not be resolved while he clings to power.

  Second, the administration must make a serious effort to build an 
international coalition to isolate Castro. Going to the United Nations 
to condemn Castro's human rights violations is not enough. If tough 
sanctions are good enough for Haiti, that should be the goal for Cuba. 
The administration should call an emergency meeting of the Organization 
of American States to address the lack of democracy in Cuba. Castro's 
denial of freedom to the Cuban people should be a hemispheric concern--
a Latin American problem just as much as it is an American problem.
  Third, the administration should approach Canada and our European 
allies on the Cuban crisis. It is their investment and their tourists 
which provide Castro far more cash than remittances to help starving 
Cubans. Castro poses a clear threat to American national security 
through his cynical export of his people. Our allies need to understand 
that we will not tolerate continued subsidy of a regime that threatens 
American security.
  It is morally and politically bankrupt to punish Cuban freedom 
seekers, while letting Castro off the hook. Many Cubans have died in 
the last few days trying to leave Castro's terror. Castro has now 
successfully dictated American immigration policy. He should not be 
allowed to dictate our foreign policy. During the campaign President 
Clinton promised to support democracy in Cuba and to oppose deals with 
Castro. Not all of his national security personnel share those views. 
Many of them were the architects of President Carter's efforts to 
normalize relations with Castro in the 1970's. This administration has 
normalized relations with Vietnam, and offered aid to North Korea. Cuba 
should not be added to that list.
  The President should renounce any deals with Castro. He should 
instead pursue a foreign policy that envisions a Cuba without Castro.

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