[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 146 (Saturday, October 8, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
              CONCERNING ADMINISTRATION POLICY TOWARDS CUBA

                                 ______


                          HON. CHRISTOPHER COX

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 7, 1994

  Mr. COX. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my very strong concern over 
the President's cavalier discarding of the Cuban Adjustment Act of 
1966, which has guided both Democratic and Republican administrations 
for almost 30 years.
  Under the Clinton administration's new policy, Cubans have 
essentially forfeited the right to claim political asylum from the 
Castro dictatorship.
  The President's about-face is completely misguided. The one million 
Cubans in the United States have not been a burden to this country; 
they pay taxes, serve in our Armed Forces, and have been elected to 
Congress.
  Among them are distinguished business leaders, including the 
President of Coca-Cola and the Vice President of Pepsi-Cola; famous 
artists like Gloria Estefan, trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, and violinist 
Luis Haza; eminent diplomats like Ambassador Jose Sorzano, Jean 
Kirkpatrick's deputy at the United Nations; and humanitarians like Dr. 
Joe Greer, who has received a MacArthur Foundation Award for his work 
with the homeless in Florida. Under President Clinton's policy, none of 
these people would have been able to come to the United States. None of 
them would have been able to make these outstanding contributions to 
our country.
  There are currently some 3,000 children in Guantanamo and Panama, who 
are the innocent victims of President Clinton's policy. Moved by their 
plight, the Valladares Foundation offered to assist in their care; it 
has not yet received even the courtesy of a reply from the 
administration.
  Mr. Speaker, this travesty must be brought to an end, and the 
bipartisan tradition of receiving refugees from Castro's dictatorship 
restored.

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