[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 71 (Tuesday, May 2, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S5942]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HAVE THE CUBAN PEOPLE BEEN SOLD DOWN THE RIVER?

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, at noon today, Attorney General Reno made a 
formal announcement that has dismayed the Cuban people.
  The Attorney General, speaking for the President, announced that 
effective immediately the Cubans interdicted at sea will be forcibly 
returned to face the wrath of Fidel Castro.
  Mr. President, of course, Mr. Castro has said he will take no 
punitive action against Cubans forcibly returned to his tyranny. But 
the Cuban people, many of whom died before firing squads, and others 
who languished for years as political prisoners in Castro's prisons, 
learned the hard way the value of Mr. Castro's word.
  Mr. President, there has been another sad and tragic moment involving 
the Clinton administration's dealings with the Cuban people. I am 
already receiving in my office an endless stream of telephone calls and 
faxes from Cuban-Americans who feel they have again been betrayed by 
the administration.
  For more than 35 years, Mr. President, the United States has been a 
safe haven for Cubans fleeing Castro's repressive Communist 
dictatorship. Last year, Mr. President, the Clinton administration 
began a reversal of this policy. Cuban Americans now appropriately fear 
that the administration has joined hands with the Castro regime in an 
effort having the continuing effect of enslaving the people of Cuba.
  Today's announcement, described as the result of secret negotiations 
between the administration and the Castro regime, is seen as a sign 
that the United States will now work in partnership with Castro's 
brutal security apparatus by intercepting and capturing escaping Cuban 
refugees and turning them over directly to Castro's thugs. How sad it 
is, Mr. President, that the United States is now viewed as an 
accomplice in Castro's repression of the Cuban people.
  Mr. President, if the United States wants to send naval vessels to 
surround Cuba, it should not be done to cooperate with the Castro 
regime. It should be done to blockade and strangle his brutal 
dictatorship once and for all. This development is another reason why 
Congress must pass the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act. In 
the face of this vacillation, the Congress must reaffirm that United 
States policy is to isolate and replace Fidel Castro, not to keep the 
Cuban people imprisoned in Castro's tropical gulag.
  I ask unanimous consent the full text of the statement issued at noon 
by the Attorney General, Ms. Reno, be printed in the Record at the 
conclusion of my remarks.
  There being no objection, the statement was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

   Statement of Attorney General Janet Reno Regarding Cuban Migration

       I would like to make an announcement regarding Cuban 
     migration.
       It has long been the policy of the United States that 
     Cubans who wish to migrate to the United States should do so 
     by legal means. The U.S. Interests Section in Havana accepts 
     and processes requests for visas, and it also operates an in-
     country program for those Cubans who seek refugee status for 
     entry into the United States.
       Pursuant to this policy, last August I announced that 
     Cubans attempting irregular means of migration to the United 
     States on boats and rafts would not be allowed to enter this 
     country, but rather would be brought to the United States 
     Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, where they would be offered 
     safe haven.
       Last September, following negotiations with representatives 
     of the Cuban government, the United States announced that it 
     would increase Cuban migration to the United States to permit 
     20,000 legal entrants per year. This program, which includes 
     immigrant visas, refugee applications, and a Special Cuban 
     Migration Program designed to broaden the pool of potential 
     entrants, is on target, and we expect to continue legal Cuban 
     migration at this level in the years to come. This year 
     alone, we expect to bring 7,000 Cuban refugees to the United 
     States through our in-country program in Havana.
       Following recent diplomatic exchanges with the Cuban 
     government, the United States is now prepared to take another 
     important step towards regularizing Cuban migration between 
     Cuba and the United States.
       First, with respect to Guantanamo:
       We will continue to bring to the United States those 
     persons who are eligible for special humanitarian parole 
     under the guidelines announced by the President last October 
     and December.
       The government of Cuba has agreed to accept all Cuban 
     nationals in Guantanamo who wish to return home, as well as 
     persons who have previously been deported from the United 
     States and persons who would be ineligible for admission to 
     the United States because of criminal record, medical, 
     physical, or mental condition, or commission of acts of 
     violence while at Guantanamo.
       All other Cubans in the safe haven will be considered for 
     entry into the United States on a case-by-case basis as 
     ``Special Guantanamo Entrants'', bearing in mind the impact 
     of paroles on state and local economies and the need for 
     adequate sponsorships. As has been true for all Cubans and 
     Haitians previously paroled into the United States from 
     Guantanamo, sponsorship and resettlement assistance will be 
     obtained prior to entry. The number of these ``Special 
     Guantanamo Entrants'' admitted to the United States will be 
     credited against the 20,000 annual Cuban migration figure, 
     beginning in September of this year, at the rate of 5,000 per 
     year (regardless of when the Special Guantanamo Entrants are 
     admitted).
       Second, with regard to future irregular migration:
       Effective immediately, Cuban migrants intercepted at sea 
     attempting to enter the United States, or who enter 
     Guantanamo illegally, will be taken to Cuba, where U.S. 
     consular officers will assist those who wish to apply to come 
     to the United States through already established mechanisms. 
     Cubans must know that the only way to come to the United 
     States is by applying in Cuba.
       All returnees will be permitted to apply for refugee status 
     at the U.S. Interests Sections in Havana. Cuba is one of only 
     three countries in the world in which the United States 
     conducts in-country processing for refugees. The Government 
     of Cuba has committed to the Government of the United States 
     that on one will suffer reprisals, lose benefits, or be 
     prejudiced in any manner, either because he or she sought to 
     depart irregularly or because he or she has applied for 
     refugee status at the U.S. Interests Section. The Cuban 
     Government made a similar commitment in the context of the 
     September 1994 agreement, and we are satisfied that it has 
     been honored. Moreover, the Government of Cuba will permit 
     monitoring by U.S. consular officers of the treatment of all 
     returnees.
       Migrants intercepted at sea or in Guantanamo will be 
     advised that they will be taken back to Cuba, where U.S. 
     consular officials will meet them at the dock and assist 
     those who wish to apply for refugee admission to the United 
     States at the Interests Section in Havana. They will be told 
     that the Government of Cuba has provided a commitment to the 
     United States Government that they will suffer no adverse 
     consequences or reprisals of any sort, and that U.S. consular 
     officers will monitor their treatment. They will also be told 
     that those persons who seek resettlement in the United States 
     as refugees must use the in-country refugee program.
       Measures will be taken to ensure that persons who claim a 
     genuine need for protection which they believe cannot be 
     satisfied by applying at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana 
     will be examined before return.
       Cubans who reach the United States through irregular means 
     will be placed in exclusion proceedings, detained, and 
     treated as are all illegal migrants from other countries.
       The United States Government reiterates its opposition to 
     the use of violence in connection with departure from Cuba 
     and its determination to prosecute cases of hijacking and 
     alien smuggling.
       These new procedures represent another important step 
     towards regularizing migration procedures with Cuba, finding 
     a humanitarian solution to the situation at Guantanamo, and 
     preventing another uncontrolled and dangerous outflow from 
     Cuba.
       The United States policy towards Cuba remains the same. We 
     remain committed to the Cuban Democracy Act and its central 
     goal--promoting a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba. 
     We will continue to enforce the economic embargo to pressure 
     the Cuban regime to reform. We will continue to reach out to 
     the Cuban people through private humanitarian assistance and 
     through the free flow of ideas and information to strengthen 
     Cuba's fledgling civil society. And we remain ready to 
     respond in carefully calibrated ways to meaningful steps 
     toward political and economic reform in Cuba.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to proceed for up 
to 10 minutes as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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