[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 76 (Tuesday, May 9, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H4549-H4550]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        CLEARING OUT GUANTANAMO

  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I have said it before and I will say it again: 
The problem in Cuba is Fidel Castro and until Castro is gone the United 
States cannot and should not normalize relations with the closest of 
our
 Caribbean neighbors. Indeed, we should tighten the embargo, not relax 
it. Last week, many of my colleagues were surprised to learn that I 
consider the administration's new Cuban immigration policy a positive 
step in the right direction.

  As a Representative from Florida who does not support normalizing 
relations with Castro's Cuba, I believe that we must take steps to 
regularize Cuban immigration, to bring order to what has been a chaotic 
situation for far too long. Last year, the President and his foreign 
policy team created a problem--this year we are trying to deal with the 
mess left over from some sloppy efforts at a Caribbean policy.
  Now there are no good choices, only necessary choices. Why? Because 
sitting in Guantanamo are more than 21,000 Cuban refugees and several 
hundred Haitians. Even after the current paroling process is completed, 
the White House expects there will still be more than 15,000 refugees, 
mostly young men, left in primitive, stressful, living conditions. Add 
to that an infinite boredom, a hopeless future, and a long hot summer 
and you have ignition for launching a disaster.
  My last trip to Guantanamo was in March with Senator Bob Graham. We 
came back deeply concerned about the situation, about the cost of 
running the camp, and about the clear security risk for our troops in 
Guantanamo if something was not done soon. The administration's new 
approach should at least diffuse this potentially explosive situation. 
Those 15,000 young men, who have fled from Castro's Cuba now have a 
realistic hope they will not waste away in a Guantanamo containment 
camp. Under the agreement, the administration plans to use 15,000 of 
the existing 60,000 Cuban visa slots for the next 3 years for an 
orderly exodus of the refugees from Guantanamo--a camp that American 
taxpayers are paying $1 million a day to run. In addition, the 
agreement seeks to head off future inundations of refugees by providing 
a safer, fully organized Cuban Immigration Program for those
 yet to come from Castro's Cuba. The continuing visa allowances will 
enable significant numbers of Cubans to take refuge in our country 
through orderly channels and without risking their lives on the high 
seas. Obviously, good screening processes will be necessary by the 
Coast Guard to ensure no political refugees picked up on the high seas 
will be repatriated in hot pursuit or life-threatening situations. This 
will require constant and effective human rights monitoring.

  Handled properly, the administration's new approach could disarm one 
of Castro's most effective gambits--the deliberate victimization of his 
people by releasing them as waves of refugees to pressure the United 
States on foreign policy matters. If this agreement works, it should 
have the net effect of drastically reducing the danger of another 
Mariel overwhelming Florida's shores and resources. It should also have 
the added bonus of allowing the Federal Government--rather than the 
State of Florida--to cope with the impacts of Cuban migration. That 
means that all Americans, not just Floridians, will provide locations 
and will share the financial cost of resettling refugees in an orderly, 
organized way.
  Of course, there remain plenty of issues to be dealt with. Impacted 
States will have to work with the Federal Government to ensure that 
costs are reimbursed. And the Clinton administration has to perform the 
difficult task of providing monitoring for those repatriated to 
Castro's Cuba--the new Clinton policy will all fall apart quickly and 
completely if we find we are in any way aiding Castro's regime to 
commit human rights violations on political opponents or on those just 
simply seeking more freedom.
  Finally, it demands emphasis that we have an obligation to the Cuban 
people as well as ourselves not to let up the pressure on the brutal, 
oppressive, regime of Fidel Castro, even while we work on ways to put 
more safety and order in the way we accommodate present and future 
refugees. That 
[[Page H4550]] means a stepped-up embargo and working for a commitment 
from our allies to cut off Castro's economic lifeblood.
  The ultimate solution to the refugee problem and the key to a free 
and democratic life for Cubans is not to bring them all to America. The 
solution is to bring Cuba out of the cold war by ending the regime of 
Fidel Castro. And that, Mr. Speaker, is the bottom line. Fidel Castro 
is still what is wrong. We cannot escape that fact, but we can help 
change it.


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