[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 27, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H1260-H1261]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     CASTRO: A COLD-BLOODED KILLER

  (Mr. FUNDERBURK asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FUNDERBURK. Mr. Speaker, last year, on the floor of the House, I 

[[Page H1261]]
  referred to Fidel Castro as a cold-blooded killer. The Cuban military 
shootdown of two unarmed American planes is not only a contemptible act 
of depravity but also reaffirms Castro's title of cold-blooded killer. 
The four Americans citizens in small Cessnas had no chance against the 
supersonic war planes sent to intercept and destroy them. For what 
crimes against humanity were they destroyed? Their crimes were in 
providing private humanitarian assistance to the Cuban refugees 
drifting in the open ocean. This indecent act reaffirms those old 
lessons of the cold war period that Communist dictators are totally 
brutal in their dealing with anyone weaker. They will violate any 
international law whenever it suits them. Shame on those congressional 
Democrats who have gone to Cuba in an attempt to normalize relations 
with this brutal dictator. Shame on President Clinton for waiting for 
this tragedy before deciding to support the Helms-Burton Cuban liberty 
bill, of which I was an original cosponsor. Mr. Speaker, it is time for 
the President of the United States to stop hiding behind the United 
Nations and send a clear and forceful message to Castro.

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