[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 27, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H1315-H1319]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CONDEMNATION OF THE COLD-BLOODED MURDER OF UNITED STATES CITIZENS BY 
                         THE CUBAN DICTATORSHIP

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Menendez] is recognized for 60 minutes.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor tonight to condemn a 
brutal, cold-blooded, premeditated murder of U.S. citizens by the 
Castro regime this past weekend. I would like to go through the facts, 
Mr. Speaker, of what happened.
  Brothers to the Rescue is a Miami-based humanitarian organization 
engaged in search and rescue missions over the Florida Straits. It was 
on just such a mission this past weekend. The members of Brothers to 
the Rescue were flying unarmed, civilian, defenseless planes in a 
mission that is identical to hundreds of missions that they have flown 
since 1991. They posed no threat whatsoever to the Cuban Government, 
the Cuban military, or the Cuban people. And the Cuban dictatorship 
knows this. They know what they have done. They know of lives they have 
saved. They have saved nearly 6,000 lives, Mr. Speaker.
  I know what their mission has always been, because approximately 1 
year ago I flew with Brothers to the Rescue. I was in a plane like 
those that were gunned down, brutally, by the Castro regime. On that 
flight, what we did is transverse the Florida Straits in international 
air space in search of people whose only crime was to flee a 
totalitarian regime, fleeing from repression and seeking freedom.

                              {time}  2045

  And in that process, that day that we were flying over the Florida 
Straits and in international airspace, we in fact found 12 individuals 
who were on a small island who had been there for several days who had 
no food and no water. And it is because of that mission, Mr. Speaker, 
that they in fact were saved. We threw water to them. We threw food to 
them. We telegraphed their location to the Coast Guard, and the U.S. 
Coast Guard ended up rescuing them.
  That is only one of the many, many flights that Brothers to the 
Rescue has had in saving thousands of lives.
  When the Cuban Government makes statements to the contrary about what 
Brothers to the Rescue is all about, there is no basis in fact. 
Brothers to the Rescue's aircraft on this past Saturday notified Cuban 
air traffic controllers as to their flight plans, which would take them 
along the 24th parallel, close to the Cuban airspace but still in 
international airspace, and under international law. That law provides 
a nation with a 12-mile limit on airspace as extended from the 
coastline of the nation.
  Now, the response of the Castro regime, which was ordered at the 
highest levels of the regime by Castro himself, because it is 
impossible, if you understand the command structure of the regime in 
Cuba, you understand that such an order to gun down civilian, innocent 
individuals would never be done but at the highest levels in their 
chain of command. And we know that partially to be true, Mr. Speaker, 
because just recently, recently some retired United States generals, 
retired Gen. Eugene Carroll, who was in Cuba a few weeks ago, was asked 
what the United States reaction to such an act would be. Now, why would 
you ask that question if you were not preparing for that possibility?
  It is now interesting to note that yesterday the Cuban Government 
openly bragged about a pilot who they sent to infiltrate Brothers to 
the Rescue and returned to Cuba the day before the incident. It is now 
apparent that that individual, Juan Pablo Roque, transmitted 
information to the Castro regime about the Brothers to the Rescue's 
flight plans for Saturday, and so we have here the facts developing of 
why I say that this act was premeditated murder and it is in fact an 
act of state terrorism.
  You have an infiltrator pilot who tells the regime, Brothers to the 
Rescue are flying, they are flying one of their search-and-rescue 
missions, they will be in international airspace but near Cuban 
airspace, and therefore sets them up as clay pigeons. And you have a 
situation in which Castro's regime itself was thinking about the 
possibility of shooting down innocent civilians, asking a former 
retired general who was in Cuba about the United States reaction to 
such an event. Hence, the premeditation.
  Even if these civilian aircraft were not in international airspace, 
which they were, our own Government tells us that they were, under 
every sense of international law, which was recognized by the European 
Union in their condemnation of the Castro regime, where they say that 
they strongly condemn the shooting down of two civilian aircraft on 
Saturday by the Cuban Air Force and where they go on to say 
irrespective of the circumstances of the incident, there can be no 
excuse for not respecting international law and human rights norms, 
under any sense of international law, it would not be appropriate to 
gun down civilians who were simply flying search-and-rescue missions.
  The response of Castro's regime to these flights was to scramble two 
fighter jets from a Havana airfield. At approximately 3:24 p.m., on 
Saturday, the pilot of one of the Cuban MIG's received permission, 
asked for permission specifically, and proceeded to shoot down the 
first Brothers to the Rescue airplane, and then 7 minutes later the 
pilot of the Cuban fighter jet received permission and proceeded to 
shoot down the second Brothers to the Rescue airplane.
  Now, this is a barbaric act. It is an act of state terrorism 
sponsored by, in fact, a government, a regime, I cannot find myself to 
call it a government because it rules by brute force; this is the 
barbaric act that we face.
  And who died here Mr. Speaker? People who died here were U.S. 
citizens. Two of them were born in the United States. One of them is a 
former Vietman veteran. I do not know why the press continues to refer 
to them as exiles. I do not understand what that categorization is 
supposed to be. I am not quite sure that there are different standards 
of American citizenship. But certainly, certainly when someone is born 
in this country, when someone serves this country, is there any higher 
standard of being an American citizen?
  Yet for Armando Alejandro, Jr. and Pablo Morales and Carlos Costa and 
Mario de la Pena, who left Miami's Opa-Locka Airport on Saturday, the 
24th, on a routine humanitarian mission to search for rafters in the 
straits of Florida, and for their families, whom we grieve with today, 
I wonder when they are questioning about when they hear constantly the 
references simply to exiles and they are forgotten as U.S. citizens. 
One of them, in fact, was a former constituent of mine, Mario de la 
Pena, who was born in Weehawken, NJ. 

[[Page H1316]]
He was raised in West New York, NJ, both communities that I am 
privileged to represent in the U.S. Congress.

  He volunteered his time and services to serve his community, to 
rescue lives, and on Saturday he became a martyr in the eyes of the 
Cuban people and also in the eyes of Americans of Cuban descent as well 
as the others. But they were U.S. citizens flying in a defenseless 
posture, a civilian plane in a humanitarian mission.
  Now, what has been our response? Our response certainly, we commend 
the President for having us lead a condemnation resolution in the 
United Nations, for taking some actions in the context of stopping 
charter flights to Cuba, of going ahead and insuring that Radio Marti, 
which is the only way that the Cuban people have information that can 
be presented to them from outside because Cuba is a closed society; 
only with the government's, the regime's own press, only told what 
they, the government, the regime, wants to tell them; Radio Marti does 
give information to the people of Cuba, and now it will increase its 
ability to penetrate.
  And the President also said that he wants to move along in Helms-
Burton, but while we respect those actions, it is simply not enough. It 
is simply not enough. If we are to send a strong message that in fact 
we will not tolerate our citizens being gunned down in international 
airspace, then we need to do more. Our response simply is not enough, 
and I expect the President to make other responses in the days ahead, 
and I believe that among the responses the President should take is the 
expulsion of the Cuban diplomatic mission from the interest section 
here in Washington; I believe that there should be a suspension or a 
reduction of money transfers from the United States to Cuba; I think 
there should be a serious curtailment of certain travel to Cuba and the 
licenses that the office of foreign nationals controls provide for 
certain types of travel; there should be a cessation of all migration 
talks with Cuba; the expansion of access to Television Marti should 
also be part of our information services beyond Radio Marti, and we 
have the technology to do so. We should use it.
  We should be pursuing the possibility of economic sanctions at the 
United Nations, and we understand that the international community is 
not always there with us. But clearly now in the United Nations, if, in 
fact, you have a country that cannot observe the rule of international 
law, it should not receive moneys from an organization which promotes 
the rule of international law.
  The United Nations should move immediately to freeze any moneys going 
to Cuba because they have shown themselves incapable of living under 
international law. We should be the leaders in that movement.
  We should be talking to our European allies, who have condemned this 
atrocity, but now must go a step further. You cannot on one hand 
condemn the brutal murder of four innocent Americans and then give the 
Castro regime a prize by giving them an economic package.
  And there have been discussions going on between the EU and Cuba in 
terms of an economic package, and the message that I believe our allies 
who say that they wish to promote democracy and human rights in Cuba 
must be that if you cannot live under international standards, if you 
cannot respect the universal declaration of human rights for which you 
are a signatory, then we cannot give you assistance. The only way in 
which you can get assistance is if you enter the family of civilized 
nations who obey international law.
  And lastly, I hope the President is ready and prepared to respond to 
Castro if he once again uses the people of Cuba as he has in the past, 
as human bullets, in large refugee waves to the United States, this 
time having suffered this twice, this time and the people of Cuba 
having suffered this, this time the President should proactively and, 
hopefully, in a preemptive fashion say very clearly that if the Castro 
regime seeks to use Cubans as human bullets, that it is the United 
States' intention to quarantine the waters around Cuba so that the 
people who are used as human pawns and sent onto the high seas in which 
thousands have died can be rescued but also brought back to Cuba, and 
that during this period of quarantine any other vessels that may seek 
to enter the quarantine area would, in fact, not be permitted to pass, 
and, hopefully, by making this preemptive statement, we will send a 
strong message that we have to be ready to follow up so that in fact we 
do not go through another Mariel, we do not go through another 1994 
incident as we have had.
  Tomorrow, the House and the Senate go into a conference committee on 
the Helms-Burton legislation on the Libertad legislation. I would hope, 
and I expect, that the administration will work with the Congress in 
supporting a bill that sends a clear message to the world and to the 
regime that, in fact, unless you follow the road to democracy which has 
swept this continent in every country except for Cuba, and unless you 
move to respect the human rights of your own people as you have signed 
on to not by our standards but as you have signed on to by the 
universal declaration of human rights of the United Nations, then we 
will move to create democracy in Cuba by standing up for United States 
interests.

                              {time}  2100

  What are those interests that we purport in this legislation? Simply 
to give American citizens and American companies whose properties were 
illegally confiscated in Cuba the right of a cause of action in the 
civil courts of the United States, so they can pursue those companies 
who would traffic in the illegally confiscated properties that are 
rightfully American properties, and, in doing so, not only stand up for 
American businesses and stand up for American citizens, but, at the 
same time, deny Castro the profits from the illegally seized 
properties.
  It is right for the United States to protect its citizens and to 
protect its companies from the illegal confiscation of its properties 
being used by others who have business contacts here in the United 
States, who profit here in the United States, and who would in fact 
profit from illegally confiscated properties. It is also important as 
we prepare in the Helms-Burton legislation to prepare for a post-Castro 
Cuba, to be ready for a traditional government pledged to democracy, to 
be ready for a democratic government, and telling those governments and 
the people of Cuba now, sending them a beacon of light that we in fact 
are in solidarity with those who seek democracy in Cuba, that we want 
to work with you, that we are not in fact your enemies, that in fact we 
want to help bring democracy and respect for human rights to the 10 
million people who live on the island.
  We do that in the Libertad legislation, in the Helms-Burton bill, 
through title II, which I have written and authored, by preparing a 
transitional plan and ultimately a democratically elected plan for a 
post-Castro Cuba. We also provide other provisions of the Helms-Burton 
law that send a very strong and unequivocal statement that in fact we 
are serious about protecting U.S. interests, we are serious about 
democracy, we are serious about promoting human rights.
  To accept a weak version, a stripped-out version of Helms-Burton, 
especially after a week of repression in Cuba, which I would like to 
speak about shortly, of unprecedented repression in Cuba, after the 
senseless slaughter of American citizens, in fact to accept anything 
less than that is to send a wrong message about what the United States 
reaction will be to defend its interests, to promote its interests, and 
to defend its citizens.
  Let me talk about the wave of repression that precipitated the event 
that we are talking about today, that came before that event, and that 
in fact finds us equally appalled.
  Many of our allies, and some Members of Congress, say ``Well, we want 
to see peaceful democratic change come to Cuba.'' I agree with them. 
None of us want to see change come to Cuba by violence. But we have 
also said time and time again that the only person who can make change 
in Cuba be violent is Castro himself. He has the Army, he has the 
security forces, he has the weapons, and he has shown us his 
willingness to use it, against his own people, as he did nearly 2 years 
ago this July when he took a tugboat of over 70 people, who were simply 
fleeing from his regime, seeking liberty, followed them with Cuban 
destroyers, 

[[Page H1317]]
and rammed the boat after having fired water cannons at innocent women 
and children. And, after ramming that boat and having it broken into 
half and it started to sink with the 70 people who were on board, using 
the naval vessels that he had in creating a whirlpool effect so that 
they would be sucked down and drowned, and in fact 40 persons died. 
Twenty children died, 20 adults died. So he has shown us his repressive 
nature.
  You can come here to the United States, you can wear a nice Armani 
suit, you can sip Chablis with Madame Mitterrand, who heads a human 
rights group in France. You can court American businesses and tell them 
how, oh, you are losing a great opportunity to make money. You can toy 
with the American press. But that does not make you a civilized member 
of society. Actions speak much louder than words.
  We saw it when he killed those 40 men, women and children. We saw it 
this past week with Concilio Cubano. For many of our allies who say we 
want peaceful change, which we agree with, we say where are you, 
raising your voices on behalf of a group within Cuba who has advocated 
peaceful but democratic change? A 120 member organization, an umbrella 
group, all forming different parts of Cuban society, independent 
journalists, independent economists, human rights activists, 
dissidents, who have joined together, and all they asked for was to 
simply have one of the basic fundamental rights we enjoy in this 
country and which people enjoy throughout the world, which is the right 
of assemblage. All they wanted to do was to meet in Havana, in their 
country, and talk about how they could move their country peacefully to 
democratic change and with a respect for human rights.
  What was the response of the regime? It was brutal. Now over 100 
people have been arrested. An incredible amount of the Concilio's 
national leadership has been arrested. One of them, whom I spoke to by 
phone in Cuba who was advising me of the arrests that had been going on 
and the harassment by state security forces, who, after I spoke to him, 
got arrested, his phone was obviously tapped, and after his arrest he 
has quickly been sentenced to a year and a half in jail. For what 
crime? For what crime? Simply because he sought to peacefully meet in 
his own country and try to create democratic change.
  So for those of our allies and for those Members of the House who 
constantly talk about let us have peaceful democratic change, where are 
you? Where are you in raising your voices? For the whole week that the 
international press carried the arrests, I did not hear the voices of 
those Members of the House who traveled to Cuba. We have Members of the 
House who travel to Cuba. They go and they visit Castro, and he gives 
them a cigar and they talk, and when it is all over, when they leave, 
people get arrested.
  Where are those voices? Where are the voices of the international 
community, our allies in this hemisphere and beyond, who say in fact 
that they want to see groups like Concilio Cubano move for democratic 
change. Well, where are their voices? Why are they not seeking greater 
sanctions? What is truly their position on human rights?
  So we need to be responding as a leader in the world, and certainly 
in our own hemisphere, and certainly in this House, which is a beacon 
of hope and of democracy throughout the world. We need to be responding 
forcefully.
  Concilio Cubano, which is just an organization that seeks peaceful 
democratic change, needs to be recognized, and it needs to be in fact 
supported by the international community. We may not agree with 
everything that they say, but that is part of a democracy. If there had 
been no Sakharov, if there had been so Lech Walesa in what is now in 
Poland with Solidarity, if we did not have Vaclav Havel in what is now 
the Czech Republic, would we have seen the movements to Democrats and a 
respect for human rights in those countries? No.
  Now, we supported and gave hope and gave assistance and tried to work 
with the international community in Solidarity in Poland. We worked 
with Vaclav Havel. We raised our voice on behalf of Sakharov. We need 
to hear the same voices now. We need to hear them for the dissidents in 
Cuba.
  Mr. Speaker, I have a list, and hopefully by making this list public, 
we in fact create the circumstances under which there is some sense of 
international protection for these individuals. I would like to at this 
point include the list of all of the leadership of Concilio Cubano into 
the Record.

       1-Acosta Moya, Agustin Jesus: Comision Humanitaria de Ayuda 
     a Prisioneros Politicos, 2-Aldana Ruiz, Miguel Angel: Liga 
     Civica Martiana, 3-Alfaro Garcia, Reinaldo: Asociacion de 
     Lucha Frente a la Injusticia Nacional, 4-Alfonso Aguiar, 
     Jorge H.: Comite de Ayuda Humanitaria a Presos Politicos de 
     Santiago de Cuba, 5-Almira Ramfrez, Irene: Movimiento Agenda 
     Nacionalista, 6-Alvarez, Pedro Pablo: Consejo Unitario de 
     Trabajadores Cubanos, 7-Arcos Bergnes, Gustavo: Comite Cubano 
     Pro Derechos Humanos, 8-Ayala Corzo, Joge Adrian: Partido 
     Renovacion Democratica, 9-Azoy, Tony: Movimiento Pacifista 
     por la Liberacion, 10-Bacallao Perez, Jorge: Instituto de la 
     Opinion Publica, 11-Bonne Carcases, Feliz A.: Corriente 
     Civica Cubana, 12-Brito Hernandez, Pedro: Alianza Liberal 
     Democratica Cubana.
       13-Cabrera La Rosa, Alfonso: Asociacion Martiana Libertad, 
     Igualdad y Fraternidad, 14-Campaneria Pena, Francis: 
     Coordinadora Camagueyana, 15-Carcases Battle, Deysi: Foro 
     Feminista, 16-Carrillo Fernandez, Ibrahim: Union de 
     Sindicatos de Trabajadores Cubanos, 17-Cosano Alen, Reinaldo 
     E.: Coalicion Democratica Cubana, 18-Costa Valdes, Secundino: 
     Movimiento Opositor Pacifico Panchito Gomez Toro, 19-Collazo 
     Valdes, Odilia: Partido Pro Derechos Humanos de Cuba, 20-Cruz 
     Gonzalez, Ricardo: Partido Cubano Pro Derechos Humanos, 
     Forida, 21-Chan Aguile, Cancio: Movimiento Nacionalista 
     Democratico Maximo Gomez, 22-Chente Herrera, Jose Angel: 
     Frente pro Derechos Humanos Miximo Gomez, 23-Escobedo Yaser, 
     Maria A.: Frente Democratico Oriental, 24-Fabio Hurtado, 
     Rogelio: Movimiento Armonia, 25-Fernandez, Juan Rafael: 
     Movimiento Democratico Cientifico.
       26-Fieitas Posada, Felix: Associacion Pro Democracla 
     Constitucional, 27-Fornaris Ramos, Jose Antonio: Frente de 
     Unidad Nacional, 28-Garcia Gonzalez, Dianelis: Asociacion de 
     Trabajadores Independientes de La Solud, 29-Garcia Reyes, 
     Jose: Movimiento Ignacio Agramonte, Camaguey, 30-Garcia 
     Quesada, Orfilio: Asociacion Cubana de Ingenieros, 31-Gomez 
     Manzano, Rene: Corriente Agramontista, 32-Gonzalez Noy, 
     Gladys: Asociacion Pro Arte Libre y Concertacion Democratica 
     Cubana, 33-Gonzalez Valdes, Lazaro: Partido Pro Derechos 
     Humanos Independiente, 34-Gutierrez Perez, Nancy: Movimiento 
     Pacifista por la Democracla, 35-Hecheverria Alarcon, Pedro: 
     Frente Democratico Calixto Garcia, 36-Hechevarria, A. 
     Yonasky: Movimiento Democratico Jose Marti, 37-Hernandez 
     Blanco, Amador: Comision de Derechos Humanos Jose Marit.
       38-Hernandez-Morales, Roberto: Atencion a Presos Politicos, 
     39-Herrera Castillo, Isidro: Movimiento Maceista por la 
     Dignidad, 40-Hidalgo Hernandez, Belkis R.: El Derecho Cubano, 
     41-Ibar Alonso, Ernesto: Asociacion de Jovenes Democratas, 
     42-Jalil Jabib Jabib: Movimiento de Derechos Humanos de 
     Carmaguey, 43-Jimenez Rodrguez, Aida Rosa: Asociacion Civica 
     Democratica, 44-Ledesma Cordero, Celso: Organizacion 
     Opositora 20 de Mayo, 45-Linares Blanco, Gladys: Frente 
     Femenino Humanitario, 46Linares Garcia, Librado: Movimiento 
     Reflexion, 47Lopez Diaz, Juan Jose: Corriente Liberal Cubana, 
     48-Lorens Nodal, Luis Felipe: Organizacion Juvenil Martiana, 
     49-Lorenzo Pimienta, Jorge Omar: Consejo Nacional de Derechos 
     Civiles, 50-Lugo Gutierrez, Osmel: Partido Democratico 30 de 
     Noviembre Frank Pais, 51-Maceda Gutierrez, Hector Fernando: 
     Movimiento Liberal Democratico.
       52-Marante Pozo, Jesus Ramon: Consejo Medico Cubano 
     Independiente, 53-Martinez Guillen, Juan: Confederacion de 
     Trabajadores Democraticos de Cuba, 54-Molina Morejon Hilda: 
     Colegio Medico Independiente, 55-Monzon Oviedo, Juan 
     Francisco: Partido Democrata Martiano, 56-Morejon Almagro, 
     Leonel: Movimiento Ecologista y Pacifista Naturpaz, 57-
     Morejon Brito, Orlando: Movimeiento Pacifista 5 de Agosto, 
     58-Morel Castillo, Raul: Frente Sindicalista Oriental 
     Independiente, 59-Ortiz Gonzaez, Clara: Comite Martiano Por 
     los Derechos del Hombre, 60-Paez Nunez, Lorenzo: Centro No 
     Gubernamental Jose de la Luz y Caballero Para los Derechos 
     Humanos y la Cultura de Paz, 61-Palacio Ruiz, Hector: Partido 
     Solidaridad Democratica, 62-Palenque Loveiro, Miguel A.: 
     Movimiento Pacifista Solidaridad y Paz, 63-Palma Rosell, 
     Ramon: Movimiento Patra, Independencia y Libertad.
       64-Paradas Antunez, Mercedes: Alianza Democratica Popular 
     (ADEPO), 65-Paya Sardin Osvaldo: Movimiento Cristiano 
     Liberacion, 66-Perera Gonzalez, Felix: Movimiento Amor 
     Cristiano, 67-Perera Martinez, Alberto: Comite Paz, Progreso 
     y Livertad, 68-Perez Pineda, Orlando: Fundacion Civica 
     Cubana, 69-Perez Rodriguez, Evaristo: Union Patriotica 
     Cristiana Independiente, 70-Perez-Fuente, Merida: Frente 
     Civico de Mujeres Martianas, Villaclara, 71-Pimentel, Raul: 
     Grupo Ecologico Alerta Verde, 72-Pino Sotolongo, Isabel del: 
     Association Humanitaria Seguidores de Cristo Rey, 73-Pozo 
     Marrero, Omar del: Union Civica Nacional (por estar en prison 
     firma Perez Castillo, Esteban), 74-Prades, Carlos, Union 
     Nacional Cubana, 75-

[[Page H1318]]
     Ramirez Munoz, Reiler, Union de Ex Presos Politicos Ignacio Agramonte, 
     76-Ramos Guerra, Jose Antonio: Sociedad Ecologista Cuba 
     Verde.
       77-Ramon Dominguez, Ernesto Pablo: Union Democratica 
     Martiana, 78-Restano Diaz, Yndamiro: Buro de Prensa 
     Independiente de Cuba, 79-Rios, Carlos M.: Sociedad Politica 
     de La Habana, 80-Rivero Milian, Reinaldo: Comite Julio 
     Sanguily Frente Unido Democratico Camaguey-Ciego de Avila, 
     81-Rivero, Raul: Agencia de Prensa Cuba Press, 82-Roca 
     Antunez, Vladimiro: Corriente Socialista Democratica, 83-
     Rodriguez Chaple, Eugenio: Bloque Democratico Jose Marti, 84-
     Rodriguez Gonzalez, Jorge L.: Movimiento Democracia y Paz, 
     Oriente, 85-Rodriguez Lovaina, Nestor: Movimiento Cubano de 
     Jovenes por la Democracia, 86-Rosario Rosabal, Nicolas M.: 
     Centro de Derechos Humanos de Santiago de Cuba, 87-Roque, 
     Marta Beatriz: Instituto Cubano de Economistas 
     Independientes, 88-Ruis Labrit, Vicky: Comite Cubano de 
     Opositores Pacificos Independientes.
       89-Salazar Aguero, Ismael: Asociacion de Trabajadores Por 
     Cuenta Propia, 90-Sanchez Santacruz, Elizardo: Comision 
     Cubana de Derechos Humanos y Reconciliacion Nacional, 91-
     Sanchez Salazar, Aurelio: Partido Social Cristiano, Camaguey, 
     92-Sanchez Valiente, Miguel Eumelio: Movimiento Libertad y 
     Democracia (por estar en prision firma Lopez Rodriguez, 
     Lazaro), 93-Santana Rodriguez, Felix: Grupo No. 5 Camaguey, 
     94-Socorro Salgado, Roberto: Movimiento Vicente Garcia, Las 
     Tunas, 95-Soto Caballero, Marcelino: Union de Ex Presos 
     Politicos, Camaguey, 96-Troncoso Aguiar, Javier: Union 
     Sidical Cabaileros del Trabajo, 97-Valdes Fundora, Juan 
     Antonio: Proyecto Cristiano por los Derechos Humanos y 
     Sindicales, Santa Clara, 98-Valdes Rosado, Maria: Partido 
     Democrata Cristiano, 99-Valdes Santana, Aida: Oficina de 
     Informacion de Derechos Humanos, 100-Valido Gutierrez, Manuel 
     E.: Grupo Independiente Minas, Sierra de Cubitas.

  Mr. Speaker, to America's corporate community, it is time for them to 
understand that your approaches to Castro are undermining dissidency 
movements within Cuba. It is undermining people who risk their lives to 
promote human rights. It is undermining people who want to see 
democracy flourish in Cuba. There are no greater economic opportunities 
in a country except a country that is democratic, one that respects the 
rule of law, one in which you can get your contracts enforced, one in 
which you will not worry about your properties being confiscated when 
it is no longer in the interests of the dictatorship, when you have 
produced enough money for him to stay afloat, when you have provided 
the resources and the wherewithal to be able for him to have his 
stranglehold on the people.
  So to the American corporate community, do you want to do business 
with someone who in fact has the type of blood on his hands that Fidel 
Castro has? Is there no conscience? Is the bottom line the ultimate 
factor in your decisionmaking?
  Cubans on the island cannot even be paid directly by a foreign 
company. These hotels that are opened up by foreign companies in other 
parts of the world, who open them up in Cuba, they cannot pay their 
workers. They pay the regime. The regime takes most of the money and 
gives the worker a subsistence wage. So what do we have? We have slave 
labor.
  What guarantees? Castro has said time and time again in many 
interviews that these economic reforms, which we have created, by the 
way, the limited economic reforms that exist in Cuba today, the 
acceptance of the American dollar, for which it was illegal to own 
until a few years ago, and the reducing of the third largest Army in 
all the Western Hemisphere, which when I mentioned this on the House 
floor many times there is a snicker. No, they are not going to come and 
invade the United States. That is not my point.
  But does a small island like the people of Cuba who live on, 10 or 11 
million people, why do they need the third largest army in all of the 
Western Hemisphere per capita? Why does not the regime reduce the size 
of that army and put more food on the plates of Cuban families who go 
hungry? Why spend all of that money on security forces, on a repressive 
army? Well, in fact, I just gave you two examples why, because Castro 
does not understand how to deal with pacifism. He does not understand 
how to deal with people who by peaceful means seek to either leave his 
regime or to promote democracy within the country. Because what did he 
do to Concilio Cubano? He went ahead and arrested many of its national 
leadership. Over 100 people are now in jail. He has others under house 
arrest. Women were strip-searched so they would be intimidated in 
participating with the organization. Some of its members are in hiding, 
seeking assistance from countries that have embassies there. They are 
looking for a place to go to. And yet we find doors that are closed and 
unwilling to accept them as a legitimate political refugee.

                              {time}  2115

  What did we see in the tugboat incident? Using that very armed forces 
to kill his own people, men, women, and children, and using his armed 
forces which he has gone way too far to shoot down U.S. citizens. Yet 
that army, as large as it is, has been reduced also because of the 
necessity that we have created against the regime. The acceptance of 
the dollar is because we have created that necessity. The international 
investment today that exists in Cuba is because we have created that 
necessity and that necessity has been the agent of change within Cuba.
  Now, when the international community says that they want to promote 
democracy and human rights in Cuba, fine, let us see you do it. Why are 
you not giving refuge to those people who are peaceful dissidents and 
human rights activists? Why aren't you raising your voices? Isn't the 
bottom line the ultimate question for you, as well?
  So to our international community and to our corporate community, 
there must be some sense of conscience in which one does not want to 
support a dictator who ruthlessly uses his armed forces against 
innocent civilians, and I would hope that the business community 
doesn't want to be supporting someone who has in cold blood 
premeditatedly had American citizens on his command killed.

  I would like to meet the CEO's of those companies that in fact 
believe that it makes sense to invest in Cuba, in this regime, in this 
island in which there is no freedom but among the worst tryanny that 
the world has known. I would like to meet those CEO's. I hope that they 
will call me, and I want them to justify for me how you make such an 
investment in Cuba at a time such as this, and I would like them to be 
with me when they explain that to the families of the four United 
States citizens who died because of their willingness to go ahead and 
seek to rescue other people fleeing from the regime. I would like to 
hear you tell them, because I would really like to hear your 
explanation. It is in the United States' interests, forgetting about 
the people of Cuba for the moment, it is in the United States interest 
to pass a strong Helms-Burton bill, not only on the questions of 
democracy and human rights that we have spoken about.
  It is in our national interest because Castro seeks to finish 
building in Cuba a Chernobyl-type nuclear power plant 90 miles from our 
very shores, a nuclear power plant that in fact, through a GAO report, 
states has serious risk to it because of its design and construction 
with defective wells. A report that goes and tells us that an accident 
at that plant which could be very likely if it were to be finished 
would create a situation in which radioactive material would fly as far 
north as the Nation's Capital and as far west as Texas. Do we really 
need a regime to have a nuclear power plant, a Chernobyl-type nuclear 
power plant, 90 miles from the United States? I think not. Not when we 
have seen the ruthlessness of this regime.
  It is in our national interest to stand up for U.S. citizens and 
companies when their properties are illegally confiscated. It is in our 
national interest to have democracy come to the people of Cuba so that 
we do not face within the context of the Caribbean and Latin America a 
source of instability. It is in our national interest because in fact 
the resources that are spent. Let us look at the resources that are 
spent within Cuba.
  The fact of the matter is that many of our companies seeking to 
circumvent our embargo spend an enormous amount of money in Cuba. They 
do it through attempts through third-party agreements. They are willing 
to, in essence, violate the laws of the United States, and it will be 
interesting some hearings that we are going to have about that how that 
goes about. But it is in our interest to have a country that observes 
the rule of law for which there can be legitimate investment, mutually 
beneficial, for which 

[[Page H1319]]
we do not have to worry about a regime that will confiscate that 
property. For which we do not have to worry about a regime that if it 
was economically viable, which it is not right now, but which seeks to 
be economically viable by the assistance, both of private sectors and 
the international community, would again create the unrest that they 
created in the Caribbean and in Latin America at the height of their 
assistance from the Soviet Union.
  And yes, the cold war is over, but no one has told Fidel Castro that. 
He still wants to hang on at any cost. So the fact of the matter is 
that what we have is proven facts. Setting up U.S. citizens, having 
somebody infiltrate them, giving him the word, here is there flight 
plan, having already sensed, well, what is going to be the U.S. 
reaction? Ultimately, what will they do? Well, maybe a little 
condemnation. Maybe they will stop a little money, but that is 
about it. But what message does he send?

  He sends a message I can take United States citizens and kill them in 
cold blood, and at the same time he sends a message to the people 
inside Cuba, if this is what I can do with the United States citizens, 
imagine what I can do to you, so you better stay in line.
  What is our response? Steps in the right direction, but it is clearly 
not sufficient. What is the international community's response? A 
little condemnation, but we will continue to deal with Castro. We will 
continue to give him money. We will continue to give him aid. We will 
continue to do business with him. What is the message? It is the wrong 
message. It says you do not have to observe international law. You do 
not have to live by the rule of law. You do not have to live under the 
process of a democracy. And you can get away with it. And you can get 
away with it. There will be a little screaming and yelling, but when it 
is all over, at the end, it will return to business as usual.
  Now, we can change this course of events. We can say it is important 
to promote democracy and human rights. It is important to live by the 
rule of law. It is important because countries that are democracies are 
less likely to commit acts against other democracies. It is in our 
national interest, and we can sent those messages by passing a strong 
Helms-Burton bill.
  We can do that as we go to conference tomorrow. We can be leaders and 
we were leaders once before in this regard. The international community 
said, oh, we do not like the Torricelli bill, the Cuban Democracy Act. 
Well, in the end, this Congress acted with leadership. Congressman 
Torricelli promoted that bill as its sponsor. It was signed by 
President Bush with then-candidate Clinton then strongly supporting it. 
And we have the basis of our present-day policy toward Cuba.
  And the international community also said they did not like that. But 
that did not stop us. It did not deter us. And the agent of change in 
which much of the international communities today benefiting from is 
because of our very leadership, is because we have been promoting an 
economic embargo that in fact creates necessity for the regime and, 
therefore, creates the pressure for them to change and therefore 
permits international investment and the acceptance of the American 
dollar, and the reducing of an army that the Cuban people do not need, 
nor do we in the hemisphere need in terms of the size and potency of 
that army.
  So we have shown through our leadership, despite what some others 
have said, that in fact we can be a beacon of light throughout the 
hemisphere and the world, that we can promote democracy, that we can 
promote human rights. And yes, sometimes we will take criticism, but 
that doesn't mean that we should be deterred.
  Tomorrow, as the House goes into conference, we have that opportunity 
again. And I would hope that the President, based upon his comments, 
will in fact join the bipartisan efforts, both in the House and in the 
Senate, to send a strong message to the Castro regime, to send the 
message in fact that we will not tolerate the brutal gunning down of 
American citizens. That we will stand up for U.S. interests. That we 
will help the Cuban people realize their dream of democracy and of 
respect for human rights. And that yes, that is one of the pillars of 
our foreign diplomacy. And when we do that, then as a nation we lead, 
not only within the hemisphere, but in the world.
  I know that right now the eyes of the world are upon us in how we 
react in this case. I certainly hope that my colleagues who have in the 
past said that they are for promoting democratic change within Cuba 
speak up and raise their voices on behalf of the peaceful dissidents 
within Cuba who have been arrested, lost their liberties. I hope that 
they will raise their voices against the barbaric acts taken by the 
Castro regime. And I hope that they will understand that the only way 
to send a strong message to this dictatorship, which has shown itself 
by every possible standard to be a brutal regime, that the only message 
to send now is by having a strong bipartisan vote on the upcoming 
Helms-Burton conference on the legislation that will be presented to us 
and then a signature by the President of the United States, the 
greatest country in the world, who would ultimately say to the people 
of Cuba, we are in solidarity with you.
  We want to promote democracy, but we are unwilling to deal with a 
regime that brutalizes its people, that has no respect for 
international law. We say to that regime, it is time, your time is 
over. Get out of the way and let the people of Cuba realize their 
democracy. Let Cuba come into the family of nations that has promoted 
democracy. Let this hemisphere be the first hemisphere in the history 
of mankind to in fact have every nation be a democracy.
  And, last, we send to the world community a message that we will not 
tolerate the safety of our citizens, the lives of our citizens being 
expendable by any dictator anywhere in the world.

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