[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
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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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