[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 26, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H632]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    MULTINATIONAL ORGANIZATION TO RULE ON U.S. IMMIGRATION POLICIES

  (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, it is inconceivable but true. A 
multinational organization, headquartered in another country, is about 
to rule on whether we here in the United States can establish our own 
immigration policies.
  The World Trade Organization has set up a three-person panel which is 
hearing the challenge presented by the European Union against our 
overwhelmingly supported anti-Castro law known as Helms-Burton. That 
law says that anyone who knowingly trafficks in illegally confiscated 
property which belongs to a U.S. citizen will not be allowed into our 
borders. Protection of private properties is not only an American 
cornerstone, it is also international law. Cuba should be no exception.
  The administration must make it quite clear that the United States 
will not allow any international organization to dictate our foreign 
policy, and we must assert our willingness to use the national security 
clause to defend the Helms-Burton law. Anything short of this will 
compromise our rights as an independent and sovereign Nation. The U.S. 
Congress writes our laws and not a multinational organization.

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