[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 30 (Tuesday, March 11, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H851-H852]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                ON CUBA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida [Ms. Ros-Lehtinen] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow marks the first anniversary 
of the signing into law of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity 
Act, better known as the Helms-Burton law.
  This historic legislation set a precedent for the protection of the 
property rights of all Americans. It tells foreign investors that if 
they traffick in illegally confiscated American property in Cuba, they 
will be subject to lawsuits in American courts and may be denied entry 
into our country.
  As a secondary goal, the law targets the reduction of foreign 
investments in Cuba which the Castro regime has been using to reinforce 
its totalitarian state since the downfall of the Soviet Union and the 
end of Soviet subsidies.

                              {time}  1815

  On both respects, Mr. Speaker, in protecting American property rights 
and in reducing the hard currency obtained by the Castro dictatorship, 
the

[[Page H852]]

Helms-Burton law has been effective. Indeed, it has been a success.
  Despite the decision by the Clinton administration to waive title III 
of the law, which is the provision that grants U.S. citizens the right 
to file a lawsuit against those investors who traffic in their 
property, the Helms-Burton law has had a significant chilling effect on 
the level of foreign investments flowing to the Castro regime.
  Even top officials of the Castro regime have asserted the damaging 
effects of Helms-Burton on Castro's slave economy.
  Dozens of companies have pulled out of Cuba following the 
implementation of the law. Some of them included Bow Valley Industries 
of Canada, Grupo Vitro of Mexico, Guitart of Spain, and Pemex of 
Mexico, among others.
  Other firms, like British BAT and Beta Gran Caribe and Heenan Blaey 
of Canada put their operations on hold to reassess their commercial and 
legal risks under Helms-Burton.
  Also, Grupo Domos, the large Mexican telecommunications conglomerate, 
recently announced plans to withdraw its offer to create a joint 
venture with the Cuban regime to rehabilitate the Cuban domestic 
telephone system.
  Grupo Domos, which last year, along with the Cuban Government, 
announced with great fanfare this contract, failed to obtain the 
necessary financing to cover its obligations under the agreement.
  Perhaps the most damaging effect has been on Castro's ability to 
finance Cuba's sugar crop, one of the regime's main sources of hard 
currency.
  Last fall the Dutch bank, ING, pulled its financing of equipment 
destined for Cuba's sugar harvest. As a result, the Cuban sugar harvest 
is expected to be below what was expected before.
  The report states that top Castro officials fault the Helms-Burton 
law as the cause of the problems for the regime.
  Helms-Burton has helped reduce the growth of Castro's slave economy, 
thus weakening the regime's ability to hold on to power.
  Let us remember that before the Helms-Burton law took effect, foreign 
investors were free to profit from legitimate American property stolen 
by Fidel Castro in order to exploit the Cuban worker, who enjoys no 
rights and no freedoms.
  Castro's economy was described by a Canadian business journal as a 
pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And why not? In Cuba's slave 
economy, the one in which many of our allies willingly and immorally 
participate, Castro profits while the Cuban worker suffers.
  Once foreign companies are approved by the regime for investments, 
the Cuban Government selects the workers who will labor in the 
industry. The Cuban Government collects the worker's wages in dollars, 
estimated at about $2,000 a month, and then pays the worker in 
worthless Cuban pesos, about $10 a month.
  Moreover, the companies do not have to worry about bothersome 
workers' rights, including the right to form labor unions, and there 
are no health standards nor environmental standards. Castro has one 
mission, obtain foreign currency, and he will do it by sacrificing the 
Cuban worker, or anything else that he has at his disposal.
  While Helms-Burton has undoubtedly served its purpose so far, 
disappointing has been the reaction of our allies, particularly Canada 
and the European Union. The European Union has already filed a 
ridiculous and irresponsible challenge to Helms-Burton before the World 
Trade Organization. Apparently our European friends believe that our 
Nation has no right to determine our own foreign policy.
  Even more shameful has been the behavior of Canada, a nation that has 
sacrificed its long reputation of promoting human rights and democracy 
in favor of making a quick profit off of stolen property and the 
exploited Cuban worker.
  On a recent visit to Canada to lambast the Helms-Burton law, Canadian 
Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy highlighted the signature of an 
agreement with the Castro regime supporting the protection of human 
rights. At almost the same moment that fake document was signed, dozens 
of dissidents and independent journalists were being rounded up by 
Castro's thugs.
  Helms-Burton has been a success, and we will not wait in our attempts 
to making sure that property rights of American citizens will be 
protected.

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