[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 61 (Wednesday, May 17, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H3290-H3291]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SHOW OF FORCE WAS NOT NECESSARY
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, a few days ago on this floor I mentioned
that most polls showed that the people thought that Elian Gonzalez
should be
[[Page H3291]]
returned to his father. As a father, I could understand those feelings.
I had very mixed emotions about that case.
But I said that regardless of how people thought the custody should
be handled, all Americans should have been shocked and saddened by the
way the excessive gestapo-like way the Justice Department handled that
predawn raid at the home in Miami. I quoted Lawrence Tribe and Alan
Dershowitz, two very liberal Harvard professors, who said that the way
this was handled with the Justice Department taking the law into their
own hands should be considered a real danger to the freedom of all
Americans.
In the May 10 edition of the Conservative Chronicle, there is a
column reprinted by Charley Reese, the nationally syndicated columnist,
who last year was voted by C-SPAN viewers as their favorite or most
popular nationally syndicated columnist. I would like to read most of
the column that he wrote concerning this, because it expresses a lot of
views that I think need to be expressed and people need to think about.
Mr. Reese wrote this: ``The comic book raid on Elian Gonzalez's Miami
family is a new low, even for the Federal Government. Pointing machine
guns and screaming obscenities seem to be standard operating procedure
for Federal law enforcement officers, even when the only people to
scream at and point guns at are unarmed Christian men and women and
small children.
``The truth is that two unarmed female officers could have gone to
that home during any normal hour and removed Elian Gonzalez without any
danger to the child, to themselves or to bystanders. That Miami family
has never once said it would resist. It has always tried to follow the
law, which I should point out is not the same as Attorney General Janet
Reno's whim. Instead, the feds chose to act as if they were raiding the
hideout of Colombian drug dealers.
``The U.S. action was disgraceful. You don't transfer children at
gunpoint. And I, for one American,'' Mr. Reese continues, ``I, for one
American, am getting tired of Federal cops screaming profanity,
pointing guns, and shoving around people who have not been convicted of
any crime. This is not how a free society operates. It is how
dictatorships and authoritarian governments act.
``The real message of this raid is how estranged the Federal
Government is from the American people. The government apparently fears
the people, and people who are feared are soon hated. The Federal
Government has increasingly acted as if it has merely to speak, and all
of us must lock heels and shout `Sieg Heil.' Horse manure.
``Sovereignty in this country resides with the people. The government
is our servant, not our master. The American people had better pull
their heads out of that place where they cannot see and reassert their
sovereignty before it is too late. There aren't any trends in
Washington moving toward respect for the law and liberty. The trends
are moving toward arbitrary and authoritarian government.''
Mr. Reese continues in this great column and says this:
``Reno's poor decision-making notwithstanding, the issue of custody
is not as clear-cut as she makes it out to be. One of the points to be
settled by the Appeals Court is can someone else speak for a child when
the child's interest and that of the parent is in conflict?
``The heel-clickers are now pointing to pictures of Elian as if that
proves their point. It doesn't. Nobody in Miami has tried to estrange
Elian from his father. Their concern all along has been to keep Elian
from being forcibly returned to Cuba without having his day in court,
which Reno tried to deny him.
``It is the boy's father who has refused to go to Miami, refused to
meet with the boy and family at any neutral site. Whether that is his
decision or his instructions from the Cuban or American or both
governments, I don't know. But I do know that nobody in Miami ever
suggested that Elian would not be happy to see his father. They had
talked several times on the telephone while Elian was in Miami.
``Once more the Clinton administration has shown its contempt for the
law and contempt for the American people, especially conservative
Americans. It has, from day one, taken exactly the same position as the
communist dictator Fidel Castro. Those who think that Castro really
cares about Elian should ask the old greybeard why he ordered his goons
to drown more than a dozen children and their parents when they tried
to escape Cuba in 1994.
``This administration has slapped in the face and insulted one of the
finest groups of Americans within the United States, the Cuban exile
community.''
I commend this column by Mr. Reese. I will place it in full in the
Congressional Record. I say again that we should be very concerned when
the Justice Department takes its law into its own hands and ignores
very strong criticism from Federal courts of appeal.
Mr. Speaker, I include the article for the Record.
Show of Force Wasn't Necessary
(By Charley Reese)
May 1.--I had thought that there was nothing Bill Clinton
could do that would make me think less of him than I already
do. That was a mistake on my part.
The comic book raid on Elian Gonzalez's Miami family is a
new low, even for the federal government. Pointing machine
guns and screaming obscenities seem to be standard operating
procedure for federal law-enforcement officers--even when the
only people to scream at and point guns at are unarmed
Christian men and women and small children.
The truth is that two unarmed female officers could have
gone to that home during any normal hour and removed Elian
Gonzalez without any danger to the child, to themselves or to
bystanders. That Miami family has never once said it would
resist. it has always tried to follow the law, which, I
should point out, is not the same as Attorney General Janet
Reno's whim. Instead, the feds chose to act as if they were
raiding the hideout of Colombian drug dealers.
The U.S. action was disgraceful. You don't transfer
children at gunpoint. And I, for one American, am getting
tired of federal cops screaming profanity, pointing guns and
shoving around people who have not been convicted of any
crime. That is not how a free society operates. It's how
dictatorships and authoritarian governments act.
The real message of this raid is how estranged the federal
government is from the American people. The government
apparently fears the people, and people who are feared are
soon hated. The federal government has increasingly acted as
if it has merely to speak and all of us must lock heels and
shout ``Sieg Heil.'' Horse manure.
Sovereignty in this country resides with the people. The
government is our servant, not our master. The American
people had better pull their heads out of that place where
they can't see and reassert their sovereignty before it's too
late. There aren't any trends in Washington moving toward
respect for the law and liberty. The trends are moving toward
arbitrary and authoritarian government.
Reno's poor decision-making notwithstanding, the issue of
custody is not as clear-cut as she makes it out to be. One of
the points to be settled by the appeals court is: Can someone
else speak for a child when the child's interest and that of
the parent is in conflict?
The heel-clickers are now pointing to pictures of Elian
with his father as if that proves their point. It doesn't.
Nobody in Miami has tried to estrange Elian from his father.
Their concern all along has been to keep Elian from being
forcibly returned to Cuba without having his day in court,
which Reno tried to deny him.
It's the boy's father who has refused to go to Miami,
refused to meet with the boy and the family at any neutral
site. Whether that's his decision, or his instructions from
the Cuban or American or both governments, I don't know. But
I do know that nobody in Miami ever suggested that Elian
wouldn't be happy to see his father. They had talked several
times on the telephone while Elian was in Miami.
Once more the Clinton administration has shown its contempt
for the law and contempt for the American people--especially
conservative Americans. It has, from day one, taken exactly
the same position as the communist dictator Fidel Castro.
Those who think that Castro really cares about Elian should
ask the old greybeard why he ordered his goons to drown more
than a dozen children and their parents when they tried to
escape Cuba in 1994.
This administration has slapped in the face and insulted
one of the finest group of Americans within the United
States, the Cuban exile community. I expect that a lot of
Florida Democrats will regret that in November.
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