[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 90 (Friday, June 25, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1260]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING THE LIBERTY COLUMN MONUMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PETER DEUTSCH

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 24, 2004

  Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the public outcry 
over the defaced Liberty Column Monument in Miami's Bayfront Park.
  The Liberty Column Monument is dedicated to the thousands of Cuban 
rafters who have lost their lives at sea while fleeing Fidel Castro's 
Cuba. Embodying their sacrifice, having risked everything for a chance 
at freedom, the monument is a pair of hands, bound in stone, reaching 
towards the open sky. The column is an important symbol to our 
community as many have lost family and friends to the cold waters off 
of the American shore.
  Humberto Sanchez, a Cuban exile himself, paid $30,000 to create the 
monument in 1994. He has been collecting pieces of rafts off of Florida 
shores for years and has dedicated himself to memorializing the exodus 
of the Cuban rafter. Mr. Sanchez exemplifies the spirit and courage of 
the people he has celebrated in the Liberty Column.
  Much to my great dismay, and to that of the Miami community, the 
Liberty Column Monument was recently vandalized in a despicable and 
most disrespectful fashion. I am pleased to inform the House that there 
is an ongoing movement to raise funds for its repair. There have also 
been talks of upgrading the monument to pure bronze to prevent future 
destruction.
  Mr. Speaker, I am hopeful that the police will track down the 
criminals who damaged this symbol, and I am certain that the renovated 
Liberty Column Monument will continue to honor the lost souls who did 
not survive the voyage to free, American soil.

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