[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 5 (Monday, January 12, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E51-E52]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        CUBA A SPONSOR OF TERROR

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 12, 2015

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following:

              [From National Review Online, Jan. 6, 2015]

                 Yes, Cuba Is a State Sponsor of Terror

                 (By Yleem Poblete & Jason I. Poblete)

       The most senior U.S. delegation in decades will soon be in 
     Havana to engage a declared enemy of the United States in 
     discussions about ``normalizing'' relations. Covering much 
     more subject matter than routine migration issues, these 
     meetings stem in large measure from the December 17 return of 
     spies to Cuba who are responsible for American deaths.
       Obama sent three Cuban spies back to the island, trading 
     them for the release of American Alan Gross. Mr. Gross had 
     been held hostage for five years for the ``crime'' of 
     teaching Jewish Cubans how to connect to the Internet. As 
     part of this lopsided deal, the Obama administration also 
     declared American policy a failure and offered a large basket 
     of potential economic and diplomatic benefits.
       This was a significant ideological and political victory 
     for the Communist regime.

[[Page E52]]

     And there are more rewards in the offing. Administration 
     officials are reportedly considering removing Cuba from the 
     U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism--a request Raul 
     Castro made in May 2014 and one that the Cuban regime has 
     made many times in recent years. Under Section 6(j) of the 
     Export Administration Act, a country's designation as 
     supporting acts of international terrorism may be rescinded 
     in only two ways. Cuba is not ready to come off that list. 
     Quite the opposite.
       In the first instance, the President must certify to the 
     Congress that there has been a fundamental change in the 
     leadership and policies of the government in question, as was 
     the case with Iraq after the removal of Saddam Hussein. There 
     is no legitimate way that administration officials can make 
     such a claim with respect to Cuba. Moreover, the criteria for 
     determining such a systemic transformation is clearly defined 
     in the LIBERTAD Act, known as the Helms-Burton law. For 
     starters, as stated in the law, Fidel and Raul Castro cannot 
     be part of the governing structure.
       That leaves only the second option for removal from the 
     list. To remove Cuba's terrorism designation, the president 
     would need to submit a report to Congress, 45 days prior to 
     the proposed removal, certifying that 1) the regime has not 
     provided any support for international terrorism during the 
     preceding six months and 2) the government has provided 
     assurances that it will not support acts of international 
     terrorism in the future. Most would agree that Cuba fails on 
     both counts.
       Cuba has supported and provided safe haven to members of 
     the Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) and the Revolutionary 
     Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Both are U.S.-designated 
     Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). The Obama 
     administration would therefore need to remove ETA and FARC 
     from the FTO list, before removing Cuba from the state-
     sponsors-of-terrorism list. Both actions are untenable at 
     this time. Unless Spain's foreign-policy establishment is 
     about to make a radical shift in thinking, ETA remains a 
     terrorist organization and there are ETA sympathizers in Cuba 
     who are wanted for terrible crimes against the Spanish 
     people. As for FARC, despite the faux peace process in Havana 
     the past few months, it continues to carry out violent acts 
     in Colombia, has no plans to lay down arms anytime soon, and 
     has links to al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb 
     (AQIM).
       The ``April 2014 State Department Country Reports on 
     Terrorism,'' however, implied that the only role the Castro 
     regime had with FARC was facilitating travel for the ``peace 
     talks'' between these terrorists and the Colombian 
     government. It further stated that the ETA presence in Cuba 
     is diminished. It would appear that a kinder-and-gentler Cuba 
     narrative is being written to accommodate a preconceived 
     policy outcome.
       Administration officials have reportedly spent the last two 
     years creating a foundation for Obama's Cuba announcement on 
     December 17--all the while denying any such activity when 
     asked by Congress about related news reports. If this sounds 
     familiar, it's because it closely parallels the script used 
     in the negotiations leading to the release of five Taliban 
     leaders held at Guantanamo in exchange for Bowe Bergdahl.
       The State Department terrorism report also makes references 
     beyond ETA and FARC--most significantly that Cuba harbors 
     several fugitives of U.S. justice. Terrorists, murderers, and 
     other violent criminals are being protected, well fed, and 
     supported by the Communist regime. Among these is a woman 
     convicted of first-degree murder, Joanne Chesimard. Also 
     known as Assata Shakur, she is on the FBI's Most Wanted 
     Terrorists list for executing a New Jersey State Police 
     trooper. With the help of the Black Liberation Army, she 
     broke out of prison and found refuge in Cuba. According to 
     the FBI, Chesimard ``continues to profess her radical anti-
     U.S. government ideology.'' New Jersey governor Chris 
     Christie said recently that he wants her back in New Jersey. 
     He'll be waiting a long time.
       Basing the decision to remove Cuba from the state-sponsors-
     of-terrorism list solely on these above-referenced examples 
     (there is probably a great deal more in classified form), the 
     president would need to prove that for the six months prior 
     to the proposed rescission, the Cuban dictatorship did not 
     provide any assistance to terrorists and had unconditionally 
     returned U.S. fugitives. But Communist-party officials have 
     already stated publicly that Cuba considers Chesimard a 
     political asylee and, as such, not to be released into U.S. 
     custody.
       The president would also have to accept as credible the 
     ``assurances'' from the Havana regime that it would not 
     provide support in the future for international terrorism--a 
     difficult task given intelligence gaps highlighted in the 
     State Department's terrorism report. The pertinent section 
     states: ``There was no indication that the Cuban government 
     provided weapons or paramilitary training to terrorist 
     groups,'' but it provides no further data or analysis on 
     these activities. It also fails to address the relationship 
     and cooperation between Cuba and other state sponsors of 
     terrorism such as Iran, or other entities listed on the FTO 
     List.
       And then there is the question of intelligence tainted and 
     manipulated by Americans spying for the Cuban regime. One of 
     the most notorious of these traitors, Ana Belen Montes, used 
     her position at the Defense Intelligence Agency to provide 
     Cuban handlers copious amounts of highly sensitive data, 
     including military contingency plans, details of 
     intelligence-gathering efforts, and profiles of a broad 
     spectrum of U.S. officials.
       Congress must therefore require a comprehensive appraisal 
     of the range of Cuba's activities against the U.S. and its 
     interests and priorities before the White House can make any 
     decision on whether Cuba will remain on the terrorism list. 
     The review must cover no less than a 20-year period and 
     include a fresh appraisal of all available raw data used in 
     the Clinton-era Pentagon assessment spearheaded by Montes. 
     The review should include detailed intelligence and analysis 
     of unconventional threats and programs that have dual-use 
     application, such as Cuba's biotech capabilities.
       The congressional national-security and judiciary 
     committees must be given full access to all files pertaining 
     to the WASP spy network, including data related to the 1996 
     Brothers to the Rescue shoot-down, as well as damage 
     assessments for all Americans and non-Americans convicted of 
     spying for the Cuban regime.
       However, if President Obama chooses to proceed irrespective 
     of the aforementioned conditions and determines that Cuba 
     should be removed from the state-sponsors-of-terrorism list, 
     Congress would have only 45 days from the submission date to 
     evaluate the rescission proposal and act accordingly.
       Members of the House and Senate must therefore be proactive 
     in countering the executive action outlined on December 17 
     and in preventing further damage. Failure to do so would make 
     Congress complicit in the administration's acquiescence to 
     Cuba's Communist regime; it would undermine American 
     interests and reinforce a message of weakness to other 
     enemies of freedom and security.

                          ____________________