[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 172 (Thursday, December 1, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H7066]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    THE DEATH OF FIDEL CASTRO BRINGS AN OPPORTUNITY OF HOPE FOR CUBA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
South Carolina (Mr. Wilson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, last Friday began a new 
era for the people of Cuba. For too long, the murderous dictatorship of 
Fidel Castro has reduced one of Latin America's wealthiest countries to 
mass poverty in order to benefit the Communist elite and the military.
  A recent editorial in The Charleston Post and Courier stated: 
``Fidel, though he thrived on opposing the U.S., he was long 
subservient to another superpower, the Soviet Union, until its welcome 
demise in 1991. He also was an enthusiastic proponent of the Soviets' 
reckless decision to put weapons of mass destruction aimed at the U.S. 
in his country.''
  President-elect Trump has correctly reviewed: ``It is my hope that 
today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long, and 
toward a future in which the wonderful Cuban people finally live in the 
freedom they so richly deserve.''
  I have been inspired by the late Louis and Nena Gonda, who fled Cuba 
with their three daughters as all of their property was stolen. They 
told me about their daughters. They were told to pack for a 2-week 
visit to visit a sick aunt in New York. They went to a department store 
there in Cuba, and they bought suitcases. When they arrived home, the 
secret police were already at the house. They asked them: What are you 
buying suitcases for? It was explained that they were buying suitcases 
to go visit a sick aunt in New York and that they would be returning in 
2 weeks.
  They just didn't have the heart to tell their children--their three 
young girls--that they would never return to their home, that they 
would never see their personal property. Their cars, the ones that now 
appear to be unique, are all stolen cars when you see the classic cars 
in Cuba. Everything that the family owned was stolen by the Communist 
government.
  They fled to West Columbia, South Carolina, where they worked hard to 
achieve the American Dream of extraordinary economic success as 
neighbors in my home County of Lexington, South Carolina.
  In conclusion, God bless our troops; and may the President, by his 
actions, never forget September the 11th in the global war on 
terrorism.

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