[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18191]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2310
         OPPOSITION TO ALLOWING AMERICAN TOURIST TRAVEL TO CUBA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gingrey). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to address the issue of 
American tourists visiting the island of Cuba this evening. Mr. 
Speaker, in my opinion now is not the time to open American tourism to 
Cuba. American tourists should not be allowed to soak in the sun of 
Cuba's beaches while so many of Cuba's democracy leaders and 
independent thinkers suffer under inhumane conditions in Cuba's jails.
  Behind Cuba's tropical weather and vacation resorts lies a repressive 
regime. This is the same regime that earlier this year arrested over 80 
nonviolent human rights advocates, pro-democracy leaders, and 
independent journalists in a campaign by Castro and his forces to 
silence all voices of opposition on the island.
  Mr. Speaker, I have said in the past that doing business with Cuba 
means doing business with Castro. So long as Castro maintains his 
stranglehold on every aspect of Cuban life, allowing Americans to 
travel to Cuba would mean subsidizing Castro. Most Cuban tourist 
operations are run by the Cuban military and internal security 
services. These so-called ``companies'' funnel money directly into the 
regime, earning them the hard currency necessary to perpetuate their 
repressive policies. Contrary to popular belief, increased tourist 
travel to the island would not increase purposeful contact with the 
Cuban people. Canadians and Europeans have been traveling to Cuba for 
years, and yet there has been no measurable impact on or change in 
Castro's control over his people.
  Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, 98 percent of Cuban citizens are forbidden 
even entry into the tourist areas, which is Fidel Castro's way of 
denying foreigners the ability to gain a glimpse into the reality of 
Cuban life. Those Cubans who do work at the resorts are forbidden to 
engage in certain types of conversations with foreigners, including any 
mention of Cuba's political situation, the U.S. embargo, and other such 
issues.
  Citizens who work at the resorts are employed by a State employment 
agency run by the Castro regime. The foreign resorts pay the worker's 
wages to the state agency in dollars, but the worker receives only 
pesos. Therefore, between 95 percent and 97 percent of a worker's wages 
are kept by Castro.
  Mr. Speaker, by lifting travel sanctions with nothing in exchange 
from the Cuban Government, we are betraying the very people these 
policies were designed to help. By allowing American citizens to sip 
drinks on Cuba's coastline, we are turning our backs on the journalists 
and pro-democracy advocates that are wasting away in Cuba's jails. I 
urge my colleagues to join with me and oppose any attempts to lift 
travel restrictions and to remain committed to their support for the 
Cuban people.

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