[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12361-12362]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 146--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE 
ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL TO PROSECUTE CRIMES AGAINST 
 HUMANITY COMMITTED BY FIDEL CASTRO RUZ AND OTHER CUBAN POLITICAL AND 
                            MILITARY LEADERS

  Mr. REID (for himself and Mr. Ensign) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I submit this resolution on my behalf and 
that of Senator Ensign. Senator Ensign is not present on the floor 
today because, as I speak, he is in Florida. He will be the keynote 
speaker in Florida at the Cuban Independence Day celebration. And it 
should be a celebration.
  Because today, Mr. President, a proud Cuban people should mark the 
101st anniversary of their independence. But they have not had that 
independence for the last 44 years.
  I applaud and commend my colleague from Nevada for taking the time 
and effort to be in Florida to be the spokesperson for those of us who 
hope for a truly independent Cuba--a Cuba free of the tyrant Fidel 
Castro.
  I realize that another dictator is on the minds of many Americans 
these days. Our troops continue to investigate the fate of that man--
Saddam Hussein--and to search for his top henchmen. We must ensure that 
all these despicable figures are held accountable for their crimes 
against humanity. Under the direction of Hussein, the Iraqi leadership 
embarked upon one of history's most premeditated and brutal campaigns 
of theft, kidnapping, torture, and murder against the Iraqi, Kuwaiti, 
Kurdish, and Iranian people. We are, as I speak, finding graves in Iraq 
where hundreds, if not thousands, of people are buried who have been 
murdered by the henchmen of Saddam Hussein and his two sons. Some 
200,000 Iraqis are still missing, most taken from their homes under 
cover of darkness, never to be seen or heard from again.
  In the modern era, such crimes cannot go unpunished. The United 
States must assist the Iraqi people in bringing Hussein--if he is still 
alive--and all other responsible Iraqi officials to justice. The 
victims of their crimes, including U.S. soldiers, deserve no less.
  But closer to home, 90 miles from the shores of the United States, 
Fidel Castro continues to wage a vicious assault against fundamental 
human rights and liberties. For more than 44 years, he has led a 
tyrannical regime in Cuba that systematically violates basic human 
rights, including freedoms of expression, association, assembly, and 
movement.
  Since 1959, more than 100,000 Cubans have been persecuted by Castro's 
regime, over 18,000 of whom have been killed or who have disappeared. 
Now, these are just ballpark figures. We do not know precisely how many 
people have been executed by Castro and his henchmen, but we can 
identify thousands of them by name. And Fidel Castro shows no sign of 
ending his campaign of terror--none at all. In fact, this past March, 
just a couple months ago, he launched a massive crackdown on leaders of 
independent labor unions. All they were doing was trying to organize, 
that's all. He also continued a crackdown on leaders of opposition 
parties and the pro-democracy movement that led to the arrest of almost 
100 dissidents. Castro denied these detainees due process and subjected 
them to secret trials, after which 50 of them received prison sentences 
of up to 28 years.
  In April, last month, three Cubans hijacked a ferry in an atempt to 
flee Castro's repressive regime. The Cuban Government summarily tried 
these men behind closed doors and then had them shot by firing squads.
  Journalists have endured especially severe punishment from Castro. 
Just last year, his Government killed 25 journalists and threatened, 
harassed, or detained almost 1,500 more.
  While I wish I could say I just told you about all the atrocities of 
his regime, I have not even come close. The list goes on and on and on.
  As I said earlier, today is the 101st observance of Cuban 
Independence Day. It should be a celebration of freedom for the Cuban 
people. Instead, their island has been hijacked by a cruel dictator 
whose false promises of prosperity have given way to cowardly acts of 
intimidation. The sad truth is the Cuban people are still not free. 
Castro's regime is an insult to the legacy of the Cuban independence 
movement. As long as he continues to stifle the will of the Cuban 
people by denying them basic human liberties, any celebration of Cuban 
Independence Day will ring hollow.
  And so, Mr. President, today is a particularly appropriate day to 
discuss ways the United States and the international community can hold 
evil dictators accountable. Since the end of World War II, the United 
States and other free nations of the world have agreed that individuals 
who commit crimes against humanity must be held responsible for their 
actions. From Nuremburg to Bosnia to Rwanda, and now Iraq, the 
international community, under our leadership, has brought tyrants to 
justice. Why should we treat Fidel Castro any differently?
  Today, with Senator Ensign, I am submitting a resolution that calls 
upon the State Department and the Organization of American States to 
convene a tribunal that will try Fidel Castro and other political and 
military leaders of Cuba who have committed crimes against humanity. We 
cannot allow Castro, Hussein, or other dying despots or their 
associates to hide behind a phony claim of immunity. They have 
willingly chosen to torture and kill their own people, and it is time 
to hold them accountable for that decision.
  The Cuban people deserve justice. That includes the many Cuban 
Americans who came to this country to escape Castro's regime. I have 
come to know the Cuban-American community very well.
  We have a large Cuban-American community in Las Vegas. Some of the 
leaders of our State are Cuban Americans. I can recite a long list of 
Nevadans who were forced to leave Cuba, who

[[Page 12362]]

gave up family fortunes, professional careers, men and women who worked 
by their hands, who were willing to brave the 90-mile journey across 
the ocean to freedom. They left their homeland because of Fidel 
Castro's oppression. Many of these people have gone on to become 
leading figures in Nevada.
  One of these people, who is like a father to Senator Ensign and is a 
dear friend of mine, is a man by the name of Tony Alamo. Tony Alamo 
still speaks with an accent, even though he has been in this country 
for a long time. That accent dignifies this great man. He is a person 
who has achieved greatness in Nevada. But he started in Reno as a 
janitor. He worked his way up. He dealt cards. He educated himself. He 
is a man of letters. He understands important issues, and he is 
extremely engaged in global current events.
  Today he is No. 3 in the hierarchy of one of the largest resort 
companies in the world, Mandalay Bay, a property that has tens of 
thousands of hotel rooms in Nevada. He has worked in the past as a 
corporate officer in the MGM company. He is one of the leaders of the 
State's tourist society. He has two fine young children, a son, Tony, 
Jr., who is a physician, and a daughter who also is well educated and 
involved in Nevada's business community.
  Tony Alamo and his family are living examples of all the good Cuban 
Americans have done for our country. But he still loves Cuba. Even 
though he will never return there--he is an American through and 
through--he still loves his homeland and detests what Fidel Castro has 
done to it.
  I hope the Senate understands what an evil person Castro is, and what 
horrible things he has done to the people of Cuba. I hope this 
resolution is taken to the Foreign Relations Committee, that hearings 
are held, and that it is reported out favorably so that we can vote on 
it on the Senate floor.
  I again express my appreciation for the sacrifices made today by 
Senator Ensign. He has traveled to Florida to fulfill what both he and 
I believe is an extremely important responsibility--to represent the 
Senate on the 101st observance of Cuban Independence Day.

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