[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 19099-19100]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             WESTERN SAHARA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, in recent weeks, we 
have seen the issue of the Western Sahara receive a great deal of 
coverage in the world press. Unfortunately, the press coverage has 
often been biased; in fact, I've seen cynical attempts at purposeful 
disinformation.
  I think it's important that we remember history. Let's not forget 
that while the Sahara was under Spanish colonial rule, only Morocco 
laid claim to that territory as its own. The Kingdom of Morocco 
repeatedly claimed the Western Sahara and demanded the end of Spanish 
colonial rule. It was only when Morocco's efforts at recovering the 
Sahara from Spanish colonialism under the leadership of King Hassan II 
began to be seen as making serious progress in the 1970s that the so-
called Polisario Front came into being. Then, as now, the so-called 
Polisario group is financed by Algeria and is propped up by Castro's 
Communist dictatorship in Cuba.
  Why is it important to understand this? Because in Morocco, our ally 
in North Africa in the struggle against international terrorism, the 
issue of the Sahara is the decisive issue. The reality of Moroccan 
sovereignty over the Sahara enjoys the support of the entire population 
of Morocco, including the Sahara itself. In other words, the issue of 
the Sahara is the sine qua non, the necessary ingredient for stability 
and peace in that country of strategic importance in North Africa, our 
friend and ally, Morocco.
  King Mohammed VI and his negotiating team have demonstrated great 
courage and patience in dealing with this critical issue so closely 
tied to the security of the entire region. Let us never forget that a 
make-believe, an illusory, a fake microstate in Northern Africa would 
be led by a Castro-Cuban-formed political class which would constitute 
a minority of the population even within the fake microstate, but would 
control it through Castro-style repression. Let us never forget that 
such a microstate would serve as a focal point of regional instability 
and destabilization, as well as an exporter of terrorism.
  For over a decade, Mr. Speaker, Morocco has agreed to grant a genuine 
and profound autonomy to the Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty in order 
to reach a realistic and definitive solution

[[Page 19100]]

to this problem, but Algeria and the so-called Polisario continue to 
insist on the creation of a fake microstate.
  Majorities in this Congress comprising both Republicans and Democrats 
have spoken clearly in support of our ally Morocco's position on this 
critical issue in letters we have sent, first to President Bush, and 
then to President Obama. The United States, during both administrations 
and with the strong leadership of Secretary of State Rice and Secretary 
of State Clinton, has agreed with the position expressed by the 
overwhelming majority of this Congress.
  The future of America's struggle against international terrorism and 
the stability of Northern Africa require that the Government and the 
Congress of the United States continue to stand firmly and clearly with 
our friend and ally, the Kingdom of Morocco.

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