[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 259-260]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    AMERICA'S RELATIONSHIP WITH CUBA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, the recent concessions by President 
Obama to the Castro regime mark a drastic departure from one of the 
most consistent tenets of United States foreign policy and traditional 
American values, and sets a dangerous precedent for other rogue regimes 
to emulate.

[[Page 260]]

  The pardoning of convicted Cuban spies follows an ill-advised 
exchange with the Taliban in which the rhetoric emerging from the White 
House to justify its actions has been unnervingly similar. As 
predicted, the course of policy by this administration on caving to 
terrorist demands makes the United States more vulnerable.
  We see those repercussions manifest themselves across the globe. Just 
recently, Venezuela's thug Nicolas Maduro jumped at the opportunity to 
request an exchange of a convicted criminal in the United States for 
the freedom of pro-democracy leader Leopoldo Lopez, whom Maduro has 
jailed in Venezuela.
  This is not the way to protect U.S. national security interests 
throughout the world; this is a way of putting them in jeopardy.
  When we equate unjustly imprisoned Americans to battle-hardened 
terrorists or convicted spies, we set a dangerous precedent for the 
world to follow.
  The Cuban regime has already signaled strongly that it will not 
unclench its fist, despite recent developments.
  On December 30, just 13 days after President Obama's announcement, 
the Cuban regime arrested nearly 60 activists seeking to express 
themselves freely--this in addition to the arrest of more than 200 
activists on Human Rights Day--ha, that is rich--just 7 days before the 
announcement normalizing relations.
  Yet the administration proudly and openly touts the promised but yet 
unproven release of 53 dissidents as a major breakthrough when in 
reality the net result will mean hundreds more in Castro's gulags. Raul 
Castro will free 53 and arrest 60 more in the next months.
  This shows the failure of the administration's argument and proves 
that there is no intention by the Castros to move in the direction of 
reform or freedom. Instead, President Obama has created an atmosphere 
that emboldens the regime to continue its violent tactics with no 
concern about consequences from this White House.
  We must not forget that Cuba not only poses a threat to its people 
but also threatens us here at home. Cuba must remain a state sponsor of 
terrorism because it has not changed its terrorist ways.
  For example, in the year 2013 Cuba was caught helping another 
dangerous regime, North Korea, evade U.N. Security Council resolutions 
of sanctions by shipping arms and munitions to the Kim Jong-un regime. 
At a time when many in Congress and even the White House are trying to 
punish the North Korean regime for its cyber attacks against the U.S., 
we cannot forget that those rogue regimes helped North Korea--like the 
one in Cuba.
  The Castro regime continues to thumb its nose at the U.S. by 
harboring fugitives such as New Jersey State trooper killer Joanne 
Chesimard, by harboring Puerto Rican terrorist William Guillermo 
Morales and bank robber Victor Gerena and many others who have fled 
U.S. justice for the shores of Cuba.
  These are just a few of the reasons, Mr. Speaker, why the 
administration must reexamine its relationship with Castro and impose 
strict sanctions against the thugs, not offer it concessions for all of 
these transgressions. Just like a zebra cannot change its stripes, the 
Castro regime cannot and will not change its anti-freedom, terrorist 
ways.
  It is our duty to support democracy and be a voice for those 11 
million Cubans oppressed throughout the island. By appeasing dictators, 
we have disappointed people all over the world who are struggling to 
achieve freedom, and the White House has betrayed core American values 
and principles: the respect for human rights and the right for people 
to choose their own destiny.
  As the first Cuban American-born Member of Congress who went from 
being a political refugee, fleeing the oppressive and brutal Castro 
regime, to a senior Member of this hallowed and cherished body, I will 
fight tooth and nail to ensure that the cause for freedom and democracy 
in Cuba is not forgotten. Until the oppressive yoke of tyranny 
installed by the Castro brothers has been lifted and the regime has 
been replaced by a representative democracy like the one we have here 
in our cherished Nation, I have a moral obligation to freedom-loving 
people everywhere, and I will not ever forget that responsibility.

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