Lincoln Diaz-Balart

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, today a Dear Colleague will be sent to all Members informing them that the Committee on Rules is planning to meet next week to grant a rule which may limit the amendment process for H.R. 2871, the Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 2001. Any Member who wishes to offer an amendment should submit 55 copies of the amendment and one copy of a brief explanation of the amendment by 12 noon on Tuesday, April 30, to the Committee on Rules here at the Capitol at H-312. Amendments should be drafted to the text of the bill as reported by the Committee on Financial Services on October 31 of last year. Members should use the Office of Legislative Counsel to ensure that their amendments are properly drafted, and should check with the Office of the Parliamentarian to be certain that their amendments comply with the rules of the House.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, with regard to a couple of points made by the colleague who just spoke, he said that he has heard, and he is on the Committee on Armed Services, of no threats by the Cuban regime. Obviously he has not heard the debate that has gone on for one hour, because my understanding was that 17 spies were convicted or arrested in the last couple of years. No other terrorist state has had anywhere near that many spies arrested, in some instances, for spying on U.S. military installations, which is something that goes counter to national security. The highest ranking spy in the Defense Intelligence Agency, my understanding, is that spy was arrested for spying for the Cuban terrorist state, and that would be contrary to national security. My colleague said he never heard of anything along those lines, so I am glad we had this opportunity to inform him. Our law is clear. Normalization requires freedom for political prisoners, legalization of unions, the press and political parties, and the scheduling of free elections. Now, if you ask the American people a question, do you support those three conditions for normalization, do you support in this hemisphere that all people should have the right to free elections and to no political prisoners and to freedom for political parties and labor unions and the press, I know what the answer to that question would be. It would be overwhelmingly supported. So it all depends on how you ask the question. This Congress has always stood in favor of free elections and freedom for the political prisoners and freedom of political activity and free speech in effect for the Cuban people. Cuba, as has been said before, is in this hemisphere. The international law and inter-American law requires democracy in this hemisphere. It states that representative democracy is the only form of government in this hemisphere. Cuba remains in this hemisphere, despite what some would like on the other side of this debate. It remains in this hemisphere, and the Cuban people deserve our continued solidarity, and not financing for the terrorist regime, which is what in effect this amendment would make possible. So vote down the Dooley amendment.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose the Dooley ``sell them the rope'' motion. The section in the compromise legislation of the year 2000 on this issue relating to financing specified that ``United States persons'' cannot finance sales to the Cuban dictatorship, and ``United States persons'' was defined as ``the Federal Government, any State or local government, or any private person or entity.'' The Senate provision strikes that entire section, including, thus, the prohibition on financing by ``the Federal Government.'' So the Senate financing provision is not as limited as its supporters here allege. It will make available public financing to the Cuban dictatorship. Last year, the dictatorship was forced to close over 12,000 hotel rooms in its all-important tourist industry. Its currency is worthless. The dictatorship defaulted on $500 million in loans just in the year 2001. So what is the dictator betting everything on? U.S. tourism dollars and the agricultural lobby in the U.S. Congress. Today we see the agricultural lobby at work here for the dictatorship, despite the current realities of the bankrupt Cuban dictatorship, despite the fact that the Cuban dictatorship continues to provide safe harbor to terrorists throughout the world, despite the fact that Castro serves as the world's primary money launderer for international terrorism, providing his so-called ``revolutionary banks'' not just for Puerto Rican FALN terrorists, like those who took their stolen millions from the U.S. to Cuba, but laundering money as well for drug dealers, international terrorists, and corrupt politicians. A few months before 9/11, the Cuban dictator visited Syria, Iran, and Libya. In Iran, he declared ``Together, Iran and Cuba will bring the United States to its knees.'' In August, Irish IRA terrorists based in Cuba were arrested in Colombia helping the FARC terrorists there improve their urban bomb- making capabilities. Basque ETA terrorists continue to be based and trained in Cuba to this day. More than 90 U.S. felony fugitives wanted by the FBI for hijacking, murder, armed bank robbery, the sales of explosives to Libya, and kidnapping remain in Cuba and continue to receive protection by the dictatorship to this day. The only one of the seven terrorist states that has had 17 spies arrested in the last 3 years, 17 spies arrested, awaiting trial or already convicted, agents spying for the Cuban regime in the United States, the only one of the seven terrorist states that has had those spies arrested and convicted is the Cuban regime. On September 21, a senior analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency was arrested for spying for the Cuban government. The FBI was forced to arrest her before they would have wanted to, because according to intelligence community sources, Castro shares intelligence with Middle Eastern enemies of the United States. Last month, on March 19, the State Department's Office of Intelligence and Research declared that the Cuban dictatorship has ``an offensive biological warfare research and development effort. Cuba has provided dual-use biotechnology to rogue states. We are concerned that such technology could support biological weapons programs in those states.'' And, as we speak, the U.S. administration is encouraging governments throughout the world to say no to pressure from totalitarian elements in their countries, and to vote in favor of the resolution criticizing the human rights situation in Cuba at the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva. Mr. Speaker, my high school teacher, Judd Davis, used to tell me that Lenin was fond of saying that ``some capitalists will sell even the rope for us to hang them with.'' What we are seeing here today is that on that matter, Lenin was right: There are some capitalists who would sell even the rope with which they would be hung. Cuba is in this hemisphere. It is the only country oppressed by tyranny in this hemisphere. In this hemisphere, democracy is required by international law. So while my heart goes out to the Chinese people, the use of the China analogy is hypocritical and it is wrong. The signal that we need to be sending to Cuba is that there will be no normalization until all the political prisoners are freed and free elections are scheduled. That is President Bush's position, and that is what this Congress has stated repeatedly in the past. This ``sell them the rope'' motion is as untimely as it is wrong. There will be a democratic transition in Cuba soon, and the people will do business with those who did not do business with their jailers. It is unfortunate that so many are working so hard to put themselves on the blacklist of those who a free and democratic Cuba will never do business with. For those interested in sales to Cuba, democratic Cuba will not do business tomorrow and forever with those who today worked to provide dollars to the totalitarian dictatorship. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton), who knows that Castro has never been elected to anything, much less that he deserves to be called Mr. President like the prior speaker called him in an embarrassing, shameful way.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), the distinguished whip, great friend of freedom and democracy for the Cuban people. (Mr. DeLAY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), a fighter for human rights. (Mr. SMITH of New Jersey asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I do not know what the family feud is about, but I do know that the shameful attitude is one of standing with the dictatorship; and it is normal and I think to be expected that people, once they are free, do not want to do business with those who collaborated with a dictatorship. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez). (Mr. MENENDEZ asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. I would ask the gentleman how many speakers he has.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to my distinguished colleague, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros- Lehtinen).

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia, and also my good friend from south Florida. It is a privilege for me, and I consider it a true honor, to be here this evening in solidarity with Israel. I have been an admirer for many years of the Jewish people. The gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston) pointed out and talked a little bit about my background. My family had to leave the country that I was born in, Cuba, where I am in the fourth generation of, in this instance, Cuban American, fourth generation in our family of public service which began in Cuba when my great grandfather and his brothers began fighting for independence there. And then my grandfather, after independence, became a lawyer. He was a country lawyer in eastern Cuba and was the lawyer for the Jewish community in Banas, in eastern Cuba. There was a very vibrant Jewish community in Cuba before the arrival of communism, a very vibrant, growing, prosperous, hard-working, honorable Jewish community in Cuba. Many of them are in south Florida today, and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutsch) and I have the privilege of knowing them and working with them and really the honor of their friendship. What always amazed me about the Jewish people, having lost the country of my birth to totalitarianism, and having lived and seen my country of birth live through 43 years of totalitarianism, and as a child, having been in exile, a refugee from that totalitarianism, and having seen what 43 years means in the life of human beings; 43 years in the life of a human being, in the life of a family, are many years. Obviously, in the life of a people, 43 years are but a point of reference. But having seen that the Jewish people were forced out of their homeland and that somehow, due to an extraordinary and admirable love of their country and their nationality and their families and their traditions and their origins and their customs and their religion, and much faith and, above all else, perseverance, perseverance, the Jewish people managed to remain a people, to survive during 1,800 years of exile, and then to finally, after 1,800 years of exile, to be able to return to their homeland and establish a modern- day nation state, that is something that I have always been in awe of and I admire deeply. So tonight, we stand here in this great Congress saluting the people of Israel on the 54th anniversary of the establishment of their modernization State after 1,800 years of exile. And after the 1,800 years of exile, when the Jewish people were able to return to their homeland and establish the modern State of Israel, the reality of the matter is that there has been too much violence and war and suffering and pain that the Jewish people have had to suffer, and we see it to this day. So this evening, not only do I consider it an honor to be here saluting and a privilege to be here saluting Israel because of and in commemoration of her 54th anniversary as a modernization State, but also I stand tonight in solidarity with the Jewish people, their right to live freely, their right to live as an independent, sovereign, democratic state, and their right to live in peace. So my hopes and my prayers go out to the Jewish people with a fervent wish for peace and also with a fervent statement of solidarity and support. One of the reasons why I have found it such an honor to be a Member of this Congress for the last 10 years is that one of the issues that join us, one of the issues that unite us, whether we are Republicans or Democrats or conservatives or liberals, is our support for that friend of the United States, that democracy in the Middle East that is facing so many challenges, perhaps more challenges now than ever before, in some ways. So I respect the decisions of the sovereign democratic state of Israel. I, as a Member of this Congress, support and will continue to support Israel, and that, above all else, obviously in addition to my expression of solidarity and admiration for the Jewish people and for Israel, is what I wanted to do this evening.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend, first of all, the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Myrick) for yielding me the time and my dear colleague, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) for introducing and shepherding and leading the effort on this important legislation. When I was listening to my distinguished friend on the other side of the aisle, I thought that at times she was referring to another piece of legislation. Twenty-seven States require parental notification, recognizing the need for parental involvement when daughters face the confusing and sometimes frightening reality of an unexpected pregnancy. Strangers should not be allowed to deprive parents from the right to at least try to protect their daughters from harm by taking these children to another State in violation precisely of the State laws that have been passed to protect the parents' rights and to try to protect the rights of their daughters. What this legislation tries to do is to punish those who smuggle children across State lines to, in effect, dodge the home State laws which are designed to protect the health and safety of children and the rights of the parents. In essence, what we are trying to do today with this legislation is to protect as much as possible the States' rights to have their wishes, as made law by their legislatures, enforced. That is, in essence, what we are trying to do.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend Ted Maliaris for his dedication to our great nation through his music. Ted is leading the ``A Tribute to America Tour'' following the tragic events of September 11. Ted was born is South Florida in January of 1969. Music has long been a part of his life, inspired particularly by his grandmother and the sweet sounds of her violin. A farmer by trade, Ted feels a close connection to the land of this great country, and he used his time on the farm to develop the music which he now shares with so many people. Two years after deciding to follow his dream, Ted had even recorded his first album with The London Symphony Orchestra. To stir inspiration and patriotism all across America, Ted Maliaris is now touring the United States preforming ``A Tribute to America--A 21st Century Anthem'' which was composed by his mother, Ann S. Miller, who dedicated the Anthem to the men and women of our Armed Forces. I urge all our colleagues to join me in paying tribute to a great American, Ted Maliaris.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 366 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 366 is an open rule providing for the consideration of H.R. 2146, the Two Strikes and You're Out Child Protection Act. The rule provides for 1 hour of general debate, evenly divided and controlled by the chairman and the ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary. The rule further provides that the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on the Judiciary now printed in the bill shall be considered as an original bill for the purpose of amendment. This is a fair rule that will allow Members ample opportunity to offer amendments and debate this important issue. I can think of few crimes, Mr. Speaker, as serious as the sexual abuse of children. I personally favor the death penalty for the criminals that we are dealing with in this legislation. Though this legislation does not go that far, it does treat repeat child molesters in a severe fashion. H.R. 2146 would establish mandatory sentences of life imprisonment for twice convicted child sex offenders. This bill would apply to individuals committing sexual offenses against persons under the age of 17. Child sex offenders pose a very serious threat to society. Studies have shown that a single child molester can abuse hundreds of children. This number is particularly troubling when one considers that the abuse of one child is far too many. Perpetrators of these unthinkable crimes steal the innocence of our Nation's children and corrupt society. According to the committee report, Mr. Speaker, victims experience severe mental and physical health problems as a result of these crimes. These problems include increased rates of depression and suicide as well as all sorts of other serious problems. We must do everything in our power to ensure that repeat sex offenders are kept off of our streets. Mr. Speaker, we sadly live in a world where children are all too often forced to grow up much too quickly. I ask that my colleagues help us in protecting our children from sexual offenders by passing this critical piece of legislation. I would like to thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Green); the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary; and all those who have worked so diligently to bring this legislation forward. Accordingly, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support both the rule and the underlying legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hall), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. (Mr. DIAZ-BALART asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) and all of my colleagues, and I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert) for putting this on the agenda and President Bush for having asked, as well, that it be put on the agenda. The legislation is important, does a number of important things in the field of hiring and training government personnel and appropriations for improvement in technology and infrastructure, measures for access to and coordination of law enforcement and other information, implementation of an integrated entry and exit data system, machine readable tamper resistant entry and exit documents, a whole gamut of very important improvements in the area of immigration control. Some of my very good friends, and I have the highest esteem and admiration for my colleagues on the floor today, but they have been seeking to make this legislation into something that it is not with regard to 245(i). Section 245(i) only benefits people who are eligible for lawful permanent residence in the United States. If they are eligible for lawful permanent residence in the United States, then they can utilize 245(i). In other words, they do not have to leave the country to become a lawful permanent residence of the United States. That is the issue with 245(i). This is a temporary extension of that. It is a commonsense measure. Why is it supported by an overwhelming consensus of political viewpoints and the President of the United States? Because it is a common sense measure. A constituent of mine recently told me that should not be controversial, that is a commonsense measure; and I have been calling it that ever since, Mr. Speaker. So that is why I am confident that today the national consensus, obviously in our democracy as in all democracies we can never have unanimity, and I have great friends, great friends on the other side of this issue; but there is a national consensus on behalf of commonsense measures, like if someone is eligible for permanent residence they have to leave the country in order to get it. That is what we are discussing with regard to 245(i), Mr. Speaker; and this underlying legislation, as I said before, contains other very important measures that I hope and expect and certainly would urge my colleagues to support today.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to extend my thanks to my friend and colleague, Congressman Crowley, for all his work on this resolution. I also would like to thank Chairman Hyde and Mr. Lantos for quick consideration of this resolution--and thank Chairman Ballenger for his support. Mr. Speaker, this year has made us especially sensitive to how precious life is--and how tragedy can befall each of us without warning. I extend my own personal condolences--as well as through this resolution--to those who lost loved ones on TAME Flight 120. Ecuador and Colombia have been strong allies of the United States. Our peoples share strong and deep ties of family and history--Members of my own district being one of many examples. Their sorrow is our sorrow. And as we also know well--that which can get us through such tragedies are the support of our family and friends. So I again express my heartfelt condolences, and encourage all of my colleagues to support this resolution.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. (Mr. DIAZ-BALART asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I again reiterate my strong support for the underlying legislation, as well the rule before us. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 343 is an open rule providing for the consideration of H.R. 3394, the Cyber Security Research and Development Act. The rule provides 1 hour of general debate evenly divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Science. This is a fair and open rule that will provide every Member with the opportunity to offer amendments, allowing Members ample time to debate the important issues related to this legislation. Mr. Speaker, the attacks of September 11 have forced the American people and this Congress to recognize that the threat of terror is present on many fronts. To adequately protect the United States, we must address all of our security vulnerabilities. This enormous task includes securing our Nation's computer and communications infrastructure. The urgency with which we must proceed with regard to this infrastructure has already been demonstrated. In 1997, the Pentagon conducted an information warfare exercise to test the vulnerability of the U.S. information infrastructure. The exercise consisted of 35 National Security Agency computer specialists using off-the-shelf technology to attack U.S. information systems. The group of NSA specialists were able to attack and penetrate government and commercial sites. The next year, failure of the Galaxy 4 communications satellite further demonstrated the effects that a cyberattack could have on our information systems. The failure of Galaxy 4 disrupted credit card purchases, ATM transactions, 90 percent of the Nation's pagers and emergency communications. While studies have concluded that the United States is vulnerable to cyberattacks, not enough has been done to safeguard this sensitive information system. This is of grave concern for the safety of the Nation. Just this past Tuesday it was reported that since September 11 there has been a series of cyberattacks that have targeted the Pentagon, the Department of Energy, NASA and other agencies, resulting in the theft of vast quantities of national defense research. One of the groups went as far as declaring a ``cyber jihad'' against the United States. We need only look 90 miles off the coast of Florida to see the possibility of future attacks, Mr. Speaker. This past year the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency testified before the Senate Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence that the Cuban regime could initiate information warfare or computer network attacks that could seriously disrupt the United States military. That regime, which is the only one of the seven states on the State Department's list of terrorist nations in our hemisphere, is believed to share information with other terrorist states such as Iran, Libya and Iraq. With its significant ties to fellow terrorist nations in the Middle East, the Cuban regime has the ability to serve as a type of forward-operating location for terror in our hemisphere. The potential for cyberwarfare is real, and the underlying legislation that we are going to address to date helps to address that threat. H.R. 3394 is a bipartisan piece of legislation designed to increase research efforts which are needed to fill the void in this critical area. The legislation will task the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology to coordinate a partnership with academic institutions to ensure that information systems are secure in the United States. This partnership will face the emerging threat by increasing the amount of cybersecurity research being supported by the Federal Government and by increasing the number of cybersecurity researchers in the Nation. The bill will provide $878 million over 5 years to implement new academic programs, provide grants and fellowships, providing for the common defense of our Nation's technological infrastructure. The underlying legislation, as I stated before, is a product of bipartisanship. It was reported out of the Committee on Science by voice vote. It is a very important bill that focuses on obviously a very important subject matter. As I stated before, Mr. Speaker, it is an open rule. It is a fair rule. I urge my colleagues to support both the rule and the underlying legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 343 and ask for its immediate consideration.