Lincoln Diaz-Balart

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman], chairman of the Committee on International Relations. (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 370 and ask for its immediate consideration.

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

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 370 provides for the consideration of the conference report for H.R. 927, the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996, usually referred to as the Helms-Burton bill, and waive all points of order against the conference report and against its consideration. The House rules allow for 1 hour of general debate to be equally divided between the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on International Relations. This conference report is the response of the United States, of the Congress, and the President, to the murder of three American citizens and another U.S. resident by Castro over international waters on February 24. Helms-Burton is also premised upon the firm conviction that an accelerated end to the Stalinist dictatorship in Cuba is not only something that we need to strive for because of elemental notions of solidarity with the terrorized and oppressed people of Cuba--but also because the establishment of democracy in Cuba is in the national interest of the United States. The Castro regime is, to its core, a gangster regime. It is a regime that answered a request, last month, by 130 dissident groups for permission to meet peacefully, by arresting 186 dissident leaders and independent journalists--as of last Thursday. This is a regime that, to further intensify its latest Stalinist crackdown on its internal opposition, felt the need to shoot down two American civilian planes, killing three U.S. citizens and another U.S. resident, over international waters a few days ago. The message Castro sent the Cuban people by those murders of Americans was clear: If I can murder Americans over international waters and get away with it, imagine what I can do to you. It's important to note that before the murderous pilots of those MiG's visually identified the unarmed Cessnas that they had been ordered to shoot down, the radar that was guiding them had locked on to a cruise ship with hundreds aboard. And how does the supreme gangster himself defend the murders. Read this week's Time magazine. Castro says: They dropped leaflets on Havana. It was a real provocation * * * we had been patient, but there are limits * * * in addition to these flights, there was also interference by the U.S. interests section in our internal affairs. What these people were doing was intolerable. They were giving money and paying the bills of dissidents * * * it was intolerable. This is a regime that, according to the respected British publication Jane's Defence Weekly, has been sending special forces to be trained at the Hoa Binh Military Base in Communist Vietnam, since 1990, in preparation for strikes inside the United States in case of war. According to Jane's Defence Weekly the purpose of those special forces in Castro's army, training in Vietnam, is to ``Take the reality of war to the American people, in order to create internal pressures on Washington.'' Let me briefly quote from a statement a few days ago by Senator Dole: ``U.S. policy toward Cuba has consequences around the globe. The world is still a dangerous place.'' Adversaries are watching our response to the murder of American citizens. Our response is being noted--by Russian hardliners, by North Korean generals, by state sponsors of terrorism in Teheran and Tripoli, by Serbian leaders, by the Chinese military eyeing Taiwan. Timidity only emboldens our enemies. This conference report is the response of the Congress and the President to the murder of American citizens. The conference report codifies, it puts into law, the existing embargo against Cuba, much of which exists only in regulations and miscellaneous executive orders. It will now take an act of Congress to modify the embargo, and no President will be able to weaken the embargo unless a democratic transition is underway in Cuba. President Clinton is urged to seek international sanctions against the Cuban dictatorship. The President is authorized to furnish assistance to democratic opposition and human rights groups in Cuba. The President is also asked to develop a plan to assist the Cuban people once a democratically- elected government is in place and to terminate the embargo once a democratic government--without Castro or his brother Raul--is in power. The conference report calls for the denial of entry into the United States of any individual who trafficks in property stolen from Americans by Castro. American citizens will be able to sue, in American courts, those who traffick in property stolen from them by Castro. This provision will protect the property rights of American citizens, deter foreign investment in Cuba, and make it much more difficult for the Castro regime to obtain hard currency. The conference report reduces foreign aid to those countries that provide assistance in support of the extraordinarily dangerous Cuban nuclear facility Castro is trying to complete at Juragua. It also allows the President to cut aid to Russia, dollar for dollar, for its support of the intelligence facility to spy on the United States that the Russians still maintain in Cuba. Just by filing Helms-Burton a year ago, foreign investment was cut in half in 1995 in comparison to 1994. When potential investors confirm that dealing in property stolen by Castro from Americans will expose them to the possibility of being excluded from the United States, no matter how unethical they may be, they will choose not to invest in Castro's slave economy. By saying that we will not look kindly upon foreign interests dealing in property stolen from Americans, we are not acting in an extraterritorial fashion; we are protecting the property rights of American citizens, and in that way, also deterring foreign investment in Castro's apartheid economy. The importance of codifying--putting into law--the embargo, cannot be over-emphasized. No democratic transition from a long-term dictatorship in recent decades has been possible without some important form of external pressure. Franco's Spain and the European Community; Trujillo's Dominican Republic and the OAS; Pinochet's Chile; apartheid South Africa; the Greece of the colonels. Where there has been no external pressure, such as in China, there has been no democratic transition and human rights violations have increased. The Washington Post confirms today in page A10, that in the State Department's annual report on human rights, to be released today, the fundamental premise of United States policy toward China, that expanding trade will lead to greater individual freedoms for Chinese citizens, is simply invalid. We will be able, by the measures in this conference report, including codification of the embargo, to maintain sufficient pressure not only to accelerate Castro's collapse, but also to see to it that his demise will lead to an independent Cuba with full political liberties and human rights for the now suffering Cuban people. The Senate passed this conference report yesterday, 74 to 22. The President supports it. I urge my colleagues to support this rule and the conference report. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, the imagination of our opponents is truly amazing, as is the gentleman who was cited and called a conservative, that very well-known anti-embargo activist. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York [Mr. Solomon], the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Rules.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Just in the last century, Mr. Speaker, after the Cuban people were fighting almost 100 years for their freedom from Spanish colonialism, it was the United States that stood by their side and helped them achieve freedom and independence. History has a way of repeating itself. Now it is the American people through their Government, and today speaking through their Congress and the President, standing with the Cuban people against the worst oppressor in the history of this hemisphere. So we think of the hundreds of political prisoners now imprisoned, the thousands who have been killed, including the American citizens just a few days ago. We dedicate this legislation to them. It is going to be a great sign of solidarity with the Cuban people. I would ask my colleagues to support the rule and support the conference report.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present. The Sergeant at Arms will notify absent Members.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Goss], my distinguished colleague on the Committee on Rules. (Mr. GOSS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, it is really a shame my erudite and learned legal scholar colleague, the gentleman from California [Mr. Campbell], is so incorrect in his interpretation of this legislation. First of all, and I heard him before the Committee on Rules yesterday where he pointed out that there was unfair treatment of some of the parties, I want to point out that on page 35 in title III, the provisions of title 28 of the United States Code and the Rules of Courts, they apply under this section to the same extent as those provisions with regard to any other action. The point I am trying to make is this is not an extraterritorial law, and when we say we will protect the property of American citizens that was stolen by a dictatorship, we are protecting the rights of American citizens' property, and not the rights of other citizens from other countries. So this is not an extraterritorial piece of legislation. Now, the essence of what we are trying to do is to shatter the arguments of the opponents of this legislation, that despite the fact that they supported embargoes against South Africa and Haiti, they now say that we should have a policy of helping the regime through trade and through investment in Cuba. It is a double standard that has been rejected by this Congress before and that is going to be rejected again. It has been rejected by the administration as well. The statement that is going to go out today, a bipartisan statement, is that with regard to Cuba, just as in the 19th century, the American people are standing with the Cuban people against oppression, and are not going to stand with the oppressors of the Cuban people. Those people will be free. They will remember who their friends were, and they will remember who stood ignoring them and using double standards in this Congress, like our opponents time and time again, despite even murders of American citizens in international waters continue. I think it is shameful that people, even after the murder of American citizens, still find excuses for Castro, still find pretenses for Castro, and get up here and find excuse after excuse after excuse. There is no more excuse for murder, that is no more excuse for that tyranny. It is time that the American people show their unity, as they are going to today in this Congress.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Livingston], the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Appropriations. (Mr. LIVINGSTON asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Chabot], a distinguished new Member of the House. (Mr. CHABOT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida [Ms. Ros-Lehtinen], my distinguished friend and colleague.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to staff and volunteers at the Hialeah-Miami Lakes Adult Education Center and to recognize their considerable accomplishments. The Hialeah-Miami Lakes Adult Education Center is guided by the leadership of Principal Robert P. Villano and Assistant Principal Martin D. Simonoff. The backbone of the adult education center, however, is composed by the numerous volunteers who work so diligently with the adult students. I would like to mention one of these volunteers in particular. His name is Otto Esteire. Otto has distinguished himself by his extraordinary dedication and assistance and is scheduled to receive an award from the Office of Applied Technology, Adult, Career, and Community Education. Mr. Speaker, it is through the hard work of Otto, the other volunteers and staff, that the Hialeah-Miami Lakes Adult Education Center is able to assist students of all ages to prepare for the G.E.D. exam, to sharpen their skills in preparation for entering the work force, and to encourage them in their efforts to succeed in their goals. The entire south Florida community is grateful for their contributions.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Completely, and he even had a spy. He even had a spy within the organization that the day before the murders he took back to Cuba, and he had him there for the day of the murder saying that he had been a pilot for Brothers To The Rescue and that they are a terrorist group. It was all planned. It was all premeditated. You bring up a fascinating article that came out today in the Miami Herald. It so happens there was a fishing boat right under the airplane, one of the airplanes that was shot down, and very near the other one that was shot down. It is very interesting about the issue of territorial waters which, by the way, is irrelevant because they could not have shot them down even if they had strayed into the territorial waters of Castro's Cuba. But this fisherman, he said he had last checked his coordinates 2 hours before the attacks. Back then, he was about 12 miles north of Cuba's coast. Twelve miles is the international line. But it was a clear day, he could see Havana. Since then, his boat had cruised north for about 2 hours at about 8 miles an hour. So that is about, you are already talking at least 20 miles now.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. With regard to your earlier point, which is so important, though, imagine Castro with refugees has been able to blackmail the United States, it is laughable, but it happened with refugees, he has been able to blackmail the United States, and imagine with a nuclear powerplant. That is an accident in the making, or an incident in the making, because Castro can say, you know, just like he says, what are Castro's codewords for every time he threatens Clinton with an immigration crisis, ``I cannot control my borders.'' Well, imagine, ``I cannot control my safety of my nuclear powerplant,'' imagine that. And that is now, that is something that could affect the lives of people in half of this hemisphere if he creates an incident with a nuclear powerplant. So we cannot, because of national security concerns, permit a nuclear powerplant to be built in Cuba during the dictatorship of this madman. I think what we need to do sooner or later, I am convinced it is going to come anyway, I mean even Neville Chamberlain had to confront the tyrant Hitler. If there is anybody in the history of the 20th century that did not want to have to confront the tyrant Hitler, it was Mr. Neville Chamberlain. I have here ``Peace for a Generation,'' remember that, Neville Chamberlain, when he came back from Munich, Mr. Duvalier, the Prime Minister of France, if there had ever been a pair of tough hawks in this century who did not want to have to challenge Hitler, it was Duvalier and Chamberlain. Even they had to challenge the tyrant Hitler, and the reality of the matter is that President Clinton, whether he likes it or not, since Castro does not respect him, and the other day he already called Warren Christopher a cynical liar. I do not think anybody called Warren Christopher that, he is such a diplomat. Castro called him a cynical liar. He is going to continue calling Warren Christopher and Clinton and everyone else names. We have a report of what he called President Clinton. He said his knees shake, that is what he called President Clinton, his knees shake and he has no backbone. That is his description in public of President Clinton. Sooner or later, since he does not respect President Clinton, he is going to continue to blackmail and continue to blackmail and continue to blackmail, and sooner or later the American Government is going to have to help the Cuban people free themselves of that tyrant, then the Cuban Republic will be among the best friends, as traditionally they were, of the American people and American Government, the Cuban Republic, however, independent, free, sovereign, and democratic.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. God save us, God saves us, Congresswoman Ros- Lehtinen, from a North Korea solution for Castro. The reality of the matter is the administration decided when they heard North Korea was building some nuclear powerplants, maybe they could use some of that nuclear power for transformation into nuclear weapons. They went in and offered $5 billion to the North Koreans to build for the North Koreans the nuclear powerplants with the promise that in 5 years we can go and inspect. Now, God save us from that solution for Castro, because if Castro has been able to, as he has, blackmail the United States with refugees, because that is what he does, he has already begun, we will see in the next hours, Mr. Speaker, we will see in the next hours, I am very confident in the next hours we will see again some more blackmail using refugees because it works for Castro. The last time he did it, he got Clinton to sit down with him, and he no longer has the Soviet Union that protects him, because the Soviet Union had worked out the deal at the end of the missile crisis in 1962 where the United States committed not only to not permit an invasion, to permit anybody to do anything against Castro from anywhere in the hemisphere. It has been comfortable for Castro to rant and rave against the United States since 1962 with the United States as bodyguard. There is no Soviet Union now. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and Bill Clinton got elected in 1992. Castro no longer has the shield of the agreement with the Soviet Union, because there is no Soviet Union, but he managed to get Bill Clinton to sit down at the table and work out a so-called immigration agreement with him, which is a sword, in effect, over the head of President Clinton because it can be withdrawn at any time, the agreement, and now with sanctions that have to come because the President has a constitutional obligation to protect American citizens, with Castro I have no doubt he will start trying to wield that sword up again, shake that sword again, I will send you refugees. Tyrants cannot be appeased.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. A delegation of former military people who advocate getting along with Castro, you know, it is a very small group of left- wing former military people that are always advocating for better relations with North Korea, with China, and of course they are advocating for better relations with Castro, they went to Cuba to see the nuclear power plant that Castro is building down there and to meet with the Cuban officials and General del Todo, one of the high-ranking thugs around Castro, asked former Admiral Carroll what would the United States do if we shot down a Brothers to the Rescue plane? And Carroll came back, and he told Warren Christopher that, so notice how Castro has been planning this for weeks, if not months. Obviously, what he said the other day, the message to the Cuban people, as I stated before, is if I can kill Americans with impunity, imagine what I can do to you, and the message to the Clinton administration is obviously clear, no respect, and you know he is laughing at the lack of response of the Clinton administration. But, as you said, if the administration will not protect American lives, we, in Congress, will. We will pass our sanctions bill. We will not permit the murder of these U.S. citizens go unpunished, and I truly believe that the President's measures were woefully insufficient. I recommended to him before he announced his insufficient measures yesterday that he announce that any further blackmail by Castro, like the immigration blackmail by Castro, like the immigration crisis of 1994, will be met inevitably and immediately by an American embargo of Castro, including oil shipments, and mark my words, that blackmail is coming unless President Clinton can change right now his course of action and convey clearly to Castro that he will face a blockade if he threatens the United States once again. He believes, Castro believes, that he can once again terrorize President Clinton with blackmail. We, we here in Congress, must pass our sanction bill, as we will. We certainly hope that we can get the support of the President. He is moving in our direction but still has not supported the House version, which is the firm version of the Helms-Burton bill, and as I stated before, and this idea came from Cuba, from a prodemocracy group today, that the United States must seek the indictment of Castro for crimes against humanity in the international court of justice in The Hague. There are clearly crimes committed in the recent past by Castro, even though his crimes began with the show trials and the firing squads in 1959, but clearly the use of electroshock torture on political dissidents like Nujenio Lesosa, who has been here in Congress with my dear friend, the gentlewoman from Florida [Ms. Ros-Lehtinen], and right now today, Colonel Enrique Labrada, who has held a prodemocracy demonstration in October or November of last year, they are receiving electroshock torture. Mr. Labrada is still in this day receiving electroshock torture. The murder of unarmed men, women, and children, like in the tugboat that was sunk on July 13, 1994, over 20, over 40 men, women and children, mostly children, upon the direct order of Castro, that is a crime against humanity. The gentlewoman from Florida [Ms. Ros-Lehtinen] and I here have received, we have in our offices a 10-year-old boy who came with his parents in a small boat and told us how helicopters, it was at night; they were saved by the fact that it was nighttime, were dropping these large sandbags on the raft to sink the raft. A 10-year-old boy told us how he managed to survive that. Of course, the February 24, 1996, murder of American citizens in international waters, those are crimes against humanity that must be punished. I know Mr. Clinton may wish he did not have to confront the Cuba problem. He obviously could like not to have to. But he has to protect, he is constitutionally required to protect, the lives of American citizens. It is his constitutional duty. We have got this court of justice in The Hague as part of the U.N. structure. We pay a lot of U.S. taxpayer dollars to maintain it. I think it is the appropriate forum to discuss these crimes against humanity, even if we do not go in and arrest them, and I think we should. But even if we do not go in and arrest them, there can be few things that would give more hope and hasten more the liberation of Cuba than to label through the indictment in the international court of justice, Castro as the war criminal that he is.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. About 4 weeks ago.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Yes, about 4 weeks ago.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. I was very disappointed that President Clinton yesterday, when he announced his sanctions, and it is a separate issue, the fact that I think they were woefully insufficient. But I think that I was very disappointed that he never mentioned, not once, that the downed airplanes were American airplanes and that the murdered men within them, the passengers, were Americans. Not once did he say that. Now, the question that I would have for the President is because these murdered Americans were of Cuban descent, does that not make them American? Are they not, do they not merit to be called American citizens? One of them, my good friend Armando Alejandre, he was a war hero. He went to Vietnam, two tours of duty in Vietnam. Is he not an American? The other two Americans born in the United States, are they not Americans for the President? Why did he not even mention once the fact that these airplanes were American airplanes in international waters with Americans murdered within them? That was really insulting that not once did the President even choose to call them Americans. Now, Castro acted with premeditation. The fact that he had, he withdrew the spy that he had planted in Brothers to the Rescue, and to showcase him with lies in Cuba the same day of the downing of the airplanes and the murder of the American citizens, that shows the premeditation, the level of premeditation by Castro. One former military officer who has visited Cuba recently was asked by a high-ranking general in the Cuban Government, what would the Clinton administration do if we shot down one of those Brothers to the Rescue airplanes? And he reported back to Warren Christopher.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Unarmed.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. At least 20 miles away. At least 8 or 10 miles out of the international line. The boat was at least, the fisherman says that the boat was at least 20 miles off Cuba when he saw the planes being shot down. He says in your mind, this fisherman, Mr. Reilly, says after he got back to the United States, because he did not realize what he had seen, he thought it was shooting practice, because he says, in your mind, you do not think somebody is going to shoot something down with people in it. And then he says the boat was at least 25 miles off Cuba. ``I know exactly where we were. It was definitely no doubt in international waters. They were heading north again about two miles away from the wreckage, the first wreckage. Then they saw a small, another small white plane circle past the north. It was headed northeast. All of a sudden, here comes a jet right behind them and I watched this missile ignite off his left wing. I started counting, one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three, one thousand four. It blew up the second plane. It was about 200 feet above the water. It tumbled twice and it fireballed before it hit the water. You could see flames and smoke when it hit. I would say the possibility of survivors on the second plane as well is absolutely zero.'' So we have actually eyewitnesses, as also people on a cruise ship saw it from a little more distance: Definitely in international waters.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. That is such an important issue because, No. 1, obviously even if they had, international law is clear. You do not shoot down unarmed civilian aircraft if they happen to stray over the territory of a country. We do not even shoot down drug dealers. I mean, international law does not permit you to shoot down a drug dealer unless that drug dealer is shooting at you or threatening by flying over the land that the drug dealer is flying over. You follow the drug dealer, you tell the authorities where they are flying to. So they are reported, but you do not shoot down even criminals, much less unarmed American citizens on a humanitarian mission, over 1,800 flights flown, missions flown, never have they carried even a handgun.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Yes, Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman so much for yielding, and I did have the opportunity to listen to his very eloquent remarks, as always, but I thank him for his words of genuine concern about the death of the constituents from my district and the district of the gentlewoman from Florida, [Ms. Ros-Lehtinen]. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opporunity to put into a little bit of a perspective or context the murders of Saturday. As I stated briefly before, it was back in December when 130, over 130 pro-democracy groups in Cuba came together and formed a sort of parliament. The whole gamut of the ideological range is represented by what is known as the Cuban Council. From Christian Democrats and supporters of limited government to Democratic socilists, the whole gamut of pro-democracy people in Cuba came together, and they announced to the world that they had come together. They have differences, but they came together on the concept of elections, democracy, respect for human rights, release of all political prisoners. They were going to meet publicly for the first time. They sent a letter to Castro asking for authorization to meet, and they did that in December. They asked the Catholic Church's cardinal in Cuba to be present as an observer. They asked the Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Change to also send observers. Castro's answer came--that was in December--beginning on the 15th of February. They had said they were going to meet on February 24, this last Saturday. February 24 is the date in Cuban history that is remembered as the beginning of the war of independence against Spain in 1895. So these over 130 pro-democracy groups said, ``We want to meet on February 24. We want authorization.'' On February 15, Castro began his crackdown and arrested the leadership, and most of the delegates, some of them were already on their way because the crackdown began on the 15th, but between the 15th and last Saturday the crackdown continued. Over 100 of these pro- democracy activists were thrown in jail. And as I mentioned before, the leadership, in summary trials, were sentenced to prison terms. Of the two vice presidents, one was already, the vice chairmen, the one was already sentenced to prison, the other one, a lady I mentioned before, she was taken to a hospital for surgery. I mean, that is really Orwellian. If ever there is an example of something that is from 1984, ``The Brave New World,'' the horrible novels about the total, all- encompassing totalitarian state, imagine this vice chairman of this pro-democracy umbrella group taken to a hospital and given some sort of surgery that we do not even know what it is, and no one has been able to meet with her. The chairman that I mentioned before, he was sentenced already to prison, and his mom, who had an opportunity to see him briefly once, she is convinced that he is receiving electroshock torture. Now, this has been happening since February 15. Note that the Brothers To The Rescue, it is a humanitarian group of volunteers who fly out of Miami looking for refugees to save lives.They have flown over 1,800 missions. They have saved thousands of refugees. If they see refugees on a raft, they call the Coast Guard and they save the lives of those refugees. Every Saturday, the Brothers To The Rescue, they fly missions. It is a standard practice for that wonderful humanitarian group. Interestingly enough, on Friday, February 23, a gentleman who had defected from the Cuban Air Force less than 2 years ago, and he had gone into the base at Guantanamo, he said he was a defector, he had volunteered during these months that he was in Miami at the Brothers To The Rescue mission there, and on Friday all of a sudden he disappeared. He had gotten married, by the way, in Miami and had some family there. He disappeared. His family did not know where he was. And he appears all of a sudden in Cuba. So Castro then says, I have got one of these pilots from Brothers To The Rescue and they are a terrorist group. So this spy have been planted here in the United States to infiltrate Brothers To The Rescue, and notice what premeditation existed with regard to this murder. Castro knew that on Saturdays they fly, that this day, the 24th of February, which was a day he is so scared about because it was the beginning of the pro-democracy conference, that there would be a Brothers To The Rescue flight, and he, with premeditation, decided to knock down planes, shoot down planes and kill the American citizens on those planes on February 24. As I stated before, the message is clear to the Cuban people. Castro is saying, I can act with impunity, not only against you, but against Americans. If I can act with impunity against Americans, imagine how you, the Cuban people, have got to be scared. So Castro does that very, very purposefully.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank from the bottom of my heart Congresswoman Meek and, of course, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen. I heard also earlier today Congressman Menendez and Congressman Goss and perhaps I missed others, but I want to thank them all for their concern on this, about this horrible tragedy that occurred on Saturday. There is so much to say. I really think it is important to put it in perspective. This is connected, this horrible crime by Castro, is connected to a crackdown that he began on the 15th of February against the internal opposition in Cuba. Over 130 of the dissident groups in Cuba had announced that they were going to meet on February 24th, this last Saturday, peacefully, and seek ways to achieve a democratic transition. They even asked Castro for permission. The answer came in by way of a massive crackdown. The elected leaders of the opposition and most of the delegates who were already on their way for the February 24 meeting were arrested. The chairman, the national chairman of this group called the Cuban Council, was arrested and summarily sentenced to a prison term, as was the vice chairman. Another vice chairman, a lady, was arrested and taken to a hospital for surgery that the regime called necessary surgery. No one has heard yet from her since. And as I mentioned, the chairman, Leonel Molejon Almagro was sentenced to a prison term. His mother was able to see him once. He was arrested on the 15th of February. She says she fears that he is receiving electroshock torture. And Castro wanted to send a very strong message, spine chilling message to the Cuban people, and he did so on Saturday by murdering Americans who are in unarmed airplanes in international waters on the high seas. Why did he do that? The message is clear that Castro is sending to the Cuban people. He is saying, if I can kill Americans in international waters with impunity, imagine what I can do to you, the Cuban people. That is the message that he is sending. Every once in awhile Castro needs a dose of blood to scare, terrorize the Cuban people and maintain his totalitarian grip. But what we have to ask ourselves is to what extent are we going to permit and until when are we going to permit Castro to act with impunity. Mark my words, Mr. Speaker, if President Clinton does not make it clear to Castro that any further attempts at blackmailing the United States will be met inevitably with a total blockade of Cuba, including oil shipments, mark my word we will see in the next hours another attempt by Castro to blackmail President Clinton. Mr. Speaker, Castro's crimes against humanity began at the very beginning of his regime in 1959 with show trials that seemed, that recalled, the spectacles of the Roman Coliseum, and the crimes continue to this day. In addition to the drug trafficking and the money laundering and counterfeiting and all the crimes that Castro is engaged in, there are additional crimes Mr. Speaker, that clearly qualified as crimes against humanity. Today I received a message from one opponent within Cuba who is not under arrest at this time, and his suggestion is that we, the United States Government, support the indictment of Castro as a war criminal; in other words, for crimes against humanity in the International Court of Justice in the Hague. That would be, Mr. Speaker, the clearest way not only to label Castro as what he is, a criminal who engages in crimes against humanity, but there are few things that could give more hope to the Cuban people and hasten the return of democracy than to label the Cuban tyrant as the war criminal that he is. It is necessary, Mr. Speaker, that Castro be told in no uncertain terms that further blackmail against the United States will not be permitted and that a blockade will ensue forthwith once he begins his campaign of blackmail. These four young men who were murdered on Saturday, my personal friends and constituents, will never be forgotten, and their debts cannot be in vain. We cannot permit the Cuban tyrant to now appropriate the Florida Straits for himself and not only continue with a campaign of terror against the Cuban people, but act as though he is also the ruler and the owner of international waters as well. President Clinton yesterday announced some steps, which we obviously thank him for, but they were woefully, tragically insufficient. He must sanction truly, truly sanction the Cuban dictatorship, by supporting our Helms-Burton bill, which we are going to pass, we are going to pass in Congress in the next days, and by stating clearly that any attempts by Castro to blackmail the United States will inevitably be met with a total unilateral American blockade that will hasten the collapse of the dictatorship and the return of democracy to Cuba.