May 22, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S7135

In 1987 she became Director of the Office of Regional Programs and Integrity Reviews. Now she is Regional

Commissioner.

Region II of Social Security is in fine

hands. Thank you, Mr. President.

f ∑

HAITIAN CHILDREN AT

GUANTANAMO BAY

∑ Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, the

current issue of Time magazine includes a beautifully written article by

Tammerliin Drummond describing the

plight of more than 200 Haitian refugee

children being kept at a place called

Camp Nine at Guantanamo Bay Naval

Base, Cuba. The children escaped Haiti

on rafts nearly a year ago, and many of

them are orphans.

News has reached Guantanamo that

the Cuban refugees living there will

soon be admitted to the United States,

yet there is no end in sight for the interned Haitian children. A report in

the Washington Post over the weekend

indicates efforts are being made to help

the Haitian children, but under current

United States policy, they are ineligible for ‘‘humanitarian parole’’ to

enter the United States because democratic government has been restored in

Haiti. The children will be returned to

Haiti if relatives can be located there;

60 children have been repatriated thus

far. Sadly, however, some of those children have ended up not with relatives,

but living in the streets of Haiti.

I commend Tammy Drummond for

calling attention to the awful conditions these children are enduring in

Cuba. It is not easy for a reporter to

gain access to the Haitian children at

Camp Nine, but Tammy Drummond did

it and we are in her debt. I hope her

compelling account will be read widely

in the executive branch, and that the

children will be released from the camp

as soon as possible.

I ask that Tammerliin Drummond’s

article from the May 22, 1995, issue of

Time magazine be printed in the

RECORD.

The article follows:

[From Time Magazine, May 22, 1995]

SUFFER THE CHILDREN—HAITIAN ORPHANS

ARE STRANDED IN GUANTA ́ NAMO

(By Tammerliin Drummond)

At Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuban

refugees cavort happily on the beach in a

scene reminiscent of a Club Med. They have

good reason to celebrate: soon they will be

flying off to freedom in the U.S. Meanwhile,

less than a mile away, more than 200 Haitian

children lounge listlessly under drab green

tents, seeking refuge from the harsh midday

sun. Camp Nine, their home since last June,

is a desolate patch of cactus-filled desert

where the only sign of life is an occasional

banana rat or iguana. A fence encircles the

camp, which is guarded by American soldiers. The children, many of them orphans,

have languished in this dusty purgatory for

nearly a year. Despite the efforts of immigrants’ rights groups, only a few of the Haitian minors—who range in age from infants

to teenagers, including some who are pregnant—have been allowed to enter the U.S.

‘‘When I heard that the U.S. was going to

let 15,000 Cubans into the country and leave

450 Haitians in Guanta ́namo, I felt like someone had stuck me with a knife,’’ says a 17-

year-old boy. ‘‘This is a very cruel situation.’’ (U.S. military officials will not allow

the children to be quoted by name.) When

Attorney General Janet Reno announced the

new Cuban policy on May 3, dozens of furious

Haitian teens first tried to organize a hunger

strike with the younger children, then went

on a rampage, pelting soldiers with rocks

and setting tents on fire. No one was seriously injured in the melee, but a handful of

soldiers and children ended up with cuts and

bruises.

Earlier this year some of the children attempted suicide by drinking bleach.

Marleine Bastien, a Miami social worker,

counseled a desperate 16-year-old boy who

tried to hang himself from a tree branch in

February. He survived only because the

branch snapped under his weight. ‘‘Many of

these children have expressed suicidal

ideas,’’ says Bastien. ‘‘Are we going to have

to wait for a fatality before something is

done?’’

During the rafter crisis last summer, more

than 20,000 Haitians and 30,000 Cubans were

intercepted at sea and delivered to hastily

erected camps in Guarnta ́mamo. Among the

refugees were 321 unaccompanied Cuban children, all of whom have since have been paroled to the U.S. But of the 356 unaccompanied Haitian children who ended up a

Gitmo, only 22 have been admitted to the

U.S., because they needed medical attention

or had a parent already in the States. Since

the island has officially returned to democratic rule, immigration officials say, Haitians don’t qualify for humanitarian parole.

Some of these children were orphaned in

Haiti, and set to sea alone or with friends;

others saw their parents drown. Because of

the violence the deprivation they have experienced, many of the kids are terrified of

going back to Haiti.

Yet the official U.S. policy for these children is to locate relatives in Haiti and send

the kids to them. So far, 60 Haitian children

have been returned. But last week Florida

Rural Legal Services released a report condemning the repatriations. ‘‘The claim that

what is being done is in the best interest of

the children is a farce,’’ said Niels Frenzen,

a public-interest lawyer who helped track

down some of the returnees and found that

many were homeless or living in squalor

with strangers. ‘‘There is only one humane

solution to this problem. Close down the

camp and accept the generosity of the families and agencies willing to care for these

young people, just as we have done for Cuban

children.’’

According to Florida Legal Services, all

but 40 of the Haitian children have U.S.

sponsors lined up. ‘‘We told the State Department months ago that we had foster parents to sponsor these children,’’ said Deacon

Chris Baumann, spokesman of the U.S.

Catholic Conference. Yet the children’s advocates report that even in cases where they

have located U.S. relatives, the State Department has refused to grant them entry.

Helene Charles, a 36-year-old Haitian living

in Fort Lauderdale, says she has been trying

for months to obtain a visa for her 14-yearold son Kissene. She left him behind in Haiti

with her mother, but she became ill and

could no longer care for him. Kissene got on

a raft with some friends, who got word to his

mother that he was at Guanta ́namo.

U.S. authorities will say only that all

cases are under review. ‘‘You can’t just move

them lock, stock and barrel to the United

States and separate them from their families

forevermore,’’ said a State Department official. ‘‘You have to find out where each

child’s family is and go and look for the family.’’ That can be a long, difficult process,

says the State Department, which hopes

most of the children will be released from

the camp by early July.

‘‘We just want to get out as fast as possible

and go elsewhere,’’ says a 17-year-old boy

who has a cousin in the U.S. ‘‘We are not

criminals, but we are living in a prison.’’

f ∑

TRIBUTE TO CHIEF ROBERT A.

SESSIONS

∑ Mrs. BOYER. Mr. President, I rise

today to report that over the weekend

California lost a great public servant.

On Saturday, Barstow chief of police

Robert A. Sessions died after a brief

battle with cancer. Chief Sessions was

a 28-year veteran of the department,

and he will be missed by the people of

Barstow and all who knew him.

Chief Sessions had a long and distinguished career serving his community.

He graduated from high school in

Butte, MT, in 1958, and subsequently

received advanced degrees in education

from Barstow Community College and

in sociology from Chapman College. He

also graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Academy, 125th session.

After holding the positions of patrol

officer, K–9 officer, detective, sergeant,

lieutenant, and captain, Sessions was

promoted to chief of police in 1985. During his tenure at the helm of the Barstow Police Department, Chief Sessions

implemented numerous community policing programs and supervised special

projects ranging from drug abuse resistance and education to the retired

senior volunteer programs.

Chief Sessions was devoted to his

family and his community. He married

Carol Dawson in 1963 and the couple

adopted two children, Jon and Jennifer. He joined the force as a reserve

officer in 1967, and was sworn in as a

full-time member of the Barstow Police Department the following year.

Chief Sessions was a licensed pilot

and led an active life that included

hunting, fishing, running, and golf. He

was a positive role model for the young

people of the city of Barstow and his

presence will be greatly missed.

The memory of Chief Sessions’ dedication to his family and his community will live in each of us as we remember a remarkable public servant.

f ∑

ORDERS FOR TUESDAY, MAY 23,

1995

Mr. DOLE. I discussed that with the

Democratic leader. It is our intent tomorrow, when we have an opportunity,

to have back-to-back votes in order to

save time so that we can reach the 10-

hour period.

I ask unanimous consent that when

the Senate completes its business

today, it stand in recess until the hour

of 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 23, 1995;

that following the prayer, the journal

of the proceedings be deemed approved

to date; that the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in