Date: 2004-09-21
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Chairman. I am always intrigued when I hear about how the United States and measures that the United States can take to help liberate people who are oppressed is antifamily. I am also very intrigued when I do not hear that the cause of all of the problems that the Cuban people suffer from. it is only one individual and his regime. the Castro regime. the antiAmerican. terrorist regime. What is profamily is helping the Cuban people liberate themselves from that regime. What is antifamily is a regime that has destroyed family. a whole Nation. a whole people. So measures that help that antifamily. proterrorist regime. measures that help. that regime cannot be called profamily. They are an antiAmerican terrorist regime. I am also frankly rather amused when I see letters. Last year I quoted a letter from a Member of Congress on this floor who just spoke right now. about his concern for Cuban Americans. You see. because let us keep that in mind. this amendment only affects Cuban Americans. That is it. Nobody else. And then this amendment. I guess as we had heard before. a little while ago. claims that it knows what is right for Cuban Americans better than Cuban Americans. We have heard that before. We have heard those similar debates on this floor year after year after year. Pretty soon we are going to hear. Some of my good friends are Cuban Americans. Well. the reality is this: There is a bipartisan group of us here who represent a majority of the Cuban Americans. Every 2 years we run for reelection. election or reelection. and we do not have to be shown a picture of one individual or two individuals. We represent the vast majority of Cuban Americans. We represent the vast majority of the family members of those people in Cuba. And I keep hearing about how others from other parts of the country seem to know what is right for this group of Hispanics. They know better than those Hispanics know. They know better than that minority group knows about what is best for them. Well. the reality. Mr. Chairman. is this: I repeat. there are four of us that represent the vast majority of Cuban Americans. the only people affected by this amendment. the only people affected by this amendment. And unanimously those four Members of Congress. on*e happens to be a Democrat. the other ones happen to be Republicans. all agree unanimously on what is right to help the Cuban people be free. what is right for Cuban Americans in this country. What is right for them is to not help the Castro regime by allowing it to get more money. to not help that antiAnferican terrorist regime by allowing it to get more money. My dear friend. the gentleman from Florida . who has always been on the right side of this issue on the major parts. said today. and I just want to make sure there is no confusion. that what we are talking about here is people cannot go to Cuba and stay.at the expensive hotels. Well. wait a second. They could until the new measures put in place by President Bush. Until those new measures. yes. they could. So to my good friend. the gentleman from Florida . I think he may be a little bit confused as to what this amendment does. If this amendment were to pass then. yes. people could go and travel as many times as they wanted to stay in the most expensive hotels. by the way. all of them run and owned by the Cuban military.. by that oppressive military of that antiAmerican terrorist regime. If this amendment passes. what my good friend. the gentleman from Florida