Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006

TRANSPORTATION, TREASURY, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, THE JUDICIARY, THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - June 30, 2005)

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AMENDMENT NO. 4 OFFERED BY MR. DAVIS OF FLORIDA

Mr. DAVIS of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

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(Mr. MENENDEZ asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the gentleman from Florida's amendment.

A year ago I too had concerns about the changes in the regulations on family travel when they were first introduced, and I voted with the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Davis) because I believed that Cuban Americans had virtually no notice that the regulations were about to be changed and they could not plan their travel to Cuba accordingly. But a year later my view of these concerns no longer applies.

So now the question becomes the focus on the impact of travel to Cuba, and I would like to share with Members of the House a letter that many of us recently received from the leading Cuban opposition leaders: Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, Rene de Jesus Gomez Manzano, Felix Antonio Bonne Carcasses. These are the same opposition leaders who, on May 20 of this year, organized an historic Assembly to Promote Civil Society on the 103rd anniversary of Cuban independence.

This event brought many civil society organizations together for the first time to discuss democracy in Cuba. And as we learned in a hearing earlier this year in the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, of which I am the ranking Democrat, the organizers and the participants in this event risked their personal freedom for the freedom of the Cuban people. In fact, these leaders have already suffered in Castro's jails for speaking out on behalf of the Cuban people. And it is the same group of leaders who risked their lives for democracy in Cuba, not those here in the diaspora, but those who are inside of Castro's Cuba, who ask this Congress in their letter not to adopt any changes, any changes, which would either partially or totally change the nature of the embargo.

In fact, they clearly state that any such change would be interpreted as a new policy of compromise with the Castro regime and cite that nothing has been done by the regime to move forward to an accommodation with that element of civil society that ultimately seeks to change the fundamental basics of human rights that we seek to promote throughout the world. And I think we have to heed the warning that they are sending, and we must send a clear message to the Castro regime that we will not compromise when it comes to human rights, freedom, and democracy in Cuba; that we will not dilute the embargo in any way and that we must respect the voices of those very same Cubans who suffer under the regime.

And, finally, let me just say that one cannot seek political asylum from a country and then constantly travel back to it. One is either a political asylee or one is not. One cannot keep traveling back to a country from which they are a political asylee.

And, lastly, we all know the great difficulties, those of us who are not only Cuban Americans but who represent 99 percent of all Cuban Americans in the country; and they have one voice, and that voice is to do everything we can to end the suffering of the Cuban people.

We hear those voices from Cuba. We should listen to them.

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AMENDMENT OFFERED BY MR. FLAKE

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

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Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Chairman, I think the gentleman from Arizona's amendment is very dangerous. Let me tell you why. Read the amendment. It says none of the funds made available in this Act can be used to amend this section relating to religious activities. If the administration or any future administration, if this amendment were adopted, wanted to increase the flow of religious activity into Cuba, which is permitted under existing law by license, is permitted under existing law by license, if there came a point in time in which the floodgates wanted to be open, the gentleman from Arizona's amendment would prohibit the Federal Government from doing so.

That is a prohibition that is not in the national interest, security or in the foreign policy of the United States, and it is very clear that religious institutions right now have all the wherewithal and have been traveling to Cuba.

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AMENDMENT OFFERED BY MR. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

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Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Chairman, we have had sanctions in different parts of the world: Jackson-Vanik with Soviet Jewry, disinvestment in South Africa. There are those who would seek disinvestment and sanctions in the Sudan and many other parts of the world, so we understand that these are ways that we can ultimately bring the end of totalitarian regimes and democracies to those people, yet we hear no voices in opposition to that.

After 2 million people visit Cuba every year, spending $2.3 billion, this regime has become more repressive, not less repressive. Let us not add to that repression.

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