Cuban Airport Security

Floor Speech

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Mr. HUDSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5728, the bipartisan Cuban Airport Security Act of 2016.

Over the past several months, the Obama administration and the Cuban Government have stonewalled oversight of airport security arrangements. This lack of transparency is troubling and begs the question: What are they hiding?

As far as we know, Cuban airports don't have proper screening for explosive detection; they can't check for fake IDs and fake passports; they don't allow TSA on the ground to evaluate security; and they don't have air marshals on planes. The administration plans to start flights into Charlotte from Cuba in a few months, but they are not doing enough to guarantee there won't be a security threat on one of those planes.

After all, Cuba has been a safe haven for terrorists and was just recently removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. It is a brutal regime that recently hosted the North Korean equivalent of our CIA Director. We should not allow the proposed 110 flights a day of commercial air flights--indeed, we shouldn't allow a single flight until we are absolutely sure they have the proper security at airports to protect the American people.

This legislation puts the brakes on the President's dangerous plans. I encourage my colleagues to support it.

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