Letter: Return Chesimard or Hold Funds for Cuba Talks

Press Release

Three New Jersey House Members, U.S. Representatives Leonard Lance (NJ-07), Scott Garrett (NJ-05) and Tom MacArthur (NJ-03) have written a letter to the Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs encouraging the subcommittee to withhold funding for the normalization of diplomatic relations with Cuba until the Castro regime extradites police killer Joanne Chesimard to the United States. The Subcommittee is currently accepting lawmaker suggestions as it crafts the fiscal year 2016 spending measures that will be considered in the House later this year. The subcommittee, chaired by Congresswoman Kay Granger (TX-12), has jurisdiction over any resources that would potentially be appropriated to fund diplomatic talks.

"Joanne Chesimard has escaped justice for far too long. High ranking Cuban officials have already taken her extradition to the United States off the bargaining table. Until Cuba accepts that Joanne Chesimard needs to be held accountable for her crimes we are asking our colleagues to withhold funds for any negotiations. The Castro regime must understand the residents of our State want justice," said Congressman Lance.

"The fact that Cuba flat-out refuses to extradite Chesimard and questions the judgment of our legal system proves they are not ready to continue discussions to normalize relations with the United States," said Congressman Garrett. "I have repeatedly called on Secretary of State Kerry and the administration to demand that the first part of any diplomatic negotiations with Cuba is returning criminals like cop killer Joanne Chesimard, terrorist William Guillermo Morales, and the approximately 70 other fugitives currently living there freely. For too long, the families of these criminal's victims have been deprived of justice, and the House should seriously consider holding funds for any efforts to normalize diplomatic relations until our fugitives are returned."

Congressman MacArthur added, "Joanne Chesimard was convicted of murdering New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster and injuring another officer. It is unacceptable to me that President Obama would even consider normalizing relations with a regime that harbors someone convicted of murdering one of New Jersey's finest, not to mention oppresses its own people and violates basic human rights and freedoms."

Chesimard was a member of the Black Liberation Army who was found guilty in 1977 of murdering New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster and critically injuring another state law enforcement officer. She was sentenced to life in prison, but two years later escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. She was granted political asylum by Cuba and is currently on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorist List. In February, media outlets reported Cuban officials said Chesimard's extradition was "off the table."

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