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LETTER TO MR. PRESIDENT
GEORGE W. BUSH FROM ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN
January 23, 2003
The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
You recently made a determination to invoke both waivers of Title III of the
Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act - otherwise known as
Helms-Burton. As you know, according to the law, the waiver carries a dual
threshold which requires that the waiver is in the national interest of the
United States and that it helps promote democratic change in Cuba.
Nevertheless, Title III is but one component of the laws which seek to
fulfill these and other priorities of U.S.- Cuba policy.
I would like to draw your attention to other provisions which are not being
fully implemented and respectfully ask that you make every effort to ensure
that these are no longer ignored.
Title IV of Helms-Burton. As you know, under this section, if it is
determined that an alien, after March 12, 1996, has confiscated or is
trafficking in confiscated U.S. property in Cuba, that person shall be
excluded from the United States. According to the November 26, 2002 Title IV
report provided by the Department of State in compliance with Section 2802
of the Foreign Relations Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, there are
three entities in the advanced stages of review. These companies which are
acting in total disregard of U.S. property rights and interests, have yet to
be sanctioned under the law.
Travel by Cuban officials to the United States. According to Section 102(e)
of the Helms-Burton law, the Congress underscored its intent that the
President should instruct the Departments of State and Justice to enforce
fully existing regulations to deny visas to Cuban nationals who represent or
are employees of the Cuban Government or of Cuba's Communist Party.
Unfortunately, it appears such travel continues relatively unfettered, with
educational and cultural exchanges being used as a facade, in some
instances, for authorization of the travel.
Mr. President, in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 and given the Castro
regime's state-sponsorship of terrorism, I am certain you will agree that it
is not in the national security interest of the U.S. to allow regime or
party representatives - whether traveling from Cuba or stationed in the U.S.
- to be allowed virtually unrestricted access to our country.
Further, if travel to and within the United States is authorized, I ask that
you instruct the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to closely
monitor the activities of these individuals who are in the service of a
state-sponsor of terrorism.
I request that you take immediate action to curtail the threat posed by such
unmonitored travel.
Section 103 of the Helms-Burton law I would also greatly appreciate detailed
information on your Administration's efforts to ensure the dutiful
implementation of this section which prohibits indirect financing of the
Castro regime. This is particularly important in light of the Trade
Sanctions Reform Act provisions and current efforts by the dictatorship and
its supporters to remove financing restrictions in the agricultural sector.
Section 106 of the LIBERTAD Act amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
and calls for withholding of aid to governments which are providing
assistance to or are engaging in nonmarket based trade with the Cuban
Government.
This section also requires the withholding of assistance to independent
states of the former Soviet Union, proportional to the assistance and
credits they provide in support of intelligence facilities in Cuba.
Mr. President, I ask that you direct your advisors report to the Congress on
the status of our assistance programs to such countries and punitive
measures taken in compliance with the law.
Section 106 of Helms-Burton also has Presidential reporting requirements
concerning the intelligence activities of the Russian Federation in Cuba.
(Congressional intent in this regard was underscored in H.R. 4118, which
passed the House overwhelmingly in 2000, prohibiting the rescheduling or
forgiveness of any outstanding bilateral debt owed to the U.S. by the
Government of the Russian Federation until the President certifies to the
Congress that the Government of the Russian Federation has ceased all its
operations at, removed all personnel from, and permanently closed the
intelligence facility at Lourdes, Cuba.)
Mr. President, I await further information about the status of Russian
withdrawal from the Lourdes facility and its activities in Cuba.
Section 101(2) of the Helms-Burton law calls on the President to advocate,
and "to instruct the United States Permanent Representative to the United
Nations to propose and seek within the Security Council, a mandatory
international embargo against the totalitarian Cuban Government pursuant to
chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, employing efforts similar
to consultations conducted by United States representatives with respect to
Haiti"
I would appreciate receiving detailed information on your Administration's
efforts in this regard.
Section 109(a) of the Helms-Burton law authorizes support for individuals
and independent non-governmental organizations working to support
democracy-building efforts in Cuba. While these programs have proven
successful, the necessary resources have not been committed. Thus, in
keeping with your expressed commitment of May 20, 2002, I respectfully
request that you require in the FY 2004 request, a substantial increase in
funding for Section 109 programs and for direct assistance to Cuba's
internal opposition.
Section 109(b)(2) states that the President should instruct the U.S.
Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States to encourage
other member states to join in calling for the regime to allow the immediate
deployment of independent human rights monitors throughout Cuba and on-site
visits to Cuba by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
In addition, it calls on the President to take the necessary steps to
encourage the OAS to create a special emergency fund for the explicit
purpose of deploying human rights monitors and, later, election observers in
Cuba.
I look forward to being briefed on your efforts on these two items.
Section 116(B)(3) of the LIBERTAD Act urges the President to seek, in the
International Court of Justice, indictment for the act of terrorism by the
Castro regime in shooting down the Brothers to the Rescue aircraft on
February 24, 1996.
Notification on the status of this matter and of U.S. indictments would be
greatly appreciated.
In addition, under Section 4 of the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, the
President is to "direct the United States Trade Representative to enter into
negotiations with the governments of countries that conduct trade with Cuba
for the purpose of securing the agreement of such countries to restrict
their trade and credit relations with Cuba in a manner consistent with
United States policy and the purposes of this Act."
My colleagues and I would greatly appreciate a full accounting of steps
taken since by the USTR's office to achieve this policy goal since the law
was put into effect ten years ago.
In addition to these Helms-Burton statutory requirements, my colleagues and
I would appreciate your support for:
· an investigation of the Immigration and Naturalization Service's
implementation of the Cuban Adjustment Act, in light of lengthy detention of
documented Cuban refugees seeking political asylum at the Southwest Border
of the U.S.
· a review and possible revocation of the flawed and discriminatory Clinton
Administration "wet foot/ dry foot policy"
· a tasking of the Defense Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency,
under the direction of Undersecretary of State, John Bolton, to further
investigate Cuba's WMD programs and its links to al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah,
and other terrorist groups operating in the Western Hemisphere.
Mr. President, during the 2000 presidential campaign, my colleagues and I
were promised a bottom-up review of U.S.-Cuba policy. If such a review took
place, my colleagues and I believe that, in light of the September 11, 2001
attacks, the arrest and conviction of a senior DIA official for spying on
the U.S. for the dictatorship, expulsion of Cuban officials for espionage,
and information regarding Cuba's WMD programs, the review should be
re-written, and a relevant summary made available to public. The items
highlighted in this letter should also be part of any such review.
The law on this issue is clear, providing a concise roadmap of what the U.S.
should be doing. Failure to implement these provisions undermines U.S.
efforts and leaves the policy vulnerable to attack from those who seek to
engage the brutal tyranny.
Thank you for your consideration of these critical matters. I look forward
to working with you on these and other items aimed at protecting U.S.
national interests and bringing freedom to the Cuban people.
Sincerely,
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chair
Subcommittee on International
Operations and Human Rights (107th Congress)
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