Bill Nelson: “I want to substantiate the seriousness of the 77 people who are fugitives from justice now living in Cuba and the crimes…”

“I want to substantiate the seriousness of the 77 people who are fugitives from justice now living in Cuba and the crimes they have committed. The Senator from New Jersey told us about a crime that was committed in his State. A highway patrol trooper was shot in the face twice by someone who was subsequently convicted, imprisoned, and escaped from prison, and is now a fugitive from justice being harbored by the Government of Cuba. If you look at the crimes that have been committed by these 77 fugitives, they include air piracy, hijacking an aircraft, crime aboard an aircraft, crime of escape, aiding and abetting, crime of kidnapping, and the crime of solicitation to commit murder. I thank the Senator from New Jersey for yielding for me to underscore the gravity and the seriousness of these fugitives. I also think it is quite symbolic that on this day so many of us in this Nation have been riveted to our television sets to see a tape of Osama bin Laden mocking the United States, laughing and enjoying it as he is telling the stories of the World Trade Center being hit by aircraft and the Pentagon in Washington hit by aircraft. I think it is somewhat ironic that then we bring to the floor, on the very same day that we have once again focused on terrorism and terrorist acts and our war against terrorism, an example of the U.S. State Department having on a list published in 1999 seven states that sponsor terrorism. One of those seven states is Cuba.”