Lincoln Diaz-Balart: “back in December, my office began to get reports from within the Clinton administration that advisers, foreign policy…”

“back in December, my office began to get reports from within the Clinton administration that advisers, foreign policy advisers to the President, were advising him to send a gesture of friendship to Castro. After I got the third report from within the administration that foreign policy advisers to the President were pressuring the President to do that, to send a gesture of friendship to Castro, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen and I sent a letter to the President, where we expressed our deep concern about those reports, and I have got that letter here and I would like to read it if I can. ``Mr. President''--this was back in December-- We have received deeply disturbing reports from within your administration concerning efforts by Mr. Morton Halperin to achieve the implementation of a policy initiative by the White House that would benefit the Cuban communist dictatorship. These reports are made even more alarming by the fact that Mr. Halperin is the member of your National Security Council staff, whose nomination to a sensitive Department of Defense position had to be withdrawn when the Democratic-controlled Senate would not confirm him. Throughout his career, Mr. Halperin has shown faulty judgment in relation to threats emanating from Castro's Cuba.”