Bill Delahunt: “I know some of my friends on the other side are concerned about or they have expressed their fears about bioweapons and…”

“I know some of my friends on the other side are concerned about or they have expressed their fears about bioweapons and bioterrorism, but I think I should point out that General Gary Spear who is the commander of the U.S. Southern Command said just recently in a New York Times article that he knows of no evidence that Cuba is producing biological weapons from biomedical research programs. Then, of course, we have the individual who should know, the Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research who testified recently before a Senate committee, Mr. Ford, Secretary Ford. In a response to a question from a Senator, he said, ``Do I go home every night and worry about it? No.'' He also said that Cuba is far from the number one concern of the people in our government who monitor chemical and biological weapon threats. So I would hope that their fears would be somewhat alleviated, but we have an amendment before us that would, in effect, continue to subvert the constitutional right of Americans to travel by requiring a brand new presidential certification that applies to no other country but Cuba.”