Byron Dorgan: “I point out an amendment I will offer to the Foreign Operations appropriations bill. Let me show a picture of something…”

“I point out an amendment I will offer to the Foreign Operations appropriations bill. Let me show a picture of something called Fat Albert. Fat Albert is an aerostat balloon. It is on a tether far up in the sky. The purpose of Fat Albert is to broadcast television signals into the country of Cuba to tell the citizens of Cuba that life under Castro, life in communism in Cuba, is a pretty awful life and you ought to aspire toward a democracy and here are all the good things democracy has to offer. The fact is, the Cubans already know all that. That is why they get on rafts and risk their lives trying to leave. In any event, if they don't know that, they can tune into a Miami radio station 90 miles away. If they choose not to tune in to a Miami radio station, they can tune in to Radio Marti. That does work. It sends signals to the country of Cuba and people listen to it. But TV Mart does not work. TV Marti doesn't get into the Cuban marketplace. The Cuban people can't see it, because the Castro regime jams the signals. We have now spent $189 million on TV Marti. We send television signals the Cuban people can't see. We spend $189 million. Apparently, someone feels better because we have wasted this money. I had an amendment earlier this year to shut this down. Strangely enough, this Senate turned it down. I will give them the chance again on the Foreign Operations bill. I am going to take the money out of that bill, and we will vote on it again.…”