Dawn Zimmer: “Cuba's downing of two planes whose only arms were pamphlets is an outrage, and it shows how desperate Fidel Castro is in…”

“Cuba's downing of two planes whose only arms were pamphlets is an outrage, and it shows how desperate Fidel Castro is in his fight to deny the Cuban people liberty and freedom. Castro is an international outlaw, no more and no less. I am very disappointed in the President's response to this outrage. It is entirely inadequate. If President Clinton were serious about responding to this terrible offense against U.S. citizens, he would demand that the international community join with us in an international embargo to tighten the noose around Castro and to allow democracy to take root there. He would also reverse his Executive order of last October which liberalized cultural ties with that country, only rewarding a repressive regime for the enslavement of its own people. We must get serious, Mr. Speaker, and the way that we should start doing so is to enact the Burton-Helms legislation in its original form, not some watered down version that the President has endorsed.”