William Helms: “at noon today, Attorney General Reno made a formal announcement that has dismayed the Cuban people. The Attorney…”

“at noon today, Attorney General Reno made a formal announcement that has dismayed the Cuban people. The Attorney General, speaking for the President, announced that effective immediately the Cubans interdicted at sea will be forcibly returned to face the wrath of Fidel Castro. Mr. President, of course, Mr. Castro has said he will take no punitive action against Cubans forcibly returned to his tyranny. But the Cuban people, many of whom died before firing squads, and others who languished for years as political prisoners in Castro's prisons, learned the hard way the value of Mr. Castro's word. Mr. President, there has been another sad and tragic moment involving the Clinton administration's dealings with the Cuban people. I am already receiving in my office an endless stream of telephone calls and faxes from Cuban-Americans who feel they have again been betrayed by the administration. For more than 35 years, Mr. President, the United States has been a safe haven for Cubans fleeing Castro's repressive Communist dictatorship. Last year, Mr. President, the Clinton administration began a reversal of this policy. Cuban Americans now appropriately fear that the administration has joined hands with the Castro regime in an effort having the continuing effect of enslaving the people of Cuba.”