William Helms: “it is an honor to be joined today by Senator Lieberman and eight other distinguished Senators in the sponsorship of the…”

“it is an honor to be joined today by Senator Lieberman and eight other distinguished Senators in the sponsorship of the Cuban Solidarity Act which is intended to be a blueprint for a more vigorous U.S. policy to liberate the now enslaved island of Cuba. This measure, S. 894, is the companion to House bill No. 1271 sponsored by Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart and 95 other Members of the House of Representatives. Whether one supports the current embargo on the Castro regime or not, we should all agree that we can and must do more to help those struggling for freedom today in Cuba. That is the aim of the Cuban Solidarity Act, and that is why I ask Senators on both sides of the embargo issue to consider supporting this bill on its merits. The embargo is not a policy, it is merely a policy tool, and the U.S. policy should be to put an end to Fidel Castro's stranglehold on the Cuban people and end his brutal dictatorship--and the sooner the better. The Cuban Solidarity Act will authorize $100 million in U.S. assistance to the Cuban people over 4 years. It also will mandate a proactive U.S. policy to support the internal opposition to Castro in Cuba. This strategy, by the way, is modeled after the decisive U.S. support for the Polish Solidarity movement back in the 1980s. With the enactment of the legislation, the U.S. Government will move beyond merely isolating the Fidel Castro regime.”