Mr. President, I submit this resolution on my behalf and that of Senator Ensign. Senator Ensign is not present on the floor today because, as I speak, he is in Florida. He will be the keynote speaker in Florida at the Cuban Independence…
Mr. President, I submit this resolution on my behalf and that of Senator Ensign. Senator Ensign is not present on the floor today because, as I speak, he is in Florida. He will be the keynote speaker in Florida at the Cuban Independence Day celebration. And it should be a celebration.
Because today, Mr. President, a proud Cuban people should mark the 101st anniversary of their independence. But they have not had that independence for the last 44 years.
I applaud and commend my colleague from Nevada for taking the time and effort to be in Florida to be the spokesperson for those of us who hope for a truly independent Cuba--a Cuba free of the tyrant Fidel Castro.
I realize that another dictator is on the minds of many Americans these days. Our troops continue to investigate the fate of that man-- Saddam Hussein--and to search for his top henchmen. We must ensure that all these despicable figures are held accountable for their crimes against humanity. Under the direction of Hussein, the Iraqi leadership embarked upon one of history's most premeditated and brutal campaigns of theft, kidnapping, torture, and murder against the Iraqi, Kuwaiti, Kurdish, and Iranian people. We are, as I speak, finding graves in Iraq where hundreds, if not thousands, of people are buried who have been murdered by the henchmen of Saddam Hussein and his two sons. Some 200,000 Iraqis are still missing, most taken from their homes under cover of darkness, never to be seen or heard from again.
In the modern era, such crimes cannot go unpunished. The United States must assist the Iraqi people in bringing Hussein--if he is still alive--and all other responsible Iraqi officials to justice. The victims of their crimes, including U.S. soldiers, deserve no less.
But closer to home, 90 miles from the shores of the United States, Fidel Castro continues to wage a vicious assault against fundamental human rights and liberties. For more than 44 years, he has led a tyrannical regime in Cuba that systematically violates basic human rights, including freedoms of expression, association, assembly, and movement.
Since 1959, more than 100,000 Cubans have been persecuted by Castro's regime, over 18,000 of whom have been killed or who have disappeared. Now, these are just ballpark figures. We do not know precisely how many people have been executed by Castro and his henchmen, but we can identify thousands of them by name. And Fidel Castro shows no sign of ending his campaign of terror--none at all. In fact, this past March, just a couple months ago, he launched a massive crackdown on leaders of independent labor unions. All they were doing was trying to organize, that's all. He also continued a crackdown on leaders of opposition parties and the pro-democracy movement that led to the arrest of almost 100 dissidents. Castro denied these detainees due process and subjected them to secret trials, after which 50 of them received prison sentences of up to 28 years.
In April, last month, three Cubans hijacked a ferry in an atempt to flee Castro's repressive regime. The Cuban Government summarily tried these men behind closed doors and then had them shot by firing squads.
Journalists have endured especially severe punishment from Castro. Just last year, his Government killed 25 journalists and threatened, harassed, or detained almost 1,500 more.
While I wish I could say I just told you about all the atrocities of his regime, I have not even come close. The list goes on and on and on.
As I said earlier, today is the 101st observance of Cuban Independence Day. It should be a celebration of freedom for the Cuban people. Instead, their island has been hijacked by a cruel dictator whose false promises of prosperity have given way to cowardly acts of intimidation. The sad truth is the Cuban people are still not free. Castro's regime is an insult to the legacy of the Cuban independence movement. As long as he continues to stifle the will of the Cuban people by denying them basic human liberties, any celebration
of Cuban Independence Day will ring hollow.
And so, Mr. President, today is a particularly appropriate day to discuss ways the United States and the international community can hold evil dictators accountable. Since the end of World War II, the United States and other free nations of the world have agreed that individuals who commit crimes against humanity must be held responsible for their actions. From Nuremburg to Bosnia to Rwanda, and now Iraq, the international community, under our leadership, has brought tyrants to justice. Why should we treat Fidel Castro any differently?
Today, with Senator Ensign, I am submitting a resolution that calls upon the State Department and the Organization of American States to convene a tribunal that will try Fidel Castro and other political and military leaders of Cuba who have committed crimes against humanity. We cannot allow Castro, Hussein, or other dying despots or their associates to hide behind a phony claim of immunity. They have willingly chosen to torture and kill their own people, and it is time to hold them accountable for that decision.
The Cuban people deserve justice. That includes the many Cuban Americans who came to this country to escape Castro's regime. I have come to know the Cuban-American community very well.
We have a large Cuban-American community in Las Vegas. Some of the leaders of our State are Cuban Americans. I can recite a long list of Nevadans who were forced to leave Cuba, who gave up family fortunes, professional careers, men and women who worked by their hands, who were willing to brave the 90-mile journey across the ocean to freedom. They left their homeland because of Fidel Castro's oppression. Many of these people have gone on to become leading figures in Nevada.
One of these people, who is like a father to Senator Ensign and is a dear friend of mine, is a man by the name of Tony Alamo. Tony Alamo still speaks with an accent, even though he has been in this country for a long time. That accent dignifies this great man. He is a person who has achieved greatness in Nevada. But he started in Reno as a janitor. He worked his way up. He dealt cards. He educated himself. He is a man of letters. He understands important issues, and he is extremely engaged in global current events.
Today he is No. 3 in the hierarchy of one of the largest resort companies in the world, Mandalay Bay, a property that has tens of thousands of hotel rooms in Nevada. He has worked in the past as a corporate officer in the MGM company. He is one of the leaders of the State's tourist society. He has two fine young children, a son, Tony, Jr., who is a physician, and a daughter who also is well educated and involved in Nevada's business community.
Tony Alamo and his family are living examples of all the good Cuban Americans have done for our country. But he still loves Cuba. Even though he will never return there--he is an American through and through--he still loves his homeland and detests what Fidel Castro has done to it.
I hope the Senate understands what an evil person Castro is, and what horrible things he has done to the people of Cuba. I hope this resolution is taken to the Foreign Relations Committee, that hearings are held, and that it is reported out favorably so that we can vote on it on the Senate floor.
I again express my appreciation for the sacrifices made today by Senator Ensign. He has traveled to Florida to fulfill what both he and I believe is an extremely important responsibility--to represent the Senate on the 101st observance of Cuban Independence Day.