U.S. REP. ILEANA ROS LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH

January 23, 2003
The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

You recently made a determination to invoke both waivers of Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act - otherwise known as Helms-Burton. As you know, according to the law, the waiver carries a dual threshold which requires that the waiver is in the national interest of the United States and that it helps promote democratic change in Cuba. Nevertheless, Title III is but one component of the laws which seek to fulfill these and other priorities of U.S.- Cuba policy.

I would like to draw your attention to other provisions which are not being fully implemented and respectfully ask that you make every effort to ensure that these are no longer ignored.

Title IV of Helms-Burton. As you know, under this section, if it is determined that an alien, after March 12, 1996, has confiscated or is trafficking in confiscated U.S. property in Cuba, that person shall be excluded from the United States. According to the November 26, 2002 Title IV report provided by the Department of State in compliance with Section 2802 of the Foreign Relations Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, there are three entities in the advanced stages of review. These companies which are acting in total disregard of U.S. property rights and interests, have yet to be sanctioned under the law.

Travel by Cuban officials to the United States. According to Section 102(e) of the Helms-Burton law, the Congress underscored its intent that the President should instruct the Departments of State and Justice to enforce fully existing regulations to deny visas to Cuban nationals who represent or are employees of the Cuban Government or of Cuba's Communist Party. Unfortunately, it appears such travel continues relatively unfettered, with educational and cultural exchanges being used as a facade, in some instances, for authorization of the travel.

Mr. President, in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 and given the Castro regime's state-sponsorship of terrorism, I am certain you will agree that it is not in the national security interest of the U.S. to allow regime or party representatives - whether traveling from Cuba or stationed in the U.S. - to be allowed virtually unrestricted access to our country.

Further, if travel to and within the United States is authorized, I ask that you instruct the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to closely monitor the activities of these individuals who are in the service of a state-sponsor of terrorism.

I request that you take immediate action to curtail the threat posed by such unmonitored travel.

Section 103 of the Helms-Burton law I would also greatly appreciate detailed information on your Administration's efforts to ensure the dutiful implementation of this section which prohibits indirect financing of the Castro regime. This is particularly important in light of the Trade Sanctions Reform Act provisions and current efforts by the dictatorship and its supporters to remove financing restrictions in the agricultural sector.

Section 106 of the LIBERTAD Act amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and calls for withholding of aid to governments which are providing assistance to or are engaging in nonmarket based trade with the Cuban Government.

This section also requires the withholding of assistance to independent states of the former Soviet Union, proportional to the assistance and credits they provide in support of intelligence facilities in Cuba.

Mr. President, I ask that you direct your advisors report to the Congress on the status of our assistance programs to such countries and punitive measures taken in compliance with the law.

Section 106 of Helms-Burton also has Presidential reporting requirements concerning the intelligence activities of the Russian Federation in Cuba. (Congressional intent in this regard was underscored in H.R. 4118, which passed the House overwhelmingly in 2000, prohibiting the rescheduling or forgiveness of any outstanding bilateral debt owed to the U.S. by the Government of the Russian Federation until the President certifies to the Congress that the Government of the Russian Federation has ceased all its operations at, removed all personnel from, and permanently closed the intelligence facility at Lourdes, Cuba.)

Mr. President, I await further information about the status of Russian withdrawal from the Lourdes facility and its activities in Cuba.

Section 101(2) of the Helms-Burton law calls on the President to advocate, and "to instruct the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations to propose and seek within the Security Council, a mandatory international embargo against the totalitarian Cuban Government pursuant to chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, employing efforts similar to consultations conducted by United States representatives with respect to Haiti"

I would appreciate receiving detailed information on your Administration's efforts in this regard.

Section 109(a) of the Helms-Burton law authorizes support for individuals and independent non-governmental organizations working to support democracy-building efforts in Cuba. While these programs have proven successful, the necessary resources have not been committed. Thus, in keeping with your expressed commitment of May 20, 2002, I respectfully request that you require in the FY 2004 request, a substantial increase in funding for Section 109 programs and for direct assistance to Cuba's internal opposition.

Section 109(b)(2) states that the President should instruct the U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States to encourage other member states to join in calling for the regime to allow the immediate deployment of independent human rights monitors throughout Cuba and on-site visits to Cuba by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

In addition, it calls on the President to take the necessary steps to encourage the OAS to create a special emergency fund for the explicit purpose of deploying human rights monitors and, later, election observers in Cuba.

I look forward to being briefed on your efforts on these two items.

Section 116(B)(3) of the LIBERTAD Act urges the President to seek, in the International Court of Justice, indictment for the act of terrorism by the Castro regime in shooting down the Brothers to the Rescue aircraft on February 24, 1996.

Notification on the status of this matter and of U.S. indictments would be greatly appreciated.

In addition, under Section 4 of the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, the President is to "direct the United States Trade Representative to enter into negotiations with the governments of countries that conduct trade with Cuba for the purpose of securing the agreement of such countries to restrict their trade and credit relations with Cuba in a manner consistent with United States policy and the purposes of this Act."

My colleagues and I would greatly appreciate a full accounting of steps taken since by the USTR's office to achieve this policy goal since the law was put into effect ten years ago.

In addition to these Helms-Burton statutory requirements, my colleagues and I would appreciate your support for:

· an investigation of the Immigration and Naturalization Service's implementation of the Cuban Adjustment Act, in light of lengthy detention of documented Cuban refugees seeking political asylum at the Southwest Border of the U.S.

· a review and possible revocation of the flawed and discriminatory Clinton Administration "wet foot/ dry foot policy"

· a tasking of the Defense Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, under the direction of Undersecretary of State, John Bolton, to further investigate Cuba's WMD programs and its links to al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist groups operating in the Western Hemisphere.

Mr. President, during the 2000 presidential campaign, my colleagues and I were promised a bottom-up review of U.S.-Cuba policy. If such a review took place, my colleagues and I believe that, in light of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the arrest and conviction of a senior DIA official for spying on the U.S. for the dictatorship, expulsion of Cuban officials for espionage, and information regarding Cuba's WMD programs, the review should be re-written, and a relevant summary made available to public. The items highlighted in this letter should also be part of any such review.

The law on this issue is clear, providing a concise roadmap of what the U.S. should be doing. Failure to implement these provisions undermines U.S. efforts and leaves the policy vulnerable to attack from those who seek to engage the brutal tyranny.

Thank you for your consideration of these critical matters. I look forward to working with you on these and other items aimed at protecting U.S. national interests and bringing freedom to the Cuban people.

Sincerely,

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chair
Subcommittee on International
Operations and Human Rights (107th Congress)

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