Speech #890297282

Mr. President. passage of this bill will reaffirm our Nations traditional humanitarian concern for refugees who come to our shores. Since Fidel Castros coming to power in Cuba in January 1959. some 300.000 Cuban refugees have come to the United States. The influx was small in the early days of the Castro regime. but increased rapidly as the Cuban revolution gained momentum and its totalitarian character emerged. For nearly 2 years. beginning in late 1960. arrivals at Miamis International Airport numbered some 1.500 to 2.000 persons weekly. The flow was hampered only by the rupture in CubanAmerican relations on January 3. 1961. and the restrictions imposed by the Castro government. The flow of refugees ended abruptly during the missile crisis in October 1962. In the following months and years. several thousand Cubans departed their homeland on ships returning to the United States following the delivery of medical supplies in connection with the agreement on prisoners. Others have entered the United States via third countries. chiefly.