Speech #1040057703

The administrations new approach should at least diffuse this potentially explosive situation. Those 15.000 young men. who have fled from Castros Cuba now have a realistic hope they will not waste away in a Guantanamo containment camp. Under the agreement. the administration plans to use 15.000 of the existing 60.000 Cuban visa slots for the next 3 years for an orderly exodus of the refugees from Guantanamoa camp that American taxpayers are paying $1 million a day to run. In addition. the agreement seeks to head off future inundations of refugees by providing a safer. fully organized Cuban Immigration Program for those yet to come from Castros Cuba. The continuing visa allowances will enable significant numbers of Cubans to take refuge in our country through orderly channels and without risking their lives on the high seas. Obviously. good screening processes will be necessary by the Coast Guard to ensure no political refugees picked up on the high seas will be repatriated in hot pursuit or lifethreatening situations. This will require constant and effective human rights monitoring. Handled properly. the administrations new approach could disarm one of Castros most effective gambitsthe deliberate victimization of his people by releasing them as waves of refugees to pressure the United States on foreign policy matters. If this agreement works. it should have the net effect of drastically reducing the danger of another Mariel overwhelming Floridas shores and resources. It should also have the added bonus of allowing the Federal Government.-rather than the State of Floridato cope with the impacts of Cuban migration. That means that all Americans. not just Floridians. will provide locations and will share the financial cost of resettling refugees in an orderly. organized way. Of course. there remain plenty of issues to be dealt with. Impacted States will have to work with the Federal Government to ensure that costs are reimbursed. And the Clinton administration has to perform the difficult task of providing monitoring for those repatriated to Castros Cubathe new Clinton policy will all fall apart quickly and completely if we find we are in any way aiding Castros regime to commit human rights violations on political opponents or on those just simply seeking more freedom. Finally. it demands emphasis that we have an obligation to the Cuban people as well as ourselves not to let up the pressure on the brutal. oppressive. regime of Fidel Castro. even while we work on ways to put more safety and order in the way we accommodate present and future refugees. That means a steppedup embargo and working for a commitment from our allies to cut off Castros economic lifeblood. The ultimate solution to the refugee problem and the key to a free and democratic life for Cubans is not to bring them all to America. The solution is to bring Cuba out of the cold war by ending the regime of Fidel Castro. And that.