Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000
Senator Bob Smith on Elian Gonzalez
Thomas M. Miovas, Jr.
Before the Miami Raid to seize Elian Gonzalez and the CNN news
conference shortly thereafter, I don't believe I had ever heard
of Senator Bob Smith of New Hampshire. His statements about
Elian and the raid were enough for me to call him an American
hero in one of my posts -- especially since he seemed (at the
time) to be the only Congressman to have the right view on this
topic. In one of my e-mail campaigns, I send him a note stating
my objection to the Miami Raid by the INS on an American home. I
just received a letter from him and a copy of his April 22, 2000
speech before the Congress of the United States.
I should say, up front, that Senator Bob Smith is not a
consistent defender of individual rights, judging from his home
page on the internet and bills and speeches he has sponsored.
Nonetheless, I support his efforts in the Elian Gonzalez case.
Among his opening paragraphs of the letter he sent to me:
"As you know, Elian and his mother together escaped the
dictatorship of communist Cuba. However, on April 22, 2000, in
the United States of America, Elian and his Miami relatives were
subjected to the type of police state tactics better suited for
a totalitarian regime than for a nation that purports to uphold
the rule of law and protect our basic freedoms."
A few excerpts from his April 22, 2000 speech:
"Here is this little boy who floated in the ocean on an
innertube after his mother died trying to bring him to America.
So we are now going to conduct policy about what to do about
Elian by reading polls. Where is the leadership in this country
when we need it? This is not about polls. I don't care what the
polls are. I could care less what the polls are. If Lincoln had
taken a poll on slavery, we would probably still have slavery
because the majority of the people in America at that time
supported slavery. But he didn't take a poll or put his finger
to the wind. He did what was right."
"I am tired of hearing about everyone else's rights in this
debate. I am sick of it. I am sick of the fact that I can't get
a vote on the floor of this Senate because the people do not
have the guts to vote. They do not want to be recorded. I am
sick of it because this little boy is going to be dragged back
to Cuba, and he is going to be used as a pawn in Castro's--God
knows what--forsaken land over there. And we have to live with
it. We ought to be recorded, and we ought to be on record. We
ought to stand up and be counted. I am sick of it. I have been
quiet too long. I am not going to be quiet anymore."
"Where are all the human rights people who care about this?
Where is the Catholic Church that sheltered all of these
Communists during the Nicaraguan and El Salvador issue? Where
are they? Silent."
He goes on to portray several grueling Cuban escape attempts,
and how Castro had them murdered on the high seas; including
presenting some photographs of drowned children and a list of
names and ages. Now *that's* making the issue concrete and real!
"Let me tell you how they died with this dictator who tells you
that he wants to welcome this little boy back to Cuba so he can
be with his father. If Castro had caught him, he would be dead.
All of them would have been. He would have killed them. But he
didn't catch them. [Those who tried to escape with Elian] drowned."
"You say: Oh, well. That was just a bunch of Castro's goons who
got a little excited; no big deal. This is not about that.
Elian's father loves him. He should go back."
...
"We are not hearing about that, are we? We will not hear about
that because we don't want to do anything to make Fidel Castro
angry at the United States. After all, Bill Clinton wants a
legacy of breaking down the barriers between Cuba and the United
States. That is what this is about. Let's get real. God knows,
he needs something to save his legacy, so we will take it out on
Elian Gonzalez. After all, he is an expendable little kid. We
don't care about him. That is just one kid. Let him go back to
his father."
...
"We don't have the guts to stand on the floor of the Senate as a
Senate, all 100 Members, take a vote and say he should go back
to Cuba or the case should go to court."
Can you imagine that, a Senator with the courage to come out and
call his fellow Senators cowards to their face?
And that's certainly not all of it. To read the rest of it, go to:
www.senate.gov/~smith/flelian.html
As I've said, he supports many things I am totally against. But
I do have to admire him.
After getting a letter from Senator Phil Gramm (Texas) and
Senator Bob Smith (New Hampshire), I can say there is still some
honor remaining in our government -- despite our differences.
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 01:44:35 -0400 (EDT)
Senator Bob Smith on Elian Gonzalez
Thomas M. Miovas, Jr.
>From Thomas M. Miovas, Jr:
>I just received a letter from him and a copy of his
>April 22, 2000 speech before the Congress of the United States.
>
My apologies to Senator Bob Smith. The speech I quoted from were
given on April 12, 2000 -- *ten days before the raid*. It
occurred to me overnight that the 22nd of April was a Saturday
and I was wondering how he managed to get Congress together.
That he made such a speech before the raid greatly increases his
stature.
