>> thank you. what an awesome speaker. what a great leader. we have a small gift of our appreciation and we will be watching your chairmanship very closely. this is a shaker. we would like to present it to you as their reigns of your time with us. -- as a reminder of your time with us. [applause] >> a senate hearing on cuba next. election night speeches by scott

walker and tom barrett. after that live discussion on the future labor unions. -- a discussion on the future of labor unions. he now remarks by senate finance committee chairman max baucus followed by a panel discussion with former white house budget director alice rivland, and bill thomas. live coverage begins at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span3. monday, espn president john skipper on the network's expansion to different media platforms. john king on the ways technology has changed cnn and phil meeks and the small business focus. monday night on c-span2. robert menendez says he is

outraged that allen gross wa remains in cuba. he is currently serving a 15- year sentence. the portion of the hearing is about 50 minutes. >> good morning. the hearing on the western hemisphere will come to order. our apologies to the secretary and other of the witnesses. we had a vote on the floor. i just came from that. welcome to our hearing. this is a statement of what we must do for the people of cuba and how we can get there. i want to thank our panelists

for coming today. i look forward to hearing their analysis and ideas on how we move down the path to freedom. i want to acknowledge the wife of allen gross, judy gross, who is with us today and we're in solidary with her and her husband and believe he should never have been incarcerated and that he should in fact be free to come home to his family. in addition to the assistant secretary for the western hemisphere affairs, roberta son.bs sen and others who have risked their freedom. this morning there will, simply because of their willingness to

express their opinions at this hearing, put their personal freedom at risk by telling the truth about conditions in cuba and providing testimony before this committee through a digital video conference and telephone. their participation is so sensitive that we were not able to include their names on the hearing notice and only have this morning following confirmation of their arrival at the u.s. intersection in havana, issued a new hearing notice. we're deeply grateful for their courage and their commitment to coming forward to speak about the realities of life within cuba and for their advocacy for freedom of the cuban people. they are jose herrer and sara conseco. we will take this opportunity to

thank the committee and state department for their assistance in facilitating the act -- technical aspects of this hearing and for providing interpretation services as well. let me begin by providing some context for today's hearing. i am encouraged and discouraged by conditions inside of cuba. i am encouraged by the tremendous growth of civil society and thousands of brave cubans to every day stand their ground despite harassment, a loss of jobs and rations as retribution for their actions and their ultimate freedom. and for those who speak their minds despite recurring physical abuse and of the jury arrests and detentions. those arrests and detentions this year alone are no more than 2400. that includes 1158 documented arrests in the month of march.

all level not seen in cuba since the 1960's. the tremendous increase in repressive actions against the cuban people recognized this week by the un committee against torture, reveals the glowing -- growing level of discontent in cuba and the inability of the regime to control this movement. the growth of civil society is extraordinary. particularly if you consider the constraints faced by activists living on an island who are subject to continuous observation, continuous harassment, and frequent detentions by cuban security forces and with limited means of communicating amongst themselves because the island has virtually no free internet capacity and the internal internet is heavily monitored and controlled by the regime. it is more impressive if you consider the roots of today's movement began to form inside cuban prisons only in the late

1980's and late 1990's as the soviet union collapsed and the regime was weakened by the lack of soviet subsidies. the committee fomented the first seeds of civil discontent, basing its platform on the universal declaration of human rights. the movement grew into 135 groups that make up the umbrella group that declared it's determination to struggle for a peaceful and nonviolent transition into a democratic state of law and embracing all cubans everywhere. the regime was the effort to halt the movement blocked plans for meeting in february 24 of 1996 and arrested -- arrest of the participants failed. the regime won the battle but lost the war. they're brave actions became legendary on and off the item -- island. across the island, a diverse

collection of liberation groups and freedom fighters sprang to life. the included -- to be included women's groups and artists groups and librarians. this pattern was repeated when the regime tried to crush the supporters. it called for a vote in freedom of the press and elections, the right to operate private business and an amnesty for political prisoners and other activists on march 18 of 2003 in events known as the black spring. cuba arrested and imprisoned 75 activists at that time. jose garcia will be calling on the phone in a short while. fernando served years as a political prisoner. jose served eight years before being provided conditional

release. although 75 arrests emboldened the opposition movement, creating a national symbol for a unified command for freedom from repression and tyranny. if the past is truly prologue, this current wave will only serve to embolden the movement. bringing others into the cause and leading to the freedom of the cuban people. the purpose of today's hearing is to call attention to the wave of repression taking place inside cuba. at the same time, it is a celebration of the courage of thousands of activists living inside the island. for cubans to put their personal freedom at risk or the freedom of their countrymen and their nation. let me close with a few facts we have distributed to the audience. according to the 2011 state department human rights report, the principal human rights abuses in cuba were abridgement of the right of citizens to

change their government, government threats and intimidation, harassment and detention, preventing citizens from assembling peacefully, an increase in the number of short- term detentions, which rose to the highest number in 30 years. most abuses were official acts committed at the direction of the government and the perpetrators enjoy impunity for their actions. according to freedom house, cuba is ranked 190 out of 197 countries in terms of press freedom, between syria and iran. during the month of march 2012, there are 1150 documented political arrests by the castro regime. according to the cuban commission for human rights. this represents the highest monthly number of documented arrests in five decades. cuba has also seen its share of martyrs on this journey.

after lengthy prison hundred strikes -- auger strikes and beating by officials. the most recent detainees are for o lopez anrrested public disorder. who were hers arrested in mid-march. jorge vasquez who was arrested after a recipient of his house. an activist with the patriotic union who was arrested april 1. prosecutors are seeking a two- year prison sentence against him. and another who was arrested in

february who was wearing a shirt denouncing the castro regime. ten political prisoners are on hunger strike in the guantanamo prison. [reading names] their courage, their sacrifices what we can never forget in our dealings with a regime that has killed -- ruled cuba with an iron hand since the middle of the last century.

cuba remains trapped in a closed society cut off from the advances of the world. repressed, threatened, fearful of saying or doing something that will land them in prison come off in three years. we are urged every american to remember victims of the stell -- fidel castro and his brother. in cambodia under the khmer rouge, in iran under the told, in iraq under saddam hussein, under milosevic in bosnia. as i had said many times before, the cuban people are no less deserving of american's support in the millions who were imprisoned and forgotten in soviet gulags, left to die for nothing more than a simple expression of dissent. i am compelled to act again as i did before. why is there such an obvious double standard when it comes to cuba? where the gulags of cuba

different from the gulags of the old soviet union? where we listening them when it comes to an equally oppressive regime inside cuba? why are we willing to throw our hands and say, it is time to forget? it is not time to forget. we can never forget those who have suffered and died at the hands of dictators, not in iran, cuba, not anywhere. it is clear the repression continues unabated. notwithstanding all the cause to ease travel restrictions, notwithstanding millions of visitors from across the globe, notwithstanding greater resources this regime has now in terms of currency. now -- not with countin that hap the repression. the torture and beatings still continues. i for one cannot do that and i

will not step back from that. as long as we have a voice in the united states senate, the voice will be for the freedom of the cuban people. with that, let me recognize the distinctive -- [unintelligible] >> thank you for being here and thanks to your service for our country. we will -- i will limit my remarks in the interest of time. supervisor mar: every word you said. i wanted to add a few things. this hearing is important because it allows us to illustrate what is happening 90 miles from our shores. for many americans and as you look around the world, sometimes we think totalitarianism and dictatorship, human-rights abuses are something that happened somewhere else. it happens in our own hemisphere literally from -- 90 miles of the shores. they happen to -- they have been

happening now for a long time. this is not some cold war relic of interest. it is three things. it is an extremely repressive regime. as repressive of -- as any other regime in the world. one that deliberately divides families against each other. that manipulates people who travel to the island, that deliberately manipulate u.s. policy to their advantage. it is a one-way street. even our best intentions are manipulated. families are divided where they know the can allow half the family to come here so they can send remittances back to the island to their relatives in a cynical effort to divide families. the one thing we cannot forget that despite the progressiveness and manipulative ness and evil, it happens to be an economically incompetent one. they're good at repressing people and good at keeping people jailed but they're not good at running a country.

they're literally incompetent. they have no idea how to run an economy, how to create the conditions for job creation and that alone is the reason why the cuban people suffer because their leaders literally do not know what they're doing. our goal here as people who care deeply about human rights, that the people keep freedom. the freedom to choose any economic model they want but the freedom to choose their leaders said they can have any economic model that one. what direction they choose is for them. they have the right to determine their own future. in the u.s. with some very rare exceptions, there is no debate on that topic. what there is debate about is the tactics by which we accomplish them. i have been on record as questioning the tactics of this administration. because i think the tactics are

nave. the notion that somehow by flooding cuba, we're going to somehow change the cuban threat is a need. the government manipulates to their advantage. it is a one-way street. i do not think they grasp what we're dealing with here. i found this among some of my colleagues who travel to cuba with the notion they're going to set things straight. there will talk some sense into these folks and many of them returned scratching their head. it does come face-to-face with hal storelli manipulative and good at manipulating people and circumstances this repressive regime has become. i hope one of the things we will talk about are some new tactics. one of the things i would love to see, some of figuring out a way to give the people of cuba free access to the internet.

free and clear of government interference. if they had access to the internet and could communicate with one another, they could follow each other on twitter and facebook and get news from the and outside world. free to choose any news they want to access. i do not believe the castro regime could survive that. i close my statements with the message to the people who work for the government in cuba. i know they like to watch these hearings. they may have some people here in the audience. let me give you a message to take back. if you are involved in being or jailing people, if the government is using you whether it is here or in cuba and abusing human rights, your name is being recorded and you are part of a government that is not sustainable. fidel castro is have we gone and his brother will be gone, too. when they are gone, the system in place cannot survive but your

name will be recorded and will be brought before justice. if you are a military official or a police officer involved in human rights abuses, you have to answer for those crimes before cuban accord or international one. you need to think about that before you cooperate with some of the things that are happening to some of the folks we're hearing about today because you are part of a system that cannot survive, and that long after a look -- the leaders are gone, you will be left behind picking up the pieces of what you're doing right now. i hope that message gets there. i will be more than happy to deliver it in spanish after the hearing. thank you. >> thank you. let me recognize assistant secretary roberta jacobs andon -- jacobson. she is in the bureau and was

deputy chief and has a long and distinguished record and we're pleased to have her here with us today. i would ask you to summarize your testimony in five minutes. you're full statement will be entered into the record and we're pleased to have you. >> thank you. i am delighted for the opportunity to be here and i appreciate the engagement in the western hemisphere and your commitment to share values and expanding economic and social opportunity. in most countries, we see governments working to provide greater political and economic opportunity for citizens but there remain exceptions. that is why supporting human rights and greater prosperity remains a fundamental u.s. objective throughout the hemisphere especially in cuba.

the obama administration's priority is to empower cubans to determine their own future. the most effective tool we have is building connections between the cuban and american people in order to give cubans the support and tools they need to move toward independence of their government. u.s. citizens engaging in a well defined purpose will travel are the best ambassadors for our democratic ideals. the hundreds of thousands of cuban-americans who have traveled and sent remittances to the island are a central part of a strategy to insure cubans have these opportunities. our policy recognizes the importance of engaging with pro- democracy and human rights activists. some of whom you will speak to today who have been working for years to expand the political and civil rights of all cubans. a program to provide humanitarian assistance to political prisoners and support the documentation of human rights abuses and prevent --

promote the free flow of information. secretary clinton recognized a cuban water -- blogger. in 2010 and 2011, the cuban government with support from the spanish firm and released dozens of political prisoners, most on condition of exile in spain. we welcome the release of these prisoners including the last of the 75 peaceful activists who were unjustly arrested during the black spring of 2003. their release did not affect a fundamental change in the poor record on human rights has continued to punish political dissent. it continues to limit fundamental freedoms. it has continued to threaten and harassed peaceful human rights defenders. that is why we will continue to

support an independent civil society and the right of the cuban people to determine their own future through governmental policy and the facilitation of non-governmental occasion -- [unintelligible] faith based organizations have conducted religious outrage and provided services to marginalize the cubans. they have sponsored religious trouble and following remittances to support religious opportunities. we also highlight the case of allen gross. i would like to greet judy gross at this meeting -- hearing. enhancing access to communication technology will facilitate to oppose a process

of political change. our intersection provides free internet activists and basic information technology skills and provides training to independent journalists. our message must be clear. opposition to the government is the criminal behavior. free-speech is not criminal behavior. it is a right that must be defended. i note we are committed to ensuring full respect. we have seen new tactics used by government todetermined to silence those who speak out against them. we need to confront these new measures. the me emphasize that we will be the first to cheer when the democratic government has the

system. this has been a trailblazer. these remain critically relevant. i look forward to continuing to work with you to promote greater freedom and prosperity. thank you very much. >> thank you. let me start off in trying to understand some of the views as it relates to strengthening civil society inside of cuba. i am outraged with the

department decision to authorize of visas for a stream of officials to visit the united states starting cuba's director for foreign affairs. his has been was ultimately kicked out of the un mission. there are attending the latin american studies conference. i do not understand why they hold an american hostage for over 2.5 years. when we have the highest monthly number of documents of arrests in five decades that our messaging is that we permit her to be parading around the united states on a publicity tour

largely declaring herself this. under what authority did the officials get visas to enter the united states? did they exercise the executive order 357 to issue the visas? how do you justify giving those visas when you have this incredible oppression inside of cuba for 2.5 years for nothing more than helping the jewish community to be able to communicate with each other? >> thank you. outrage.as been more out rate we'll continue to do everything we can.

he should be with his mother and his family. >> everything would include sending them a message that you can keep an american in prison but the parade the people here. that is an oxymoron. >> under the regulations, we love care. we look at the full range of national security, immigration, laws and regulations including reviewing proclamation 5377. in the cases of them, those cases did not fall under the exception requirements of proclamation 5377. that was effectively implemented since 20199 undersecretary albright.

those cubans were allowed to come to the united states because they were able to do so despite my not agreeing with the statements. interest peek at the latin american studies association. she applied for that the set. we applied for visas to go to havana to work with their own section. we felt it was inappropriate to allow her to come into this country and work with the intersection here. we recognize that we want to be able to meet with and talk to the widest range of people in cuba that we possibly can.

the cuban government does not always allow it. >> are you suggesting that she is not a communist party official? >> i'm not suggesting that she may not be a member. as the proclamation was interpreted in narrowed in 1999, she was not a senior party official. >> the united states denies the visas to all types of people all across the world. it has broad jurisdiction in doing so. you exercised your discretion in giving a visa to these individuals who are part of a repressive system. you had the authority to say no. you talk about reciprocity. that reciprocity is not observed

inside cuba. they are restricted. they are restricted in their access. what we're doing is giving a one-way street and sending a totally wrong message. those to fight for freedom inside cuba languish there. those to impress them get to do their propaganda. i understand the beauty of our freedom. there's also a public policy decision. i guess we would allow syrian dictatorship to come here and express their views. the bottom line is we make choices all the time in terms of promoting the interests and security. certainly the interest lasted be the democracy inside of cuba not

to allow those to come to the united states to promote their propaganda. let me turn to another set of circumstances. it is the whole people to people travel to cuba. since it ministration ease restrictions in 2009, the regime has doubled its hard currency reserves. the bank reported them in 5.7 $6 billion in cuba and deposits of 2011. that is compared with 4.2 billion at the close of 2009. it is very clear. nothing else has changed in terms of this. we are essentially bankrolling

the regime. i look at that. i say to myself, of look at the travel. in the time may have prevented this, we have seen a visit to hemingway's marina. this is inside the cuban trip. this is a tremendous way to help civil society inside if cuba promote democracy and human rights. it can dramatically increase castro pose a real shame.

.- castro's regime tell me how the policy is working. >> there are other reasons. >> we have seen these reports of the increase in reserves. for're at been increases this on a nickel. there has also been an increase in the industrialization. firms have required to increase cash and reserves because of the bad credit risk. we believe there are many

different reasons that the reserves may have increased. we do not believe there is a sole reason. >> do you dispute that the largest increase is a combination of remittances and travel money? >> i do not know that is the reason for the increase. >> nickel has increased so much that it is creating an increase of $2 billion tax >> there are multiple reasons they have increased their reserves. there are funds from remittances and travel. there are abuses that are committed in the regulations.

>> you created regulations that permit it uses to take place. >> there are also some positive things happening into the reactions between americans and our reach that are occurring. >> those successes old simile can be justified in the context of record numbers of imprisonments? >> we think the benefits over time of the contact to the cuban people and their ability to change the situation will outweigh the negative. we do not in any way tolerate the increase the harassment. >> it is hard to understand how you have this dramatic increase.

the one thing that has changed is that there is unlimited flow of remittances and enlisteunlimd because of the taurus. they do not interact with average cubans. you do not engage average cubans. to yourself reporting. that is why it uses are largely allowed. the crate a license in which anyone can go. there for you have no reporting engagements. smoking a cuban cigar made by those who are not free is not the way in which we live break the cuban people. given the regime more money for their oppressive apparatuses

have not created a more golden opportunity for peaceful societies to promote themselves. it is not my idea of success. i do not know how many people have to be a arrested and americans have to languish in jail before we send a different message. >> the attached about how we produce you touched upon how we deny visas all the time pierre -- you touched upon how we deny visas all the time. one lives in the united states. he has been indicted for that operation.

his wife was murdered in honduras. yet three grandchildren who have applied for a tourist visa. they were treated very rudely at the consulate. i hope the deny will be reconsidered. i do not get it. children who want to visit their grandfather are denied a tourist visa but the same government gave one to castor's should it come to the united states and justify the fact that

they're holding an american hostage. all they want is for their country to have freedom and self-determination. i hope we can have a further conversation. we talked about the internet. we talked about free internet access. i am very interested in the possibility of providing internet access through satellite in cuba. there are existing ones that message signals throughout the world. if you have a sievert you could receive it from any number of satellite spatter up there now. if we could figure out a way for the government to do it we can provide a vehicle by which the

people would have to have access to the computer to allow them to access bit. it is technologically feasible for the united states to be involved in sponsoring internet access. but the people of cuba had the opportunity, they could read the tweet. it is very difficult. sometimes she cannot even see her own tweakets. they were able to quickly post on you to the video about the abuses that are happening. they're able to talk to one another and have access. i hope we can work with your office to put something like this together which i think would be a cost-effective way to further the cause. the last thing i hope the state

will consider is a mechanism to have a registry where they could register the names of abuse so the world can no this. these are people that are part of the flash mobs on the streets. they beat and torture people. their names in to be recorded. some of these wines appear in the united states. some decided to not like what is going on in cuba. there is going to be this soon. they need to be held accountable.

we can publicize the names of these folks. >> i look forward to walking with you on these issues, we think it is critical that the access be given to the people. some reports say there are well over the double a mile of cell phones. this is a trend that we want to engage with you. >> one last question. one of the challenges of having arrested him is to try to kill the very essence of what our democracy programs are incited

cuba. they were told to refrain from creating the free flow of this to communicate with each other about what is happening in their country. i hear you say we support that. have you not chilled all of those in terms of their engagement inside of you but? >> but not think we have. what we have tried to do, the regime is trying to send us a message about the ability to get

information and connect cubans to each other. we have to continue to try to ensure that in the environment that our programs operate in cuba we do them as a plea for the participants and as offensively as we possibly can. that is the intention of our conversation and our review of all our programs. >> we're sending a far different message. we have never done this worldwide. i would really look forward to having a sit down about all of the programs and how they are

not necessarily accomplishing what we want. i heard you referred to him before. i want to know what is the present status. obviously, he is in jail. cadbury she made any offers our suggestion saks -- has she made any offers to our suggestions? >> shares but made any response that he be allowed to come home with his family. there has been no response fo from the cuban government that

they are willing to do that. most recently we have focused on his mother was gravely ill and is 90 years old. he should be released on humanitarian grounds to be able to see her. we have pressed that very hard. let not gotten a satisfactory answer at all. >> did you not permit one of the individuals who had it released after his custody to go back to cuba and promote humanitarian ability? >> they objected to his return to cuba on that visit. the court allowed him to go back to cuba. we thought that was a perfect opportunity for the cuban

government to take a humanitarian gesture. >> thank you very much for your testimony. there may be questions that come to you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> the next, scott walker and tom barrett. then the discussion of labor unit. >> tomorrow, a sister for a new american security. this the end of log scale military operations. we begin our series on federal financial agencies with harvey pitt on the role of the sec. "washington journal" live