Serrano: "Giuliani, Here We Go Again..."

Información enviada a Mario Rojas, Director de Tlahui. Puerto Rico, a 28 de Agosto, 1999. Update Sat 8/28/99

Congressman Jose E. Serrano
NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: INGRID ORTEGA BORGES

August 26, 1999
(202) 225-4361

Serrano: "Giuliani, Here We Go Again..."

Washington, D.C., Aug. 26 -- Congressman Jose E. Serrano (D-NY) today responded to Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani's continuing comments questioning the motive behind the President's clemency offer to 11 Puerto Rican political prisoners, by saying "here we go again."

"Mayor Giuliani again and again is unable and unwilling to engage in a serious, substantive analysis of the political prisoner issue and to comment on it meaningfully. I understand that the issue is complicated, but by not bothering to discuss the merits, the Mayor disrespects the Puerto Rican community, which considers this issue so critical to its interests," said Serrano, the most senior of the three stateside Puerto Rican members of Congress.

"Mayor Giuliani apparently believes that he is the only elected official in town capable of pure policy motives. Of course, he is deluded in that belief. For his edification and for the benefit of the public he has misled, let me remind him:

"Every Puerto Rican elected official in the Northeast and Midwest areas of the nation empowered me and the two other Puerto Rican members of Congress to plead the case of the Puerto Ricans imprisoned for disproportionate terms, for actions they took in advocacy of independence for Puerto Rico. Innumerable letters were written, telephone calls made, press releases issued, all culminating in several meetings of Puerto Rican members of Congress with the White House.

"We are grateful that the President understands the importance to Puerto Ricans of putting an end to this period in history. Those offered clemency never caused injuries or fatalities to anyone. They were convicted of seditious conspiracy and weapons possession, for which they are serving prison sentences of up to 105 years.

"In a time when the promotion of reconciliation among traditional enemies is a cornerstone of our national policy, it is critical to credit the struggle of Puerto Rican independence fighters in the same way we honor the struggles of freedom fighters elsewhere throughout the world, in South Africa, the Middle East, and the former Yugoslavia, by way of example.

"No, Mr. Mayor, this is not pandering. This issue did not arise only when the First Lady (Hillary Rodham Clinton) decided to consider a race for the Senate. If the Mayor bothered to learn the facts, he would understand that the President's actions resulted from the hard work and devoted advocacy of many, many committed people. It is an insult to us in the Puerto Rican community for the Mayor to pretend that the President is responding only to the perceived political needs of his wife.

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"After 101 years of a relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico, which many consider to be unfair and unequal, this action by the President is seen by our community as an act of reconciliation and not part of any political agenda.

"The Mayor's conduct reminds me of the issue of police brutality in New York City, when he refused to understand that the public, the State, and the Federal government believed that there was a major civil-rights crisis and that it needed to be tackled immediately.

"Rather, he insisted that the pattern and practice investigation of the New York Police Department that the Federal Justice Department is conducting was politically motivated to favor the First Lady," Serrano asserted, "The Mayor has the tendency of totally discounting the legitimacy of matters relevant to the minority community in NYC."

From: ALM alm1998@aol.com
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