associations which, if engaged in by a citizen in the United States, would be protected under the Constitution of the United States." Enacted into law, this amendment was to expire at the end of 1988 but was extended for two more years for nonimmigrant aliens in legislation signed by President Reagan on October 1, 1988 (P.L.100-461).

Because of ASNE's firm support of First Amendment freedoms for all, our annual convention programs present to the assembled editors as broad a range of views as possible, from both within and without the United States, on diverse matters of public interest.

For example, at our 1988 convention, President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica appeared to discuss the Central American situation and to take questions from the editors present.

In planning our 1989 convention, which was recently concluded here in Washington, it was decided that we would invite Fidel Castro of Cuba to speak to ASNE because this year marks the 30th anniversary of both the Cuban Revolution and Mr. Castro's initial visit to the U.S. during which he was a guest speaker at our convention.

On June 21 of last year, the ASNE Convention Program Committee Chair, Jim Squires, editor of the Chicago Tribune, issued a letter of invitation to Castro which stated:

Mr. President, you have visited America only twice in 30
years. An entire generation has grown to adulthood with
images of Cuba and its people filtered through conflict
and controversy.
Our meeting is an appropriate
opportunity to foster understanding through the direct

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exchange of ideas. We in the Society sincerely hope you accept our invitation.

In early December of 1988, Mr. Squires, together with both the executive director and then-president of ASNE, met with Manuel Davis, the Cuban Interest Section Representative in Washington, who informed them that President Castro was favorably inclined to accept the invitation but would not want the indignity of applying for a visa and being refused. On December 13, a letter was written to James Baker, the Secretary requesting a five-minute meeting for the purpose of discussing the subject, which was described only as one of urgency to ASNE and sensitivity to the Department of State. We do not know whether Mr. Baker ever received the letter, since we were later informed by one of his assistants that the letter had in fact been lost.

of

State-Designate,

One of our convention committee members told Charles Redmond, the State Department spokesman, what we wanted to discuss with Mr. Baker and again requested a meeting. This produced a meeting in March of this year with Michael Kozak, Undersecretary of State for Latin American Affairs, which was attended by Mr. Squires and two members of his committee.

At this meeting, Mr. Kozak stated that the Department had considered the ASNE request and regretted to inform us that it would not relax its travel ban and grant a visa to President Castro or any other Cuban official for the purpose of talking to ASNE. At this time, we were receiving almost

daily inquiries from representatives of Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua regarding the possibility of an invitation for him to speak at the convention. Mr. Kozak was asked if the State Department's reaction to Mr. Ortega would be the same as it had been to Mr. Castro. We were informed that it would

indeed be the same.

The State Department suggested that ASNE might wish to invite President Barco of Columbia, an invitation it would support and even help expedite. The Department threw in the possibility that, if Barco came, the Secretary of State might also attend to make a major policy statement on South America or the drug problem. Barco was invited, agreed to come, and subsequently addressed ASNE regarding the drug problem. Secretary of State Baker also convention and subsequently delivered a speech on U.S. foreign policy. Unfortunately, we had to inform Manuel Davis of the Cuban Interest Section that Mr. Castro's visa would be opposed and, consequently, the ASNE invitation to Mr. Castro was withdrawn. Mr. Ortega was never officially invited to the convention.

was invited to address the

When questioned at the convention as to the reasons for the State Department's position on Mr. Castro and Mr. Ortega, Secretary Baker explained that it was U.S. policy to isolate Cuba and Nicaragua, and that visas for the leaders of these countries would be denied in order to deny them a prominent

5

Ironically, Vice President Dan Quayle, speaking to ASNE on the same day as Secretary Baker, called on American editors to "shine a spotlight on Nicaragua” to ensure that its government would fulfill its pledges to democratize. His audience of editors could not help but wonder what better opportunity would there have been to put Mr. Ortega to the test than to have him appear before the convention and to be questioned by American newspaper editors.

The Vice President's response was to suggest that we could travel to Nicaragua and question Mr. Ortega there.

be

If I as the editor of a 7,000-circulation newspaper may
permitted
response to the Vice

a somewhat

personal

President's suggestion, I would remind the committee that the U.S. press is unlike that of many other nations. It is essentially local--provincial, not national. Half the country's dailies have a circulation of 20,000 or less. While I and other small-town editors have made reporting trips to Nicaragua, the Middle East, southern Africa and other newsworthy parts of the world, we do not have the resources or clout to travel to Nicaragua and interview Mr. Ortega on a regular basis. In the age of the internationalization of environmental, health, economic as well as political issues, ASNE performs a valuable service at it conventions in Washington by creating an opportunity for its members to hear and to question face-to-face world leaders, whatever their views.

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Mr. Chairman, attached to this prepared statement is a copy of a New York Times editorial of May 2, 1988, entitled "Why Fear the Speech of Foreigners?". It bluntly states the conclusion that many may draw from the episode I have just related: "Americans treasure the right to speak freely for everyone except foreigners whose views the government considers offensive." The Times editorial also points out that, while certain protections against a visitor's harmful actions make sense, "[t]hose based on fear of offensive views are themselves offensive to American values.”

A Washington Post editorial of April 15, 1989, entitled

"Free Speech for Fidel..." is also attached to this

statement. It makes clear that

"...it is not 'policy' or the purpose of the American press to work for the State Department, isolating this foreign figure, embracing that one. It is the policy and purpose of the American press to look around and ask questions. The Cuban and Nicaraguan leaders are good potential subjects. Were they to appear in Washington, they would no doubt use the occasion to make their best case. But they would also be exposed to questioning about the whole range of their policies. It our firm belief that the American people could have survived the encounter and rendered their own judgment about Fidel Castro and Daniel Ortega."

ASNE and other press organizations have worked not only within the United States but throughout the world, with organizations such as the Inter-American Press Association, the World Press Freedom Committee and other free press groups active in the international field, to ensure the free flow of