CUBA COMMITMENT

CUBA COMMITMENT

This week it was brought to my attention that a Treasury Department report was released acknowledging that it has only four employees chasing Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein's money and nearly two dozen chasing Cuba embargo violators. ''We're chasing old ladies on bicycle trips in Cuba when we should be concentrating on using a significant tool against shadowy terrorist organizations,'' said Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass. The controversy erupted after the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee sent a letter to Treasury Secretary John Snow Wednesday requesting a detailed accounting of the terrorist-related assets seized by the department since 1994, as well as the number of staffers dedicated to terrorist-related duties. The letter was a Treasury report to Congress in November revealing that the agency had six times the number of agents working on Cuba embargo violations than the two full-time investigators focusing on Bin Laden's money and two others looking into Hussein's wealth. The report by Treasury Office also noted just 93 enforcement investigations related to terrorism and collected just $9,425 in fines for terrorism-financing violations since 1994; it worked 10,683 cases on the Cuban embargo and collected more than $8 million in fines. Looks like they are investigating what brings cash. The American dollar is well spent in Cuba now by Americans. When visiting there you will notice the vast amounts of American cash being spent verses the Peso economy. This is obviously what sustains the government’s economy.

It has been suggested to me that we ought to go in and see if we can “buy” our containers into the country. This may be possible, all is with God anyways, but it is evident that if our Treasury Department can obtain 8 million dollars in fines alone in the short course of 10 years. Notice that this 8 million is only in fines. Money is traveling to Cuba and being accepted in vast amounts each and everyday. Maybe God has an open door we need to look into. But as you can see, if we pulled our resources together it would be a drop in the bucket compared to the normal dollar traveling in everyday. Are you willing to give what it takes? I need to pray about this, will you join me?

In HIS Service,

Travis A. Jones

travis@metrobc.org

cuba@metrobc.org

Metropolitan Baptist Church

6051 Azle Ave.

Ft Worth, TX 76135