II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 834
To call for the immediate extradition or return to the United States of
convicted felon Joanne Chesimard, William ‘‘Guillermo’’ Morales, and
all other fugitives who are receiving safe haven in Cuba to escape pros-
ecution or confinement for criminal offenses committed in the United
States.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH4, 2025
Mr. S
COTTof Florida (for himself and Mr. CRUZ) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
A BILL
To call for the immediate extradition or return to the United
States of convicted felon Joanne Chesimard, William
‘‘Guillermo’’ Morales, and all other fugitives who are
receiving safe haven in Cuba to escape prosecution or
confinement for criminal offenses committed in the
United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Frank Connor and 4
Trooper Werner Foerster Justice Act’’. 5
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1
Congress makes the following findings: 2
(1) Joanne Chesimard, who is on the Federal 3
Bureau of Investigation’s list of Most Wanted Ter-4
rorists, is believed to be receiving safe haven in Cuba 5
to escape confinement for criminal offenses com-6
mitted in the United States. 7
(2) On May 2, 1973, Ms. Chesimard, a member 8
of the Black Liberation Army extremist organiza-9
tion, and 2 accomplices opened fire on 2 New Jersey 10
State troopers during a motor vehicle stop. Ms. 11
Chesimard and her accomplices wounded 1 State 12
trooper and executed State Trooper Werner Foerster 13
at point-blank range. 14
(3) After a 6-week trial in March 1977, Ms. 15
Chesimard was found guilty of first-degree murder 16
and sentenced to life imprisonment. On November 2, 17
1979, Ms. Chesimard, aided by armed individuals 18
posing as visitors, escaped from what is now the 19
Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women and 20
fled to Cuba. 21
(4) William ‘‘Guillermo’’ Morales, a bomb- 22
maker for the terrorist organization Fuerzas Arma-23
das de Liberacio´n Nacional, is credibly believed to 24
have committed numerous terrorist attacks on 25
United States soil, including the bombings of 26
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Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan on January 1
25, 1975, and of the Mobil Oil employment office in 2
New York on August 3, 1977. Among those killed 3
in the bombing of Fraunces Tavern was Mr. Frank 4
Connor of New Jersey. 5
(5) Following hospitalization in Bellevue Hos-6
pital in July 1978 after a bomb he was constructing 7
exploded prematurely, William ‘‘Guillermo’’ Morales 8
escaped to Mexico and made his way to Cuba before 9
June 1988. 10
(6) Other fugitives from the United States who 11
have been charged with offenses, such as hijacking, 12
kidnapping, drug trafficking, and murder, are be-13
lieved to be receiving safe haven in Cuba. Fugitives 14
from the United States who are currently residing in 15
Cuba include— 16
(A) Charlie Hill, a member of the Republic 17
of New Afrika militant group who stands ac-18
cused of killing a policeman in New Mexico in 19
1971 before hijacking a passenger plane and 20
obtaining asylum in Cuba; and 21
(B) Victor Manuel Gerena, a member of 22
the Puerto Rican terrorist group Los 23
Macheteros who stole a Wells Fargo armored 24
car in Connecticut containing over $7,000,000 25
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in November 1983 before escaping to Cuba and 1
remained on the Federal Bureau of Investiga-2
tion’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for more 3
than 32 years. 4
(7) The Treaty Between the United States and 5
Cuba for the Mutual Extradition of Fugitives from 6
Justice, done at Washington, DC, April 6, 1904 (33 7
Stat. 2265), and the Additional Extradition Treaty 8
Between the United States and Cuba, done at Ha-9
vana, Cuba January 14, 1926 (44 Stat. 2392), con-10
stitute bilateral extradition treaties between the 11
United States and Cuba. 12
(8) The Cuban regime has previously returned 13
fugitives from the United States, including— 14
(A) Jesse James Bell, a United States cit-15
izen wanted on 15 drug charges who was re-16
turned to the United States in January 2002; 17
(B) Leonard B. Auerbach, a United States 18
citizen wanted on Federal child sex crimes 19
charges who was returned to the United States 20
in June 2008; and 21
(C) James Ray III, a United States citizen 22
and New Jersey resident accused of murdering 23
his girlfriend, who was returned to the United 24
States in November 2018. 25
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SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1
It is the sense of Congress that— 2
(1) Joanne Chesimard, William ‘‘Guillermo’’ 3
Morales, and all other fugitives receiving safe haven 4
in Cuba to escape prosecution or confinement for 5
criminal offenses committed in the United States 6
must be extradited or returned immediately to the 7
United States, consistent with the Cuban regime’s 8
obligations pursuant to its extradition treaties with 9
the United States; and 10
(2) the Secretary of State and the Attorney 11
General should leverage all appropriate diplomatic 12
and policy tools to secure the timely extradition or 13
return of all fugitives residing in Cuba to face jus-14
tice in the United States. 15
SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT AND DETERMINATION ON FUGI-16
TIVES FROM THE UNITED STATES IN CUBA. 17
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in coordi-18
nation with the Attorney General, shall raise the issue of 19
fugitives from the United States receiving safe haven in 20
Cuba as part of bilateral conversations with the Cuban 21
regime. 22
(b) R
EPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 23
of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until 24
the date specified in subsection (c), the Secretary of State 25
shall submit a report to the Committee on Foreign Rela-26
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tions of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs 1
of the House of Representatives that— 2
(1) identifies steps taken by the Department of 3
State to advance efforts to secure the extradition or 4
return of Joanne Chesimard, William ‘‘Guillermo’’ 5
Morales, and other fugitives from the United States 6
who are residing in Cuba; 7
(2) includes a determination as to whether the 8
Cuban regime is actively fulfilling its obligations 9
under the bilateral extradition treaties described in 10
section 2(6) between the United States and Cuba; 11
and 12
(3) to the extent feasible, includes an estimate 13
of the number of fugitives from the United States 14
who are receiving safe haven in Cuba. 15
(c) S
UNSET.—The Secretary of State is not required 16
to submit the report described in subsection (b) after the 17
date on which the Secretary submits a second consecutive 18
annual report under such subsection that includes a deter-19
mination that the Cuban regime— 20
(1) is actively fulfilling its extradition obliga-21
tions; and 22
(2) is returning fugitives of the United States 23
who are residing in Cuba. 24
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SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF INCLE FUNDING IN 1
CUBA. 2
Amounts deposited into the International Narcotics 3
Control and Law Enforcement account to carry out the 4
activities authorized under section 481(a)(4) of the For-5
eign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2291(a)(4)) may 6
not be used for programs or initiatives in Cuba until the 7
Cuban regime is in compliance with— 8
(1) the conditions set forth in paragraphs (1) 9
and (2) of section 4(c) of this Act; and 10
(2) the conditions set for the resumption of eco-11
nomic activity between the United States and Cuba 12
pursuant to law, including the Cuban Liberty and 13
Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 14
(22 U.S.C. 6021 et seq.). 15
Æ
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