It is fitting and proper not because Mas Canosa was the leader of the Cuban-exile community in Miami-Dade County and the United States; not because Mas Canosa was a great friend and confidant of Presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and Bill Clinton; and not because Mas Canosa personified the very essence of the ``American dream.''

It is fitting and proper because Mas Canosa cherished and fought for the principles that we Americans hold most dear -- and not -- as his critics sometimes wrongly alleged, for personal recognition or gain.

Individual freedom, democracy, the right of all people to choose their form of government, and security from terrorism were his beacons.

I consider myself privileged to have been a friend of Mas Canosa for almost 30 years. I can attest that his heroic efforts for freedom and democracy were not linked solely to his fight against Fidel Castro's tyranny. Mas Canosa also was a true and active friend of the Jewish people, the state of Israel, and the United States of America.

In the 1970s and 1980s -- when international terrorists started hijacking planes and ships, murdering innocent people, and targeting Jews -- it was Mas Canosa who alerted the United States and Israeli governments that Cuba was instrumental in training and arming these terrorists. It was Castro who sent mercenaries abroad to foment unrest and revolution.

When Iraq's Scud missiles began to rain upon Israel during the Gulf War, it was Mas Canosa who first telephoned me to urge that we call for a rally in support of our troops and Israel at Bicentennial Park in Miami.

I also can recall the time in May 1994 when the American neo-Nazi Party was granted a permit to stage a demonstration at the Miami Beach holocaust memorial. There was Mas Canosa, standing at our side, opposing those radicals and proponents of hate.

Unfortunately, Mas Canosa did not live long enough to see our hemisphere free of the scourge of Castro. But he never once wavered from his opposition to Castro's tyranny. He saw Castro as a threat to world peace and security. And history has proven him correct.

In their widely acclaimed book about the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, One Hell of a Gamble, Aleksandr Fursenko and Timothy Naftali documented that Castro urged Nikita Khrushchev to launch nuclear missiles upon the United States. Miami certainly would have been a first-strike target.

As a Jew, I wish that the Jewish community had had a ``Jorge Mas Canosa'' leading us in the 1930s and early 1940s. Perhaps our people would not have sat idle, and our own government would not have been detached and indifferent -- while European Jews were being systematically slaughtered. As we celebrate this year Israel's 50th birthday, one can only conjecture that if Mas Canosa had lived in Miami about 60 years ago, whether the ship St. Louis with its 2,000 Jewish refugees would have been denied permission to dock.

You also should know that Mas Canosa was a member (probably the only non-Jewish member) of the Tel Aviv Foundation's board of trustees. Moreover, the city of Tel Aviv currently is planning to name a park for him.

I have heard that some object to a memorial here because Mas Canosa did not reside in Miami Beach. Yet I note that the proposal is to place this statue alongside those of Simon Bolivar and Jose Marti -- two great men who also did not reside in Miami Beach.

It would be terrible for Mas Canosa to be recognized in Israel, but not in Miami Beach.

I urge you quickly and unanimously to approve this memorial to freedom and democracy -- and to Mas Canosa. It will serve as a symbol and inspiration to all who cherish and strive to foster these ideals.