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ELIAN GONZALEZ UPDATE
Juan Miguel Gonzalez, the father of Elian Gonzalez, arrived in the US on Thursday morning in an attempt to speed the resolution of the four-month long battle over his child.  Elian’s Miami relatives, who a few months ago said they would give Elian to his father if he came to the US, now appear to be backtracking.  Upon his arrival, Juan Gonzalez spoke with Attorney General Janet Reno and INS Commissioner Doris Meissner 
On the legislative front, it appears that even with the support of the Vice-President and likely Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore, the plan to make Elian a citizen or permanent resident lacks the votes necessary to pass.  However, those sponsoring the legislation have suggested they will propose another idea – that an independent panel determines Elian’s status.  Sen. Connie Mack (R-FL) said that he might introduce such a bill as an amendment to the 2001 budget bill. 
INS Commissioner Doris Meissner met with a large group of Democratic Senators and urged them not to support any legislation that would make it harder to return Elian to Cuba because of the precedent it could set for the treatment of US citizen children who are taken to foreign countries by their parents, whether citizens or not. 
Federal politicians are not the only ones weighing in on the controversy.  Rep. Brent Evans, a Republican from Missouri, has introduced a resolution in the Missouri State Legislature calling for the Legislature to oppose Elian’s return to Cuba until the case is fully heard in the courts.  The resolution also demands that Juan Miguel Gonzalez be required to testify in court before being given custody of his son, and that all of Elian’s Cuban relatives have “the option of becoming American citizens immediately upon request.”  Other language in the resolution calls for the state legislature to “strongly support acts of civil disobedience in the tradition of Martin Luther King on the part of Cuban-Americans and their supporters should the above conditions not be met.”  Even if it is passed, this resolution would have no effect on the matter. It is, however, one more sign of the increasingly political struggle that this situation has become.