WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - President Bill Clinton on Tuesday urged members of Congress working on a bill to give Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez U.S. citizenship to delay their efforts until the courts have pronounced on his fate.
``At a minimum I would like to see this court case played out before the Congress takes action,'' Clinton said, when asked about the six-year-old boy who survived a shipwreck and is now involved in a political tug-of-war between Havana and Cuban American exiles in Miami.
13:17 01-25-00
Clinton urges lawmakers -2
The U.S. administration is backing a decision by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service that Elian, who survived clinging to an inner-tube while his mother drowned during the attempt to reach U.S. shores two months ago, should be reunited with his father in Cuba.
That decision is hotly opposed by relatives caring for him in Miami and by Cuban exile groups, who have taken their case to a federal court. U.S. lawmakers who think the boy should remain in Florida began introducing legislation on Monday to give him U.S. citizenship or residency.
``I think we ought to try to let the legal system take its course,'' Clinton told reporters during an event at the White House to discuss the federal budget.
Clinton declined to say whether he would veto any bill Congress approved on the boy's status. ``I have not decided what to do and I wouldn't rule that out,'' he said. He condemned the fact that Elian was being ``competed for in a way that is unusual for a six-year-old child.''
15:08 01-25-00
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