By IRVIN MOLOTSKY

          WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 -- The president of the Cuban National
          Assembly and the White House chief of staff both urged
          Congress today not to interfere in the question of returning a little boy to
          Cuba.

          The Cuban official, Ricardo Alarcón, said he thought that Congress had
          "other more serious business to deal with, that you should -- that the
          American people should -- ask them to concentrate on those issues and
          not to be used as a tool for those kidnappers in Miami."

          The White House official, John D. Podesta, urged Congress to leave the
          resolution of the case up to the federal courts.

          Both of them spoke against a proposal that Congress grant the boy, Elián
          González, American citizenship, which would effectively block the
          Immigration and Naturalization Service from acting to send him home.

          The 6-year-old boy has been staying with relatives in Florida since Nov.
          25, when the boat that was carrying him, his mother and other Cuban
          refugees sank. His mother, Elisabet Brotons, died, and his father, Juan
          Miguel González, has asked that he be returned to Cuba.

          Mr. Alarcón, who appeared on the NBC News program "Meet the
          Press," said from Cuba: "I think that citizenship is something that should
          not be used for that kind of maneuvering. You cannot impose citizenship
          upon anybody. And this individual, this 6-year-old boy, has not
          requested anything, and he cannot, legally speaking.

          "And the father clearly doesn't want him to be deprived, not only for his
          son, but to deprive his son, after having deprived him of his father and his
          four grandparents, also of his nationality. This is going too far, really."

          The idea of granting American citizenship to Elián was proposed late last
          week by Senator Connie Mack, Republican of Florida, and four
          members of the House of Representatives. The Republican majority
          leader of the Senate, Trent Lott of Mississippi, has endorsed it.

          Mr. Podesta said: "The best place for this to be decided is in a court of
          law, rather than in the halls of Congress. But, you know, we'll have to
          wait and see what they propose and take that on when they get back to
          town.

          "Certain members, obviously of the leadership, have suggested that they
          want to pass legislation when they first return to town, and we'll have to
          see what they come up with when they propose it."

          Mr. Podesta, who appeared on the ABC News program "This Week,"
          also took note of an effort by another Republican, Representative Dan
          Burton of Indiana, to keep Elián in the United States by issuing a
          subpoena for his testimony before Congress and said, "Our position has
          been: let's try to keep this, as best we can, out of politics."

          Mr. Alarcón said in a second television appearance, on "Fox News
          Sunday," that the citizenship proposal was "absolutely nonsense," and he
          added, "Congress is supposed to be a serious institution and not an
          instrument to permit what amounts to a kidnapping of a small boy."

          One of the candidates for the Republican nomination for president,
          Senator John McCain of Arizona, said he supported granting citizenship
          to the child.

          "Sure," Mr. McCain answered when the question was put to him on
          "Meet the Press." "We've done that to so many others who have been
          able to escape." In answer to another question, he said that as president
          he would not return Elián to Cuba.

          Mr. McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, said: "I have had
          some experience with Communist governments, and there are millions of
          Americans that have, too. Ask any of them who lived under it what it was
          like and whether we should condemn that young boy to it, and especially
          since his mother made the ultimate sacrifice in order that he might breathe
          free." Meanwhile, Cuba's foreign minister left for Europe today to seek
          support for the boy's return.

          "It is inconceivable and unacceptable that this small child remains
          kidnapped," Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque told Cuba's Prensa
          Latina news service, according to The Associated Press. He was to visit
          Italy, San Marino, France, Denmark and Russia and also meet with
          Vatican and Spanish officials before returning to Cuba on Jan. 28.
 

                     Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company