[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 81 (Tuesday, June 12, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6135-S6137]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DODD (for himself, Mr. Chafee, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Lugar, Mr. 
        Roberts, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Levin, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. 
        Kennedy, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Wellstone, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Bingaman, 
        Mr. Durbin and Mr. Hagel):
  S. 1017. A bill to provide the people of Cuba with access to food and 
medicines from the United States, to ease restrictions on travel to 
Cuba, to provide scholarships for certain Cuban nationals, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, last year 26 Senators cosponsored 
legislation to help the Cuban people and American farmers and 
businesses by allowing sales of food and medicine to Cuba. Later, with 
passage of the FY2001 Agriculture Appropriations Bill, the 106th 
Congress approved the issuance one year licenses for the sale of food 
and medicine to Cuba, but placed restrictions on the financing of these 
sales. This was a beginning, and now we need to expand on this small 
success by continuing to move forward in constructing bridges to the 
Cuban people.
  Toward that end, I am today joined by a bipartisan group of my 
colleagues in introducing the Bridges to the Cuban People Act, an 
expanded version of the legislation that was passed last year. Among 
those joining as original cosponsors are Senators Chafee, Leahy, Lugar, 
Roberts, Baucus, Levin, Boxer, Jeffords, Kennedy, Akaka, Wellstone, 
Dorgan, Bingaman, and Durbin. This bill comprehensively updates U.S. 
policy toward Cuba by increasing humanitarian trade between Cuba and 
the United States, increasing our people-to-people contacts, and 
enhancing the flexibility of the President with respect to our foreign 
policy towards Cuba. I would like to take a few moments to outline the 
various sections of this bill, and to explain to my colleagues the 
reasons why enactment of this legislation is so vital.
  First, let me be clear. This new legislation will not end the embargo 
on Cuba. Rather, this bill creates specific exceptions to the embargo 
that will allow American farmers and businesses to sell food, medicine, 
and agricultural equipment to Cuba without the burden of securing 
annual licenses and will allow our farmers and businesses to use 
American banks and American financing to conduct these sales. Both of 
these changes, along with the lifting of shipping restrictions, are 
designed to allow sales to move forward in a way that is less 
burdensome to American farmers and businesses. Additionally, this bill 
would mandate that the President submit a report to Congress each year 
describing the number and types of sales to Cuba so that we will have 
some official record of these sales.

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  The Building Bridges to the Cuban People Act would also lift the 
embargo on the exports of goods or services intended for the exclusive 
use of children. No embargo should include children as its victims, and 
this provision would allow us to give special attention to children in 
Cuba.
  This bill also modernizes our approach to Cuba's medical exports. 
Cuba is currently involved in the development of some medicines that 
are not available in the United States, such as the Meningitis B 
vaccine, but that could save American lives. This legislation would 
allow Cuba, with the approval of the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services, to export to the United States medicines for which there is a 
medical need in the United States, provided the medicine is not 
currently being manufactured in our country. In this way we can build 
on the strong tradition of medical research in Cuba and encourage the 
free exchange of ideas and experiments between scholars.
  In addition, this bill will lift restrictions on travel to Cuba. Cuba 
does not now pose a threat to individual Americans, and it is time to 
permit our citizens to exercise their constitutional right to travel to 
Cuba. Surely we do not ban travel to Cuba out of concern for the safety 
of Americans who might visit the island Nation. Today Americans are 
free to travel to Iran, the Sudan, Burma, Yugoslavia, and North Korea, 
but not to Cuba. This is a mistake. American influence, through person-
to-person and cultural exchanges, was one of the prime factors in the 
evolution of our hemisphere from a hemisphere ruled predominantly by 
authoritarian and military regimes to one where democracy is the rule. 
Our current policy toward Cuba limits the United States from using our 
most potent weapon in our effort to combat totalitarianism, and that is 
our own people. They are some of the best ambassadors we have ever sent 
anywhere, and the free exchange of ideas between Americans and the 
Cuban people is one of the best ways to encourage democracy and build 
bridges between the American and Cuban people.
  Another provision in this new legislation would allow us to reach out 
to Cuban students. Under this legislation, scholarships would be 
provided for Cubans who would like to pursue graduate study in the 
United States in the areas of public health, public policy, economics, 
law, or other fields of social science. Throughout our history, 
educational and cultural exchanges have proven to be valuable tools 
that lead to understanding and friendship. This scholarship program is 
a concrete example of the true people-to-people dialogue we should be 
trying to foster with Cuba.
  Nor does this legislation ignore the struggle of the Cuban-American 
population in the United States. Cuban-Americans here have always had 
the ability to send money to their families in Cuba, but the government 
imposes restrictions on the total amount of money that can be sent. 
This legislation would lift these limitations so that Americans would 
be free to provide whatever assistance they wished to their loved ones.
  And, finally, this bill would modernize the way our policies toward 
Cuba are codified. At the present time, the President has the authority 
to waive Title III of the Helms/Burton Act. This legislation would 
extend the President's authority so that he could also waive Title I, 
Title II, and Title IV of the Helms/Burton Act, at his discretion. When 
Helms/Burton was enacted it contained a provision that codified all 
existing Cuban embargo Executive Orders and regulations, but did not 
provide for presidential waivers. This lack of waivers severely ties 
the hands of the Administration if a decision is made to make changes 
in our policy towards Cuba. The President should have the tools he 
needs to conduct and modify our foreign policy, and this legislation 
would give the President the flexibility to shape our relationship with 
Cuba in a more positive way.
  In conclusion, I believe that this bill will streamline our Cuban 
policy so that it deals with the realities of the modern age, addresses 
the needs of our American farmers, patients, and children, while 
imposing the fewest restrictions on American citizens who wish to have 
contact with the people of Cuba. The people of Cuba are not our enemy. 
Our government's quarrel is with Fidel Castro, and our policies should 
reflect that reality. Without doubt, the Castro regime has denied 
rights to its citizens, but in our efforts to isolate him, we have 
built walls that are hampering our goal of bringing democracy to the 
Cuban people. As a measure that tears down those walls and replaces 
them with bridges, this legislation is a good starting point for a 
serious debate about how we can change U.S. policy in order to foster a 
peaceful transition to democracy on the island of Cuba while 
alleviating the hardship that our current policy has caused for the 11 
million people who reside there. I hope to hold hearings in the near 
future and will be discussing with the committee leadership dates for 
the markup of this important legislation. Congressmen Serrano, Leach 
and more than eighty of their House colleagues have introduced a 
companion bill in the House today as well. I urge the rest of my 
colleagues to join us in this endeavor.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the Bridges 
to Cuban People Act of 2001. As many of my colleagues know, I have been 
vocal in my support of legislation that removes sanctions against the 
Cuban people. I have supported such legislation for several reasons. 
First, sanctions ultimately hurt the very people we proclaim we are 
trying to help. It is obvious by now that barriers that either hinder 
or prohibit the flow of food and medicine to Cuba do not impact the 
Castro regime, but rather harms innocent men, women, and children. 
Second, sanctions are counterproductive to our goal of bringing about 
change in Cuba. There is no empirical evidence whatsoever that our 
continued efforts to isolate Cuba has brought about any transformation 
in the way the Castro regime sees or reacts to the world. Finally, 
sanctions prevent U.S. firms from exporting to Cuba, allow their 
counterparts in other countries to make sales our firms cannot, and 
thus harm the U.S. economic interest.
  I am convinced engagement on all fronts--social, economic, and 
political--will make a substantial difference in Cuba, and it is way 
past time that we begin that process. The bill today represents another 
dramatic step forward in our policy in this regard. After considerable 
debate over the years, we are now seeing consensus emerge among my 
colleagues on this issue, as indicated by the bi-partisan support for 
this bill. The components of this legislation--the unrestricted sales 
of food, farm equipment, agricultural commodities and medicine, the 
removal of restrictions on travel, the authorization of scholarships 
for Cuban students to study in the United States, among others--are in 
fact the humanitarian, responsible, and appropriate way to approach 
Cuba at this time.
  Let me emphasize today, as I have in the past, that the elimination 
of sanctions on Cuba and the creation of new opportunities for the 
Cuban people does not imply that I, or the Senate as a whole, agree 
with the policies and politics of the Castro regime. Quite the 
contrary. I believe the Castro regime to be distinctly out of touch 
with current trends in the international system and their own people. I 
personally deplore the Castro regime's oppressive tactics. The lack of 
freedom and opportunity in that country stands in direct contrast to 
most of the countries in the Western Hemisphere and throughout the 
world. Cuba now stands alone in its inability to allow the growth of 
democracy, to establish the protection of individual rights, and create 
a semblance of economic security. It is a political system that should 
be condemned at every opportunity.
  But as a practical matter this legislation suggests that we cannot 
effectively punish authoritarian regimes through their own people. Cuba 
is ripe for change, and the best way to achieve positive change is to 
allow Americans to communicate and associate with the Cuban people on 
an intensive and ongoing basis, to re-establish cultural activities, 
and to rebuild economic relations. To allow the Cuban system to remain 
closed does little to assert United States influence over policy in 
that country and it does absolutely nothing in terms of creating the 
foundation for much-needed political economic transformation. The 
spread of democracy comes from interaction, not isolation.
  So, I strongly support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to do so 
as well.

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