[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 63 (Thursday, May 16, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H2600]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                  CUBA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, the time has come for us to change our 
policy toward Cuba. Yesterday, 40 bipartisan Members of this House who 
comprise the Cuba Working Group, 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans, 
organized by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake) and the gentleman 
from Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt), released a set of policy 
recommendations designed to encourage a more rational, mature and 
sensible policy towards Cuba. As a member of that working group and as 
a longtime critic of U.S. policy towards Cuba, I wholeheartedly endorse 
the recommendations. They are sensible, they are mainstream, and they 
are an achievable set of policy goals for U.S.-Cuban relations. Among 
other things, the group urges a repeal of the travel ban imposed by the 
U.S. Government, which denies Americans the right to travel to Cuba.
  Mr. Speaker, freedom to travel is a basic right for all Americans. It 
goes against our values to tell Americans that they cannot travel to 
certain destinations.
  Further, Americans visiting Cuba in my opinion can help promote 
democratic values more than all the high-voltage speeches that are 
regularly delivered on this House floor. The group also calls for more 
normal relations with regard to exports of U.S. agricultural and 
medical products to Cuba by eliminating U.S. procedures and 
restrictions that make such activity virtually impossible. The group 
also urges better cooperation between our two countries in terms of 
controlling migration and in terms of combating drug trafficking. We 
also call for an end to the restrictive and counterproductive Helms-
Burton law.
  There are other recommendations in this report designed to encourage 
a better relationship between our two countries. The recommendations in 
this report should be implemented and are in the best interests of both 
the American and Cuban peoples.
  Mr. Speaker, U.S. policy toward Cuba today is about as relevant as a 
little piece of the Berlin Wall that you can buy in gift shops. It is a 
relic of the Cold War that no longer serves any meaningful purpose. Our 
policy undermines the values and goals the United States cares about, 
values like freedom and open markets. Thank God for Jimmy Carter. He 
deserves our praise for speaking the truth about human rights to the 
Cuban government and the Cuban people and he deserves our praise for 
advocating the end of the misguided and ineffective U.S. embargo on 
Cuba. It is frustrating, in my opinion, that the Bush administration 
does not get it. It is frustrating that for all the rhetoric about 
democracy, the will of this Congress and the will of the American 
people to normalize relations with Cuba consistently gets trampled on.
  Right here in this Chamber, we have on a number of occasions voted 
overwhelmingly to lift the travel restrictions now imposed on U.S. 
citizens, preventing U.S. citizens from being able to travel to Cuba. 
We have voted numerous times to lift that restriction. Yet in each 
instance mysteriously these provisions get lost in conference 
committees. It is wrong. The leadership of this House and indeed the 
White House should respect the will of the Members of this Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I would hope that the President would engage us in a 
real dialogue about our policy. The time has come for honest and 
forthright negotiations between the Congress and the White House on 
this issue. I fear, however, that next week the President will rattle 
the same old dusty sabers. He will show the same old unhealthy 
obsession with Fidel Castro. But he should know, Mr. Speaker, that 
there is a bipartisan majority in this Congress and there is a 
bipartisan majority in this country that will continue to advocate for 
some common sense.

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