[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 103 (Thursday, July 25, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1363-E1364]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        TREASURY AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2003

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                               speech of

                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 23, 2002

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Flake and 
Rangel amendments to the Treasury-Postal Service Appropriations Act. 
The argument that allowing Americans to travel to Cuba props up Fidel 
Castro's regime is just not supported by fact. History has shown that 
allowing--even encouraging--American citizens to travel to and engage 
commercially in less-than-free societies ignites the spark of freedom 
and hastens democratic transformations. Unfortunately, special 
interests have driven some to argue even against demonstrated fact in 
pursuit of their political agenda.
  It is time to face reality on the policies of isolation and embargo: 
they have not worked in the past, they are not working in the present, 
and they will not work in the future. Can anyone claim that our 
policies of isolation and embargo have made life for the average Cuban 
citizen the slightest bit better? Conversely, is there any evidence 
that our policies of isolation and embargo have made life for Castro 
and his ruling clique one bit worse? The answer to both questions, of 
course, is no. So why continue to pursue a foreign policy that is 
producing the opposite effect of what is intended?
  While there is no evidence that sanctions and isolation work, there 
is plenty of evidence--real concrete evidence--that engagement and 
trade actually bring about democratic change. In the former Soviet-
dominated world--particularly in Central Europe--it was American 
commercial and individual engagement that proved key to the demise of 
the dictatorships. It was Americans traveling to these lands with new 
ideas and a different attitude toward government that helped nurture 
the seeds of discontent among a population living under the yoke of 
tyranny. It was American commercial activity that brought in products 
that the closed and controlled economic systems would or could not 
produce, thus underscoring to the population the failure of planned 
economies.
  With the system of one-party rule so obviously and undeniably proven 
unworkable and unsatisfactory in Central Europe, even those who had 
served the one-party state began to shift their views and work in 
opposition to that rule. Thus began the fall of the Soviet empire. Yet 
those who support sanctions and isolation still seek to deny history in 
their drive to pursue a policy that has not worked for forty years.
  Mr. Chairman, finally and importantly, I strongly oppose sanctions 
for the simple reason that they hurt American industries, particularly 
agriculture. Every time we shut our own farmers out of foreign markets, 
they are exploited by foreign farmers. China, Russia, the Middle East, 
North Korea, and Cuba all represent huge potential for our farm 
products, yet many in Congress favor trade restrictions that prevent 
our farmers from selling to the billions of people in these areas. We 
are one of the world's largest agricultural producers--why would we 
ever choose to restrict our exports? Why would we want to do harm to 
our domestic producers by pursuing a policy that does not work? The 
only beneficiaries of our sanctions policies are our foreign 
competitors; the ones punished are our own producers. It is time to end 
restrictions on Cuba travel and trade.

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