[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 24 (Thursday, February 12, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S986-S987]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. Enzi, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Flake, 
        Mr. Leahy, and Mr. Durbin):
  S. 491. A bill to lift the trade embargo on Cuba; to the Committee on 
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss our country's 
relationship with Cuba. I have long advocated modernizing our 
relationship

[[Page S987]]

with Cuba. The current embargo has been in place for 50 years, and it 
has greatly constrained opportunities for American businesses by 
restricting commerce, by restricting our exports--things that are made 
in America--from going to a place that is only 90 miles off our shores 
and has 11 million people.
  That is why today I introduce the bipartisan Freedom to Export to 
Cuba Act with Senators Enzi, Stabenow, Flake, Leahy, and Durbin. This 
bill lifts the trade embargo on Cuba and knocks down the legal barriers 
to Americans doing business in Cuba. This bill will help open up new 
economic opportunities for American businesses, which will mean more 
jobs. It will also boost opportunities for farmers--something the Chair 
knows well coming from the State of North Dakota, as we know well in 
the State of Minnesota. This will also allow Cubans to have access to 
these products, which we believe is good for their country, good for 
their people so that they can become a different country.
  Freeing our businesses to pursue opportunities for development could 
greatly help the people of Cuba. Consider for example that Cuba only 
has a 2G cellular network and that only about one-fourth of the 
population has Internet access. Ultimately, I believe this legislation 
will help usher in a new era for Americans and Cubans shaped by 
opportunities for the future rather than simply a story of the past.
  The process the President has jump-started to normalize our ties with 
Cuba is a positive step forward. My home State of Minnesota exported 
about $20 million in agricultural products to Cuba in 2013. I think 
people are surprised by that, but as many of us know, there are 
humanitarian exceptions to the current embargo. So our country is 
already exporting, and my State alone exported $20 million in products. 
With the President's action alone, the Minnesota Department of 
Agriculture estimates that exports could increase by another $20 
million. The United States is already the fourth largest source of 
imports to Cuba based solely on authorized shipments of agriculture and 
medical supplies. Over the past decade we have been one of Cuba's top 
suppliers of food products. So it is not as if we don't already do 
business there, but unlike every other country, including our own 
neighbor to the north, Canada, we hamstring our businesses seeking to 
export their products there. Export and travel restrictions have 
continued to prevent Americans from seeking opportunities in Cuba, and 
the embargo prevents Cubans from obtaining food and other goods we take 
for granted in our country.
  Cuban human rights activist Yoani Sanchez wrote:

       It is impossible for Cubans to buy staples like eggs or 
     cooking oil without turning to the underground market. 
     Rationing forces people to stand in line for hours for 
     poultry and fish. On the Cuban government's 50th anniversary 
     in 2009, it provided families with an extra half pound of 
     ground beef, but that beef was not from the U.S. It was 
     sponsored by the Venezuelan government . . . a meager gift 
     nicknamed ``Hugo Chavez's Hamburger'' by everyday Cubans.

  I say it is time for America to stop ceding credit for the hamburger 
to Venezuela. It is time that we made our hamburger accessible in Cuba. 
The Freedom to Export to Cuba Act will help us do that. It is simply a 
targeted repeal of the provisions in current law that keep the embargo 
in place, including restrictions that prevent American businesses from 
financing their own exports to the island and requirements for American 
farms to seek special licenses for any transaction with Cuba.
  It is also important to emphasize what this bill does not do. There 
are many outstanding issues that many of my colleagues have discussed 
between our two countries that must be dealt with, especially our 
concerns about the Cuban Government's repressive policies. That is why 
this bill does not repeal provisions of current law that address human 
rights in Cuba or that allow individuals and businesses to pursue 
claims against the Cuban Government for property.
  None of us is under any illusion about the nature of the Cuban 
Government. The Cuban Government must take serious steps to reform 
politically and economically. It must free political prisoners and stop 
arbitrarily arresting people for political speech. It must also take 
steps to liberalize its state-centric economic system if it truly hopes 
to allow its people to prosper and to benefit from growing commerce 
with the United States.
  We do not minimize the importance of those issues, but we also know 
the embargo has not helped to solve them. Members on both sides of the 
aisle recognize that continuing along the same path with respect to 
Cuba has not achieved our objectives and in fact has constrained 
Americans' freedom to pursue business opportunities abroad. It has 
hindered our freedom to travel, which is why I also cosponsored the 
Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act recently introduced by Senator Flake.
  Both that bill and the Freedom to Export to Cuba Act that I have 
introduced today with a bipartisan group of Senators shows that we can 
work together in this new Congress to support a commonsense 
relationship between the United States and Cuba.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation. It is 
a chance to build on our current progress and take additional actions 
to forge a practical and positive relationship with the people of Cuba 
and the people of America.
                                 ______