[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 107 (Tuesday, June 20, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H2969-H2970]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               U.S. POLICY STRANGLING CUBAN ENTREPRENEURS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, last week, I had the privilege of meeting 
with a delegation of young Cuban entrepreneurs. I was impressed by 
their vision, dedication, and private-sector experience.
  One had founded her business, Beyond Roots, in 2016. It promotes 
Afro-Cuban culture through education, product marketing, and artistic 
and other collaborations. Her company has been recognized as a project 
with significant social impact, and she hopes to generate positive 
change in people's lives by promoting a closer connection with their 
roots.
  Another founded Wajiros Films in 2017. It is an audiovisual creative 
group composed of young Cuban artists who want to generate audiovisual 
projects based on the stories, characters, and visual content that 
reside outside of Cuba's major cities and prominent cultural 
industries. They want to create visual arts that show the diversity of 
Cuba. They believe in the right to dream and the right to fight for 
your dreams.
  I talked with the cofounder and creative director of DADOR, a female-
founded fashion brand committed to using the entrepreneurial spirit to 
make a mark on Cuba's emerging private sector.
  I also met with the cofounder and CEO of TostoneT, an information 
technology infrastructure company. He created his first enterprise in 
2012 and, in 2018, expanded his interests to support academic and 
business groups traveling to Cuba from the U.K. and other European 
countries.
  Mr. Speaker, I could not have asked to meet with a more exciting, 
innovative, and visionary group of Cuban entrepreneurs. They reinforced 
what I had learned during my last trip to Cuba in December when I met 
with several other Cuban entrepreneurs. I came away from my December 
trip and my conversations with last week's delegation with three main 
conclusions.
  First, it can be time-consuming, even difficult at times, to navigate 
the Cuban Government's rules and regulations on the private sector. 
Overall, Cuba is opening more and more space for private-sector 
development, especially for small and medium-sized entrepreneurs. 
Cubans, especially young people, are taking advantage of these 
opportunities to expand existing businesses and create new companies. 
Innovation and collaboration are happening in every sector.
  Second, each of the entrepreneurs who I met appreciates the support 
and encouragement they have received from the U.S. Embassy. They noted, 
however, that they no longer need workshops on how to establish a 
budget, handle payroll, or devise a marketing plan.
  Third, the greatest difficulty facing small and medium-sized Cuban 
entrepreneurs is in the financial sector. They all emphasized how U.S. 
policies are strangling their ability to get financing, set up bank 
accounts, and market their products outside of Cuba.
  They pleaded for Cuba to be removed from the State Sponsors of 
Terrorism list so they can open up bank accounts in the U.K. and 
Europe, where they have clients eager to purchase, market, and use 
their goods and services.
  They talked about how difficult it is to travel to the United States, 
how difficult it is to go back and forth in order to establish 
partnerships and other business relations, and how impossible it is to 
set up bank accounts to sell and market their goods.
  Financial barriers that stifle the development and expansion of Cuban 
entrepreneurs can all be traced, unfortunately, to the United States. 
It is our policies and our financial restrictions that are hurting the 
very sector that the U.S. proclaims it most wants to help.
  If we really want to support them, we should remove Cuba from the 
State Sponsors of Terrorism list. There is absolutely no justification 
at all for them to be on that list. They were put on the list by the 
Trump administration for purely political purposes. We should also get 
rid of the financial restrictions imposed by the Trump administration 
and now maintained by the Biden administration.

[[Page H2970]]

  Mr. Speaker, it has been over 2 years since President Biden took 
office. The Cuban people and entrepreneurs should not have to wait any 
longer for change to happen.
  The Biden administration must take a long, hard look in the mirror 
and recognize that its own policies are causing hardship and suffering 
in Cuba, including in the private sector.
  Cuban entrepreneurs don't need us to lead them by the hand. They are 
more than capable of setting up companies and following their own 
dreams. We need to get out of their way.
  Mr. Speaker, I once again call on the Biden administration to tear 
down the financial barriers and restrictions that are strangling Cuban 
entrepreneurs and stifling their success.
  Let us stop being part of the problem and start being part of the 
solution.

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