[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 21, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H4690-H4691]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          STANDING UP FOR CUBA

  (Ms. Dexter of Oregon was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Ms. DEXTER. Mr. Speaker, the American people need to know that their 
government is intentionally suffocating the nation of Cuba. There is no 
other way to describe what is happening.
  Earlier this month, I traveled to Cuba with a congressional 
delegation to see firsthand how U.S. policy is affecting this country 
that is just 90 miles off our shore.
  This is a country that is known for its joy and for its culture. It 
is a country that has had a glimpse of prosperity and promise during 
the Obama administration when relations were normalized and decades of 
sanctions lifted, only to have Trump reinstate the blockade in 2017.
  Normalized relations led to an explosion of opportunity for small 
businesses, international investment, and cultural exchange. Hope was 
contagious.
  Today, much of that hope has disappeared.
  Ultimately, it comes down to fuel. Immediately after coming back into 
office in January of 2025, Trump decisively cut off the ability for any 
fuel to get into their country--fuel the country depends on to run its 
electrical power plants, vehicles, and generators.
  Cuba is not a nation that can produce its own, so without imported 
fuel, there is no electricity. This has reverberations across every 
aspect of Cuban life.
  Families cannot go to the grocery store as they always have done and 
keep their groceries in a fridge or a freezer because they do not have 
reliable electricity. Meat, milk, and medicine spoil with the power 
outages that plague the nation. Basic services have broken down. Daily 
life is a constant struggle.
  Cuba's public health system and its medical training programs are the 
envy of much of the world. Their healthcare system is filled with 
highly qualified, well-trained physicians, and yet the hospital I 
toured in Havana was nearly empty.
  Physicians have no patients because they have no transportation, no 
buses to get there. They have tens of thousands of people waiting for 
surgeries because supplies are insufficient and only a fraction of 
their operating rooms are running.
  I saw three CT scanners, their only scanners in this hospital, all 
broken down, an MRI machine also not working, and a handful of working 
ultrasounds, because parts cannot be imported.
  I sat face-to-face with these doctors and understood the deep pain 
that they are feeling, having the skills and the will to care for 
people but being denied the opportunity for political reasons.
  The difference is here in the U.S. we have never had the political 
will to ensure that every American has access to healthcare.
  As a physician, I do not know what it is like to care for every 
patient that comes in my door without worrying whether they can afford 
it. In Cuba, they have spent decades fulfilling their promise to make 
healthcare a human right. Every person has access to healthcare for 
free. Can you imagine?
  They made it a reality. We should be aspiring to that commitment to 
human health, not punishing an entire population for it.
  Congress must not continue standing by while our own government 
intentionally inflicts hardship on an entire nation.
  The Cuban people deserve dignity, safety, and self-determination. It 
is

[[Page H4691]]

past time for the United States to choose engagement over isolation and 
humanity over cruelty.
  I am calling on every Member of this Congress to cosponsor 
Representative McGovern's legislation to end the U.S. trade embargo on 
Cuba and move this nation toward normalized relations.
  As Trump continues to act erratically abroad, Congress must send a 
clear and unified message: There will be no military action against 
Cuba.
  It is time to stand up for the people of Cuba. This is about basic 
human decency. Congress cannot look to this administration to find 
that.
  From Havana to Portland, we will stand up, and that means ending this 
cruel blockade now. I will use every tool at my disposal to make this 
happen, and I am asking every one of my colleagues to join me.

                          ____________________