[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 420]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  NORMALIZING U.S. RELATIONS WITH CUBA

  (Mr. RANGEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I was in Havana, Cuba, when the President of 
the United States declared that he was going to relax the restrictions 
that we have on the embargo in Cuba, and I tell you that the people in 
Havana rejoiced. In the streets of Havana, they said there were two 
basic things they liked about America: one was American movies, and the 
second was everything else.
  When I got to come back home through Miami, at the airport, people 
with Cuban backgrounds--Americans--were so excited about the 
opportunity for America to rejoin the family of nations and to 
recognize the contributions that Cuba can make. We thought that, today, 
we would be hearing a rejoicing for those people who should have never 
been in jail in Cuba who were released. Obviously, there are some 
people who have a different opinion.
  I am here today to say that, with all due respect to those Americans 
and to those Cubans who suffer under the dictatorship in Cuba, we feel 
their pain, but now, American policy should override the pain that a 
few feel for what is in the best national interest of our great Nation.

                          ____________________