Jeff Flake: “Fidel Castro is a thug. We have said it again and again and again. What this debate is about is the best way to topple…”

“Fidel Castro is a thug. We have said it again and again and again. What this debate is about is the best way to topple him, to make sure that he does not remain there longer than the 42 years that he has been in power. Currently, Cuban American families who live here in the United States are told by their government that they can be charitable but only so charitable. They are told that they can only send up to $100 a month to their family members in Cuba. I do not think that our government ought to be in the business of telling families how charitable they can be. This money is going directly to Cuban families. I asked someone who does not agree with my position on allowing tourists and others to go to Cuba, I asked him why he supported remittances, and the answer was, remittances are different. Remittances are subversive. I agree with that statement, not that they are different. Tourism, I believe, is subversive as well, but if remittances are subversive, then let us do a lot more subversing, I say, if that is a word. Let us be a lot more subversive. Let us allow families to send whatever they would like to their families in Cuba. That is not what this country is about, limiting family charity.”