Political Quotes

“I want to first pay tribute to Senator Leahy for the long path to getting here with Cuba, for all of the work that he has done, and to his capable staff, including Tim Rieser and people on my staff, including Chandler Morse and others, who have worked on this issue for so long. I have appreciated working with Senator Leahy on this issue. It was 1 year ago today, as Senator Leahy mentioned, that we had received a call just a few days prior, asking if we would participate in a quick mission down to Cuba, but we had to keep quiet about it for a few days, which was a bit difficult. One year ago today, we got on the President's plane, as Senator Leahy mentioned, and went down and picked up Alan Gross. It was wonderful to have Alan's wife Judy on the plane with us. What a joyous occasion that was to see that reunion there in Cuba and then to climb on the plane. As we climbed away from Cuba, I will never forget that about 20 minutes into the flight, the pilot came on and said that we had now entered U.S. airspace. Alan Gross stood up, threw his arms in the air, and then breathed deeply. Then he said, ``Now I finally know I am free.'' Then we watched on the news on the plane as the announcement came that we would be changing our policy, that we would be seeking full diplomatic relations, and that many of the policies of the past would go away. It has been a wonderful year to see some of that happen.…”