Maxine Waters: “I rise to support the Flake amendment to prohibit the use of funds in this bill to enforce the Commerce Department's…”

“I rise to support the Flake amendment to prohibit the use of funds in this bill to enforce the Commerce Department's recently-announced anti-family restrictions on sending gifts to Cuba. These restrictions are part of an extensive set of new Bush administration rules that punish Cuban-Americans who have families in Cuba. These regulations include limiting family visits to Cuba by Cuban-Americans to once every three years and further restricting the ability of Cuban-Americans to send money to their families in Cuba. The Commerce Department's new regulations would make it illegal for Cuban-Americans to send clothing, seeds, soap, personal hygiene products and veterinary medicines to their families in Cuba. Other gifts would be limited to one gift parcel per month per household in Cuba. Gifts could be sent to parents and children, but not to aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews or cousins. What conceivable rationale could there be for this cruel, misguided assault on Cuban-American families? How dare this administration tell American citizens they can't send clothes, toilet paper or toothpaste to the families they love! I urge my colleagues to protect the right of Cuban-Americans to assist their families. Let's help these families, not punish them.”