Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, when President Obama announced his efforts to normalize relations with Cuba in December 2014, many of us believed that his decision would only embolden the regime and end up hurting the Cuban people. Well, almost a year and a half later, we can say, unfortunately, as expected, that our suspicions have been warranted. This is indeed what has happened. President Obama is only worried about legacy shopping and is willing to ignore the plight of the Cuban people who continue to suffer under Castro, and this normalization effort has been an abject failure for freedom and democracy on the island. The lives of the Cuban people have not improved. A record number of them are fleeing the island to escape Castro's tyranny; and freedom and liberty, unfortunately, no longer seem to be the goals of this administration for the people of Cuba. In December 2015, President Obama said in an interview that he would go to Cuba only when the human rights situation on the island had improved. Well, Mr. Speaker, this is what human rights looks like on the island, the valiant Ladies in White, who walk peacefully in Cuba to their church--and you see one being dragged away in the lower corner. This is what happens to them every week in Castro's Cuba. They are harassed. They are beaten. This is not what an improved human rights situation looks like at all, Mr. President. Hours before the President arrived in Cuba, hundreds of pro-democracy advocates were arrested.…”