Political Quotes

“Mr. President, even in this dysfunctional Senate, we as Members, we as Senators have a unique opportunity to be advocates for those who need our help, and we need to provide a voice for those who are in need. For years--a decade, really--I have been an advocate for allowing increased engagement with Cuba. I have been an advocate for Kansas and American farmers having the opportunity to sell their agricultural commodities to Cuba. I have always believed that increased engagement with Cuba is a better way to bring about the changes that we all desire for the Cuban people. Additionally, I thought that our policy toward Cuba was especially damaging and created a significant disadvantage to Kansas farmers and their competition for markets around the globe, and it was ineffective because it was a unilateral embargo. The market and demand for American commodities do exist off our coastline, and yet Congress and administrations over the years have failed to make it possible for there to be much sale or much relationship, commercial relationship, with the people of Cuba. For more than a decade I have worked to open those Cuban markets to American agriculture. In 2000 I offered an amendment to the Treasury appropriations bill when I was in the House of Representatives that removed those trade sanctions on food, agriculture, commodities, and medicine. It paved the way for American farmers to sell their crops to Cuba for the first time in more than 40 years.…”