Rod Grams: “I rise this evening to strongly support the amendment by Senators Dodd, Warner, Roberts, Hagel, and myself, which would…”

“I rise this evening to strongly support the amendment by Senators Dodd, Warner, Roberts, Hagel, and myself, which would exclude food and medicine sales from existing trade sanctions. As one who has growing concern about the use of unilateral sanctions to accomplish various foreign policy and other goals, I am very pleased tonight that we are considering this very important measure. Food and medicine should not be used as a weapon in our disputes with leaders of other countries. As we have seen repeatedly, and as we have heard repeatedly on the floor of the Senate here tonight, withholding food and medicine does nothing but hurt the people whom we are trying to help in these countries. The leaders, such as Fidel Castro, are always going to have access to these necessities. They are going to get the food, the shelter, the medicine, the care that they need. But inclusion of food and medicine in embargoes or in sanctions only makes the choices fewer for the residents of those countries and the prices higher for the average citizen. I simply do not believe that anyone in this body can tell me this is a prudent policy in any country of the world.”