Max Baucus: “I am introducing today a series of bills that would end the embargo on trade with Cuba and normalize our economic…”

“I am introducing today a series of bills that would end the embargo on trade with Cuba and normalize our economic relations with this country that is a mere ninety miles off our shore. I should add that Congressman Charles Rangel is offering a set of companion bills in the House today. Last July, I led a small group of Senators to Havana. During our brief visit, we met with Fidel Castro. But we also spent three hours with a group of six dissidents who had spent years in prison, yet have chosen heroically to continue their dissent from within Cuba. We met with the leader of Cuba's largest independent NGO. It was clear to me that our Cuba policy was outdated and needed fundamental change. I have long fought against unilateral economic sanctions, unless our national security was at stake. The Cuba embargo is a unilateral sanction, but our national security is not at stake. The Defense Department has concluded that Cuba does not represent any security threat to this nation. None of our closest allies supports the embargo. Nor do any of our trading partners in the Americas. Unilateral sanctions do not work. The embargo has not changed the behavior of the Cuban government and its leadership. It has not changed the behavior of Fidel Castro. But the embargo has hurt the people of Cuba. And the embargo has hurt American farmers and businesses, as our Asian, European, and Canadian competitors have rushed in to fill the gap in the Cuban market.”