Byron Dorgan: “to follow up on an issue I raised yesterday, I have not yet received a return call from the State Department. As I…”

“to follow up on an issue I raised yesterday, I have not yet received a return call from the State Department. As I indicated, Karl Rove and the chief of staff at the White House had sent word to me following my discussion with Karl Rove last Friday that Mr. Zoellick at the State Department would be handling this issue. The issue is Mr. Carlos Lazo, a marine who fought in Iraq and won the Bronze Star for bravery and courage, came back to this country. He is a fellow who fled Cuba on a raft in 1992. His wife and children remain in Cuba unable to leave. He went to fight in the National Guard, went to Iraq to fight for this country, earned a Bronze Star last November in Iraq. He came back to this country to find out that his son was quite ill in Cuba. He wanted to go visit his son and was told he can't travel to Cuba because the President's current regulations and rules say you can only visit once every 3 years. This young man who fled Cuba, came to this country, put on America's uniform, fought for this country in Iraq, won a Bronze Star fighting for freedom, comes back to this country. He doesn't have the freedom to go to see his sick child in Cuba. That is unbelievable to me. Why? Because there is no humanitarian exemption in the travel to Cuba regulation the President proposed several years ago. I have asked all the folks involved: Do you mean there is no flexibility at all in this regulation proposed by the President? None at all, they said.…”