Byron Dorgan: “let me finally show the chart I mentioned. I have many others. OFAC, Office of Foreign Assets Control, down in the…”

“let me finally show the chart I mentioned. I have many others. OFAC, Office of Foreign Assets Control, down in the bowels of the Treasury Department, is supposed to be tracking terrorists. Here is what OFAC did. These are disabled marathoners. They trained and trained. In fact, as I understand it, these folks even had airline tickets, and they had everything all set. But were they allowed to go to the international meet in Havana? No. No, they were turned down by our country because you don't have the freedom to do that. To say that these folks were disappointed is an understatement. They might wonder about whether we have freedom in this country, when we don't have the freedom to travel to this Cuba. Why? Because we don't like its leaders. Look, there are many countries that have leaders I am not particularly fond of. I don't want to restrict the right of the American people to travel there. In addition to Joni Scott and disabled athletes and so many others, the stories now are unbelievable. In the last 3 years, this has been laced up tight, even for folks with close relatives. I can tell you of people whose parents were dying, on their deathbed, 3 days away from dying, and their children in this country were not allowed to go see their mother or father in Cuba. I won't put up the picture of the guy from the State of Washington whose father died, and his last wishes were that his ashes be dispersed on the grounds of the church he served as a pastor in Cuba.…”