On the recordJanuary 12, 2015
I thank the gentlewoman for allowing me to speak tonight. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my disappointment and deep concerns regarding the administration's plan for loosening the sanctions and initiating diplomatic discussions with the Cuban dictatorship. It is naive and misguided to think that this is going to give us the long-desired political and economic changes that the Cuban people deserve. In fact, just a few days after the announcement, Raul Castro made sure to dispel any misgivings and brazenly declared that the regime would not abandon its communist path, let alone loosen its stranglehold over the people of Cuba. I feel that the administration has abandoned all those Cuban people for all those years who fought for human rights and democracy in Cuba. I feel that those people who are still lingering in the Cuban jails are so disappointed in this administration's efforts. You know, the Alan Gross release should have been something joyous. And we all wanted Alan Gross released because he was incarcerated for no reason other than he was foreign. But to release three Cuban spies or a network of spies that exists in this country currently is just not acceptable. Alan Gross should have been released on his own. He did nothing. He just went to Cuba to establish some sort of communication for this community.…
