Chris Smith: “Among the largest new sources of revenue we could possibly provide the Castro regime at this point would be large scale…”

“Among the largest new sources of revenue we could possibly provide the Castro regime at this point would be large scale United States tourism. So I and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Rothman) are offering this human rights amendment in the hope that any lifting of remaining travel restrictions to Cuba will be done carefully and thoughtfully with some regard to the consequences. It is important to be honest about what we are talking about when we talk about tourism to Cuba. The dictatorship gets rich-- filthy rich--let us make no mistake about that, and will go on its merry way in arresting, beating, and torturing political dissidents. Human Rights Watch, in its report, makes the point that conditions in Cuba's prisons are inhuman. In recent years, Cuba has added new repressive laws. Torture is commonplace in Cuba, and ugly beyond words. There is no freedom of speech or assembly in Cuba. The people of Cuba have no right to emigrate. And dissent continues to be suppressed with unspeakable cruelty. In light of this we should lift the travel ban. And to make matters worse, there is another outrageous lucrative form of travel to Cuba called sex tourism.”