Bob Menendez

I have a great deal of respect for all of you because it is easier to talk about democracy and human rights outside of a country that represses it.

The Cuban Government does not have much credibility. People do not pay much attention to what they say.

It is regretful, the way the time has gone, that so many of our colleagues cannot be here because this is the part of Cuba that members need to hear because there is this romanticism but not the harsh reality of heroic individuals like…

And so, therefore, when we think about sanctioning any entity in the world, we sanction that which ultimately drives the greatest resources to a country to move them in a different direction.

The difficulties that the Cuban people face is a result of a command and control economy and political repression inside of Cuba

The administration has not provided details about how it will hold the Castro regime to account for the more than $6 billion in outstanding claims by American citizens and businesses for properties confiscated by the Castros.

Prioritize the interests of American citizens and businesses that have suffered at the hands of the Castro regime before moving ahead with additional economic and political concessions.

To seek those basic democratic and human rights principles that we enjoy here at home and observe throughout most of the world.

Basically, what he was trying to do is create greater openings for the Cuban people within the context of the Cuban constitution.

Oh, yes, but you cannot break a monopoly unless the regime allows a monopoly to be broken.

The suggestion that the embargo has created this problem--Cuba can buy from many places in the world.

Human rights and democracy programs in Cuba will not be cut

Is it not true that the State Department considers a foreign government providing sanctuary to a terrorist that has committed a terrorist in another country to be support for international terrorism?

The State Department as an institution which is responsible for conducting our Nation's diplomacy was kept in the dark.

Is it not true that the Castro regime is providing sanctuary to members of organizations that the State Department has named as foreign terrorist organizations?

This was not 'a transactional process.'

Let me be as clear on this issue as I have been since December--18 months of secret negotiations produced a bad deal, bad for the Cuban people.

I am also concerned that the 53 prisoners were not released unconditionally and continue to force legal hurdles, and that several of them have been rearrested, including Marcelino Abreu Bonora, who was violently beaten by Cuban security…

I am concerned that there was not one substantial step toward transparent democratic elections, improved human rights, freedom of assembly, or the ability to form independent political parties and independent trade unions.

Let me be as clear today on this issue as I was in December that 18 months of secret negotiations produced a bad deal, a bad deal for the Cuban people while it may have been done with the best of intentions, in my view with compromised…

Cuba remains a one-party Communist state that continues to restrict the most basic rights of its citizens.

I strongly support President Obama's decision to chart a new course in United States-Cuba relations.

At the end of the day, 53 political prisoners were released while so many more remain in jail. And the Cuban people, who have suffered most under the regime, still have zero guarantees for any basic freedoms.

America has isolated itself--alienating regional and international partners.

Well, they do not have a barrier. They already have a fiber optic line directly laid by Venezuela into Cuba.