On the recordMarch 22, 2016
Mr. Speaker, in a letter to the President, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce revealed, ``Since your administration announced normalized relations with Havana, the regime's repression of basic human rights has gone from bad to worse. In the first 2 months of 2016 alone, the Cuban Commission for Human Rights has documented a staggering 2,588 political arrests. In spite of this, reports suggest that you will soon announce'' ``more one-sided concessions that will serve to shore up the communist Castro regime.'' While visiting Havana, the President supports plans to end the embargo, yet ignores the fact that increased trade will not reach the Cuban people. It will benefit the Cuban military and intelligence agencies which have stolen Cuba's most profitable industries. The President's bizarre legacy has led to more repression as the failed socialist dictatorship is propped up. In conclusion, God bless our troops, and may the President, by his actions, never forget September the 11th in the global war on terrorism. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Belgium and Prime Minister Charles Michel as the global war on terrorism continues. ____________________





