Political Quotes

“Senator Dodd and I wrote President Clinton in 1998--we had 22 Senators join us in that letter--recommending that he establish the very commission that is outlined in this legislation, but for reasons which are best known to him, he decided not to do it. Senator Dodd and I recommend this action because there has not been a comprehensive review of U.S.-Cuba policy or a measurement of its effectiveness or ineffectiveness in achieving the goals of democracy and human rights that the people of the United States wanted and which the people of Cuba deserve. We haven't had such a review in 40 years, since President Eisenhower first canceled the sugar quota July 6, 1960, and we imposed the first total embargo on Cuba on February 7, 1962. Most recently, Congress passed the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 and the Helms-Burton Act of 1996. Since the passage of both of these bills, there have been significant changes in the world's situation that warrant, in our judgment, a review of our U.S.-Cuba policy, including the termination of billions of dollars of annual Soviet economic assistance to Cuba and the historic visit of Pope John Paul II to Cuba in 1998.”