Political Quotes

“I have often expressed my opposition to our anachronistic and self-defeating policy toward Cuba, so I will be very brief. I strongly support this amendment and congratulate the senior Senator from Connecticut, Senator Dodd, who has been the leader on this issue for quite some time. It is profoundly ironic that the United States is about to lift sanctions against North Korea, where we have 37,000 American troops poised to go to war on a moment's notice, and yet we continue to impose an economic blockade against a tiny island that poses no security threat to the United States. If the Elian Gonzalez fiasco has taught us anything, it is that Cubans and Americans are far more alike than different, and that the views of the Cuban-American community in Miami are both outdated and at odds with the overwhelming majority of Americans. Of course we abhor the repressive policies of Fidel Castro, but the issue is how best to prepare for the day when he is no longer ruling Cuba. That day is approaching, and the longer we wait to use the intervening period to build closer relations with that island nation, the worse it will be. This amendment is extremely modest. As Senator Dodd has said, it would normally be adopted on a voice vote. It should be. What is wrong with a commission, representing a wide range of views, to review a policy that has, by any objective standard, failed miserably? It is long overdue. So Mr. President, I wholeheartedly support this amendment.”