Russ Feingold: “I am cosponsoring this bill because I do not think the United States Government should tell its citizens where they can…”

“I am cosponsoring this bill because I do not think the United States Government should tell its citizens where they can and cannot travel. I also think greater people-to-people contacts with societies living under dictatorial regimes can help encourage the spread of democratic ideas. It is for these reasons that I support S. 950. Lifting our ban on travel to Cuba is not a gift to Fidel Castro, and it should not be interpreted as an endorsement of his regime or as a sign of diminished commitment to improving human rights conditions for the Cuban people. The recent harsh prison sentences meted out to dozens of peaceful political dissenters in Cuba, and the execution of three men involved in a ferry hijacking, provide further evidence of the fundamentally repressive and undemocratic nature of the Castro regime. Cuba has been stubbornly impervious to the democratizing trend sweeping the hemisphere in recent years. This, however, merely demonstrates the failure of our 40-year policy isolation. Lifting travel restrictions on our citizens is not likely to bring about a transformation in Cuba overnight. But we have already seen what perpetuating the ban has accomplished--nothing. We have been depriving our own citizen of their liberty without bringing the blessings of liberty any closer to the Cuban people.”