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It is Time to Lift the Travel Ban to Cuba

Date: Dec. 18, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Arts, Entertainment, and History

IT IS TIME TO LIFT THE TRAVEL BAN TO CUBA -- (House of Representatives - December 18, 2007)

(Mr. FLAKE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, in the past 24 hours, we have heard word from Cuba that President Fidel Castro does not plan to return to power. This is good news, I think, for all of us. And this is not a surprise to those of us who have been watching Cuba. But here we are, as Americans, on the sidelines again still. For the past 40 years, we have been on the sidelines offering no influence whatsoever in what happens in Cuba.

This is a travesty, Mr. Speaker. It is time for a get-tough policy with Cuba. It is time to allow Americans to travel there and spread freedom and influence. If we lift our travel ban, some say that Cuba will simply impose their own on us. But if somebody is going to limit my travel, it should be a communist, not my own government. We should let freedom ring here, and it will soon ring free in Cuba.


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