2002 Ron Paul 74:1
Mr. PAUL. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong
support of the Flake and Rangel amendments
to the Treasury-Postal Service Appropriations
Act. The argument that allowing Americans to
travel to Cuba props up Fidel Castro’s regime
is just not supported by fact. History has
shown that allowing — even encouraging —
American citizens to travel to and engage
commercially in less-than-free societies ignites
the spark of freedom and hastens democratic
transformations. Unfortunately, special interests
have driven some to argue even against
demonstrated fact in pursuit of their political
agenda.
2002 Ron Paul 74:2
It is time to face reality on the policies of
isolation and embargo: they have not worked
in the past, they are not working in the
present, and they will not work in the future.
Can anyone claim that our policies of isolation
and embargo have made life for the average
Cuban citizen the slightest bit better? Conversely,
is there any evidence that our policies
of isolation and embargo have made life for
Castro and his ruling clique one bit worse?
The answer to both questions, of course, is
no. So why continue to pursue a foreign policy
that is producing the opposite effect of what is
intended?
2002 Ron Paul 74:3
While there is no evidence that sanctions
and isolation work, there is plenty of evidence
— real concrete evidence — that engagement
and trade actually bring about democratic
change. In the former Soviet-dominated
world — particularly in Central Europe — it was
American commercial and individual engagement
that proved key to the demise of the dictatorships.
It was Americans traveling to these
lands with new ideas and a different attitude
toward government that helped nurture the
seeds of discontent among a population living
under the yoke of tyranny. It was American
commercial activity that brought in products
that the closed and controlled economic systems
would or could not produce, thus underscoring
to the population the failure of planned
economies.
2002 Ron Paul 74:4
With the system of one-party rule so obviously
and undeniably proven unworkable and
unsatisfactory in Central Europe, even those
who had served the one-party state began to
shift their views and work in opposition to that
rule. Thus began the fall of the Soviet empire.
Yet those who support sanctions and isolation
still seek to deny history in their drive to pursue
a policy that has not worked for forty
years.
2002 Ron Paul 74:5
Mr. Chairman, finally and importantly, I
strongly oppose sanctions for the simple reason
that they hurt American industries, particularly
agriculture. Every time we shut our own
farmers out of foreign markets, they are exploited
by foreign farmers. China, Russia, the
Middle East, North Korea, and Cuba all represent
huge potential for our farm products,
yet many in Congress favor trade restrictions
that prevent our farmers from selling to the billions
of people in these areas. We are one of
the world’s largest agricultural producers — why
would we ever choose to restrict our exports?
Why would we want to do harm to our domestic
producers by pursuing a policy that does
not work? The only beneficiaries of our sanctions
policies are our foreign competitors; the
ones punished are our own producers. It is
time to end restrictions on Cuba travel and
trade.
