June 5, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 94 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session
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Cuba Sanctions (Executive Session); Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 94
(Senate - June 05, 2019)
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[Pages S3240-S3242] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] Cuba Sanctions Mr. President, there are foreign policies that are thoughtful, that reflect lessons learned from history, and that advance our national interests. Let me talk about others. I have been here for a lot of years. I was fortunate to come here at the time of President Ford and have known and seen every President since. I have seen some dumb policies by administrations over the years, both by Republicans and Democrats. I want to speak briefly about one of them because it is not just dumb. It is an embarrassment. It is going to hurt a lot of Americans. It is going to hurt a lot of good people in Cuba, and there is no denying that. I refer to the decision announced by the Treasury Department yesterday to severely restrict travel by Americans to Cuba. Why? Because Cuba supports Nicolas Maduro. The administration has reinstituted the failed policy of the Cold War restrictions on the right of every American citizen to travel to Cuba, even though the overwhelming majority of Americans, Republicans and Democrats alike, opposes such restrictions. It means cruise ships will stop sailing there. Educational and cultural exchanges will shut down. Sports teams will stay home. School trips will end. Trade missions will end. American farmers who could export products to Cuba are going to be shut out as well as other American companies. I have to ask: What kind of government thinks it has a right to tell its citizens where they can travel and where they can spend their own money? Ironically, not the Cuban Government, despite its repressive policies. Cubans can travel to the United States if we grant them a visa. Russia is kleptocracy with nuclear weapons pointed at us, that invades its neighbors, supports President Assad and Nicolas Maduro, interferes with our elections, and opposes the United States at every turn in the U.N. Security Council. But Americans can travel to Russia without restriction, just as Russians can travel here. Iran has brutally repressive government, but it does not have laws and regulations to prevent its citizens from traveling to the United States or Americans from traveling there. Nicaragua is led by a corrupt dictator, but Nicaraguans can travel to any country that will accept them, and Americans are free to travel there. In fact, Americans can travel anywhere in the world without restriction, except to North Korea and now Cuba, whose people could not be more welcoming of Americans. How do I know this? Because unlike the people in the White House and the Treasury Department who have never ever been to Cuba, I have been there. My wife Marcelle has been there. Our granddaughter Sophia has been there. This administration's policy is being guided by a couple of hard- liners in the National Security Council who have never set foot in Cuba but are on a crusade to pressure the Cuban Government to change its policies. After 50 years of trying and failing to get Cuba to change its policies, they continue to believe that one way to do that is by preventing Americans who believe in democracy from traveling to Cuba and spending their own money there. Of all the paternalistic, anachronistic, and hypocritical policies, that is beneath the world's oldest democracy. We tried it for 50 years, from the time I was in college. It failed. In fact, it backfired. As we blocked access to Cuba, the Cuban authorities solidified their control. This will backfire, too. If past experience is any guide, it will cause them to intensify their support for Maduro. We all want Maduro gone, but are we so blinded by arrogance, ideology and stupidity that we are destined to keep repeating our mistakes? If this policy makes sense for Cuba, why not for other repressive governments whose policies we disagree with, like China? They have imprisoned a million of their Uyghur citizens. Their military is deeply involved in the economy. Yet millions of Americans go to China without restriction. Egypt has destroyed what fragile democratic institutions existed there. They have locked up thousands of political opponents, as well as American citizens. Yet President Trump calls President al Sisi a great friend--a man who locks up Americans, locks up people who disagree with him. Saudi Arabia commits war crimes in Yemen, they treat women as property, and they murdered Jamal Khashoggi and other dissidents. The Crown Prince, who we know was involved in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi, is apparently untouchable, and our President and Secretary of State seem to prefer it that way. But Americans can still travel to Saudi Arabia without reservation. These regulations are an insult to every American. They are a disgrace to a free society. Since when is it the role of the Federal Government to say where Americans can travel and spend their own money, absent some threat to national security or their own health and safety, neither of which exists in Cuba? It is not going to hurt the leaders in Cuba. They are not going to submit to bullying. If anything, it will harden their attitude toward the United States. I know who it will hurt. It will hurt the people who most deserve our help--the Cuban families who own small businesses, who rent out rooms in their apartments, who own their own taxis and restaurants. Artisans and musicians. People who otherwise subsist on meager government salaries and rations and benefit enormously when Americans visit Cuba. Marcelle and I have met with many of these people--young people especially--who have Airb&bs, who have started their own small businesses. They work extremely hard within a system stacked against them, and they need American customers. The White House just slammed the door on them. Of course we disagree with the Cuban Government. On many things we strongly disagree. But we disagree with many governments over Venezuela and other issues. Does that give the Treasury Department the right to tell Americans they can't travel there? What if the Treasury Department imposed such restrictions on travel by Members of Congress? What if they said ``after today, Members of Congress can no longer travel to China or Russia''. There is not a single Senator, Republican or Democrat, who would stand for that. What hypocrisy. Freedom to travel is a right. It is fundamental. It is part of who we are as Americans. We travel. We explore. We meet people. We share our values. We build relationships with people we agree with and disagree with. Are we willing to stand by and let the right of private Americans to travel be trampled this way? I will have more to say about this self-defeatist policy when I introduce the bipartisan Freedom for Americans to Travel to Cuba Act. I urge all Senators to not let the same old, worn out, Cold War, isolationist, fearmongering, failed arguments about Cuba stand in the way of common sense. I see one of my very good friends on the floor, the Senator from Ohio. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cramer). The Senator from Ohio. Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I thank my friend and colleague and one- time President pro tempore of this body, Senator Leahy. 75th Anniversary of D-Day Mr. President, I am here on the floor today to talk about D-Day, to talk about how we would remember the 75th anniversary tomorrow of a turning point in World War II: June 6, 1944, the invasion of Normandy. Historian Douglas Brinkley has written that D-Day was both the single most important in the 20th century and one of the bloodiest and most tragic, too, in terms of loss of life. On D-Day, our fleets set forth from the rocky shores of Britain to reach the fog-shrouded beaches of Normandy. On board the thousands of ships and planes were our fathers and grandfathers and great- grandfathers--some no older than 18 years old--who would bravely venture ashore in a show of determination and duty. There were [[Page S3241]] 160,000 soldiers who crossed the English Channel that day. On their backs were rucksacks, some weighing over 80 pounds. But really on their backs was the fate of our allies in Europe and, really, the fate of the free world. Were our men to fail that day, Europe might well have fallen to Hitler once and for all. Many of our best and brightest young Americans did fall. We lost more than 10,000 men that day. The Nazis had spent 2 years fortifying the coast to prepare for this moment. It was Hitler's so-called Atlantic Wall. The beautiful coastline of northern France was covered in barbed wire, landmines, and bunkers. Hell had come to Earth to greet our men as they landed, and still they fought on gallantly. At the end of the largest amphibious invasion in history, we stood victorious, battered but unbroken. On we marched, through France, through Belgium, and finally into Germany. The world would never be the same. Even today among the beautiful flowers and fields of Normandy, you can feel the lingering presence of those who died that day in service of liberating Europe, and you can see it, as I have, at the stark, orderly U.S. military cemeteries, where row after row of white crosses and Stars of David stand defiant, representing lives lost in a noble cause. Though much has happened in the following 75 years, we can never lose sight of the valor and sacrifice displayed by our Armed Forces on that day. On Memorial Day, I spoke at the National Veterans Memorial Museum in Columbus, OH, and also at a cemetery in Grove City, OH. In both ceremonies, there were World War II veterans present and up front. To see the generations of veterans and family members there to honor the fallen was to see the living embodiment of the stories we ought to remember from a war that recedes further into the past with each passing year. Stories of valor like that displayed by Jim ``Pee Wee'' Martin, from Dayton, OH. On that day, he and the rest of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment parachuted through German lines in the dark of predawn. Jim was wounded but fought bravely, earning the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his D-Day efforts. Stories of sacrifice like that of the Napier Brothers of Warren County in Southwest Ohio. All five served in the war. Two of the brothers of the five landed at D-Day. One died there on the beaches, never to come home to Ohio. These are stories to be preserved for the generations to come. The memory of D-Day and, indeed, all of World War II must never be lost. That is why I was proud to join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle earlier today to show through our resolution the gratitude and appreciation of the Senate for the courage shown by our troops who participated in the Normandy landings that day. Since I have been a Member of the Senate, I have come to this floor often on D-Day to recite a very special prayer given by President Roosevelt on that fateful day. It was expected that Franklin Delano Roosevelt would give a speech when the invasion took place, as he had done many times before, called the fireside chats from the White House. But on the morning of D-Day, FDR was moved to prayer instead. That famous prayer has become known as the D-Day prayer. It is my understanding that President Trump actually recited this prayer just yesterday in the United Kingdom at an event that preceded the official ceremonies tomorrow commemorating the 75th anniversary of D-Day. The words are powerful and deserve to be remembered for generations to come. In 2013, I introduced legislation, the World War II Memorial Act, which directs the Secretary of the Interior to install a plaque to be placed on or near the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC, with the words of the D-Day prayer. I like that because it adds more context and more interpretation to that beautiful World War II Memorial. It was the Ohio Christian Alliance president, Chris Long, who first came to me with this good idea of placing this plaque on or near the memorial, given its history and importance. Since that legislation was signed into law in 2014, we have worked hard with the National Park Service, the Friends of the National World War II Memorial, and the two Federal commissions that are required to approve any permanent structure on the National Mall. It has been 5 years now--actually longer than America's involvement in World War II-- and although we do not yet have this plaque placed, we have made progress. The commissions have approved the location of the plaque to be just north of the World War II Memorial at the Circle of Remembrance. If you have been to the memorial, you come from the Washington Monument, and you see the Circle of Remembrance on the right. The commissions have also approved initial design concepts for the plaque, which must comply with the Commemorative Works Act. We are moving forward with this project, by the way, without any Federal funding. We are relying on private fundraising, not taxpayer dollars. We had hoped to have the plaque in place, of course, for the 75th anniversary tomorrow. I am disappointed we don't, but, instead, we will preview tomorrow the placement of a temporary plaque with the words of the prayer at the chosen location, the Circle of Remembrance, next to the World War II Memorial. At our event tomorrow--which will include the chairman of the Friends of the National World War II Memorial; officials from the National Park Service; Chris Long, president of the Ohio Christian Alliance; and a number of World War II veterans--we will also lead a reading of the D-Day prayer. I am looking forward to that tomorrow. The temporary plaque, by the way, was generously donated to the Friends of the National World War II Memorial by Mr. John Nau, a member of the National Parks Foundation Board, who felt strongly about at least having a temporary plaque in place. We are hopeful that the permanent plaque will be placed at the Circle very soon. The fact that a prayer was offered that day, on D-Day, by the Commander in Chief is historic in and of itself, but I think it is the content of the prayer that makes it so worthy of remembrance. If I may, I would now like to read the D-Day prayer. FDR began: My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far. And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer: Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph. They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest--until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war. For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home. Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom. And for us at home--fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas--whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them--help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice. Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts. Give us strength, too--strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces. And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be. And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not [[Page S3242]] the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment, let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose. With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace, a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen. I think you will agree with me that these profound words deserve to be made a permanent part of our broader World War II Memorial for a noble day that we must never forget. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
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