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Call Now: Congress Votes Tue on Cuba
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Progressive Portal
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Jul 22, 2002 16:48 PDT
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CALL CONGRESS TODAY:
LIFT CUBA TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS
[From CAAEF, the Cuban American Alliance Education Fund, Inc.
<http://www.cubamer.org>]
CONGRESS to vote on Embargo Tuesday, July 23, 2002
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Please call your representative TODAY! Urge support for the following
amendments to the Treasury-Postal Appropriations Bill:
YES on the Flake travel amendment
YES on the Flake remittances amendment
YES on Moran
YES on Rangel
NO on GOSS
(Go to http://clerk.house.gov/members/mcapdir.php for a congressional
phone directory.)
Rep. Porter Goss (R-FL) will introduce a subersive amendment to the
Treasury-Postal FY2003 Apropriations bill that would UNDERMINE
Congressman Jeff Flake's widely supported amendment to end funding for
enforcement of the ban on travel to Cuba. The Goss amendment is cast in
terms of the war on terror, but does not advance American interests
regarding the fight against terror. It instead only limits American
civil liberties. SUPPORT FLAKE AMENDMENT, OPPOSE GOSS GOSS AMENDMENT.
THE GOSS AMENDMENT WOULD KILL AMERICANS' RIGHT TO TRAVEL TO CUBA by
conditioning an end of the travel ban. If the Goss amendment passes,
the Flake amendment will not take effect.
DEFEAT OF THE GOSS AMENDMENT IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE FLAKE
AMENDMENT AND FOR TRAVEL TO CUBA.
WHY OPPOSE GOSS AMENDMENT: Talking Points:
* The Goss amendment negates the positive impact of the Flake
amendment.
* The Flake amendment to TPO FY2003 ends funding for enforcement of the
decades-old ban on Americans from travel to Cuba. The Cuba travel ban
violates American civil liberties, damages the U.S. economy --
particularly beleaguered U.S. airlines and tourist sector -- and
prohibits American values of democracy and freedom from being spread to
Cuba through our greatest ambassadors of freedom, the American people.
Passage of the Goss amendment would undermine and kill the impact of
Congressman Flake's forward-thinking, America-first amendment.
* The Goss amendment sets conditions on the freedom of Americans to
travel to Cuba. The Flake amendment does not.
* By setting conditions that only Castro can meet, the Goss amendment
allows Fidel Castro to dictate where Americans can travel.
* Restricting Americans' freedoms is no way to address U.S. grievances
with the Castro government. It is wrong to repress American liberty in
order to fight Castro's tyranny.
* The Goss amendment is a status quo amendment. Flake's amendment for
change in U.S. policy is widely supported in the Congress and among the
American public. Goss undermines Flake and therefore undermines the
Congress and the American people.
* Fight Terrorism Not Tourism: The Flake amendment helps America in the
war on terrorism by preventing Treasury funds from being used to fight
tourism at a time that Treasury is fighting terrorism.
* The Goss amendment purports to help address security threats coming
from Cuba. Firstly, these threats are mischaracterized and exaggerated.
Mass migration, not terrorism is the threat Cuba poses the United
States. Engaging Cuba helps increase stability there and to protect
America's Caribbean border.
* There is no security benefit that the United States gains by
restricting Americans' right to travel.
* The Flake amendment is strongly supported by Congress, passing by 240
votes twice in the past two years. But the Goss amendment undermines
supporters of Flake by placing conditions on the Flake language.
* The travel ban violates Americans' civil liberties, and sends the
wrong message to the world about the value of freedom in the United
States. Moreover, public opinion polls show that the majority of the
American people support ending the travel ban. Why then, in our
democracy, is the will of the people being denied?
OPPOSE GOSS and SUPPORT FLAKE. The Flake amendment will still be voted
on, and its passage is essential for restoring Americans' right to
travel and to advance U.S. interests regarding Cuba.
FLAKE AMENDMENT ON TRAVEL TO CUBA: Ends funding for enforcement of the
travel ban, making it difficult or impossible to enforce the ban on
Americans from travel to Cuba.
MORAN AMENDMENT ON FARM SALES TO CUBA: Makes it easier for U.S. farmers
to export their products to Cuba. The American farm economy could
benefit up to $1.24 billion per year in exports to Cuba. It is already
possible for Americans to sell food to Cuba, and this amendment provides
a fix to simplify this process and make exports to Cuba more lucrative
for American farmers.
RANGEL AMENDMENT ON CUBAN EMBARGO: Ends enforcement of the entire
embargo, sending the clearest signal that it is time to end a forty-year
foreign policy failure. Overall, the embargo's negative impact on the
U.S. economy runs into the billions of dollars annually and prevents the
creation of tens of thousands of jobs for American workers.
[Thanks to Brian Alexander of the Cuba Policy Foundation for providing
this information]
A monthly legislative update is at:
http://www.cubamer.org/leg_eng4.htm
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