ISSUES ::

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Taxes  |  Working-Class Families  |  Environment  |  Immigration  |  Economy
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For a discussion of International Trade, head to the Economy page.
For a discussion of War, Defense, or Military Objectives, head to the War In Iraq page.

My Position: Our American agenda will no longer be crafted in isolation, without regard for its impact on our neighbors and our interests around the world. We are all in this together, as the actions (or potential inaction) in this country can and will affect the globe as a whole. The moment we acknowledge – and celebrate – that we are all in this together, a solid community of like minds and like hearts, is the moment we come together and tackle together those major challenges facing this nation and the world.

Cuba, The Embargo, & Travel Restrictions

UPDATE: 04.13.09 President Obama lifts the Bush-era stringent travel restrictions on Cuban Americans, allowing citizens and legal residents with family in Cuba to visit and send remittances.

The right to travel freely is a fundamentally American right, but for nearly half a century, our citizens have been denied it. Most Americans are outright banned from travelling to Cuba – not for study, not for tourism, not even for charity – and worse, even the travel rights of family have been dramatically whittled down. H.R. 623 has amassed bipartisan support, drawing 120 House cosponsors, from embargo supporters to proponents of normalization. That's because the right of unfettered travel for our citizens has nothing to do with politics on the island. It has everything to do with basic freedoms, common sense, and ultimately, compassion. It is too much of a sacrifice to ask from our people, in particular our Cuban descendent brothers and sisters, to forego funerals, weddings, births, and death-bed invitations on an island just 90 miles away.

It's counterintuitive to expect democracy to flourish and change to take root in Cuba without allowing the free flow of our people and our ideas. Cuban society needs more of our American essence – not less.

We cannot secure a foothold of influence in Cuba's imminent transition if we refuse to speak to anyone in its government. We currently have no one's ear – worse yet, we choose to petulantly insult and threaten, when we do – and that is too dangerous a position to find ourselves in. We cannot pick and choose their leaders for them. That need not require that we set aside our dearly held principles, either. Everything can be on the negotiating table – human rights, the freeing of political prisoners, the return of certain appropriated property.

There's no winning with the current policy. A GAO report, commissioned by myself and Congresswoman Barbara Lee, found that Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is spending inordinate time and resources looking for contraband from Cuba--mostly cigars and rum - at the expense of keeping terrorists and other criminals from entering the US.

New and forward thinking in Miami now yearns for that breakthrough. A younger generation – unborn during Castro's revolution, thoroughly American but intent on visiting what family remains in Cuba – has grown weary of the restrictions and embargos of the past. Polls find that majorities of Cuban Americans approve the sale of medicines (70 percent), the sale of foods (62 percent), unrestricted travel (55 percent), and a revocation of President Bush's stringent 2003 policy (64 percent). The embargo now garners the lowest percentage of approval since it began decades ago.

Cubans and Americans have had a love affair for decades. The affinity between the two peoples has developed naturally, from our shared musical influences to our predilection for baseball. There is very little that keeps us apart – namely, the American and Cuban governments. In a way, they have colluded in an age-old battle of wills that does good to neither peoples. But Cuba's government has signaled a changing of the guards that should hearten us to follow suit.

CARICOM & The Caribbean
The Caribbean economic picture is just as grim as ours, and our neighbors to our southern shore are looking to us for guidance and steady leadership. Let us rise to that call and smartly, responsibly, and cautiously deal with the challenges that arise. As partners in the Western Hemisphere, intent on improving the quality of life in their regions, these heads of sovereign nations merit our attentive ear and an outreached hand.

The Caribbean Single Market and Economy is a means to bolstering competition and innovation in the region. This ambitious push for a regional market, devoid of trade barriers, is well on its way towards completion, but the management of such an economy would still require the coordination of macro-economic, monetary, and fiscal policies – as well as the establishment of a single currency. In order to spur their small-market economies, they will need an increased amount foreign direct investment and a disposition to trade that will elevate the living standards of the Caribbean people.

Our interaction with the Caribbean cannot be limited to dollars and cents – not when security, crime, and health are foremost on the minds of the region's residents. The Caribbean states need tangible assistance in combating the spread and trafficking of narcotics, and the fight against the growing epidemics of HIV and AIDS would benefit from greater U.S. contribution.

Haiti
Recognizing the dire needs of Haiti, in particular, Friends of the Caribbean in Congress succeeded in creating new trade preferences for that country in 2006 and again in 2008. The HOPE program, as it is known, is a new and vital part of the family of U.S. trade preference programs and will bring desperately needed economic opportunities to Haiti. Primarily because of these programs, Caribbean exports to the United States have risen steadily, most recently climbing from $0.6 billion in 1997 to $3.9 billion in 2007. This growth has meant real, meaningful employment opportunities for people in Caribbean industries. These preference programs, however, are not perfect.  For one, the scope of products they cover is not as wide as it could be, and development assistance to build the region’s capacity to trade is a crucial piece of the puzzle.

Natural Disasters
Words can only go so far. We should offer any and all resources that might soften devastation and natural calamity, as has happened recently in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, and Mexico. Some of the images were startling and sobering − a dramatic reminder of our own travails following Hurricane Katrina, as thousands, in Mexico particular, waited for rescue atop their rooftops. When our struggling neighbors cry out, America heeds their calls.

We are on the brink of a once-in-a-generation opportunity, to not just renew the faith that people have in politics and democracy, but a real chance to improve lives. The world has cause to look to America and its new President for solid leadership, and we will not let it down. ■