Press Releases
Statement on restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba
Washington, DC,
December 18, 2014
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree made the following statement on the restoration of diplomatic relations with Cuba. I strongly support President Obama's decision to reestablish diplomatic relations with Cuba. It's a change that is long overdue and I'm optimistic it will lead to increased communication and interaction with the Cuban people. Normalizing relations with Cuba will help boost trade between our two countries, which benefits everyone. But the President can only go so far, and ultimately Congress should lift the 50 year-old economic embargo, a misguided policy which has benefited neither the United States or the Cuban people. Even Alan Gross, who lost five years of his life in a Cuban prison, called for an end to what he described as a "mutually belligerent" policy.
Pingree has visited Cuba twice. In 2003 she traveled to the country as a member of the 21-person delegation from to promote economic development and cutltural understanding. Nearly ten years later she returned to the island as a Member of Congress to inspect the U.S. Military base at Guantanamo Bay. |