Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a longtime advocate of improving U.S. relations with Cuba, today co-led a letter with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) and 24 Congressional colleagues commending President Biden for reversing several ill-advised Trump Administration policies toward the island nation. The letter recommends the Biden Administration review U.S. policy toward Cuba to facilitate global vaccine equity and ensure that U.S. sanctions do not impede efforts to get residents of low-income countries vaccinated against COVID-19. It also suggests reinstating the Obama-Biden policy that removed Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The letter reads in part:
“We write in strong support of your recent moves to reverse many of the Trump Administration’s cruel and misguided policies against the Cuban people and to renew mutually beneficial engagement that will better support Cubans and Cuban-Americans while advancing both U.S. values and national security interests…As our nation and the world continue to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, we ask you to explore possibilities for engaging with Cuba on issues of global health. As an initial step, we ask that you review U.S. policy towards Cuba in order to facilitate greater global vaccine equity, with a particular focus on ensuring that U.S. sanctions do not impede current or future efforts by Cuba to share COVID-19 vaccines and related technology and medical support with low-income countries around the world.”
See the entire letter and list of signers here.
Soon after President Biden took office, Congressman Cohen and several colleagues wrote to him and urged him to “reverse the Trump Administration’s cruel policies against the Cuban people and renew mutually productive dialogue with the Cuban government” which is now under way. See that letter here.
Congressman Cohen also sponsors the Baseball Diplomacy Act which would waive certain prohibitions for Cuban nationals coming to the U.S. to play professional baseball as our current policy forces Cuban baseball players to renounce their citizenship and abandon their families in order to play professional sports in the United States. Baseball is a passion that is shared by both Cubans and Americans. People-to-people exchanges and personal interactions are the best ways to learn and work with those from other cultures.
Original source can be found here.
