Reps. Pocan, Dexter, Leger Fernandez, and Ramirez Return From Cuba Fact-Finding Mission

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Representatives Mark Pocan (WI-02), Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03) and Maxine Dexter (OR-03) released the following statement upon the conclusion of their four-day Congressional delegation to Cuba:

"I went to Cuba thirty years ago, three and a half years ago, and now today," said Rep. Pocan. "As a small business owner for 37 years myself, I have seen how the island's private sector has the potential to thrive like never before, but is also hamstrung by U.S. sanctions that limit its access to financing, punish its workforce, reduce its customer base, and cut off its suppliers and export possibilities."

"United States' policies continue to exacerbate a crisis of displacement: a situation that, for many Cubans, makes it impossible to stay and realize self-determination in their own land. From what I heard directly from Cubans, many feel like they are forced to emigrate. But when Cubans decide to leave behind their land and look at the United States with hope, they are confronted by the U.S.'s outdated immigration system and the Trump administration's white nationalist agenda," said Rep. Ramirez. "It is an impossible choice: face hunger, illness, and destitution on your own land or the abuse of ICE in the U.S."

"Cuba created a free, universal healthcare system that millions of Cubans and others around the world have come to expect and depend on," said Congresswoman Maxine Dexter, M.D. "Today that system is buckling under sanctions that the White House has unleashed on the Cuban people. This is creating a humanitarian catastrophe, and it's on us to stop it. I will be using all the tools at my disposal to remove the barriers to delivering health care to the Cuban people."

"What the United States is doing to this island is a siege," said Rep. Leger Fernández. "We're blocking medical supplies, fuel and other essential inputs, leading its infant mortality rate to rise nearly 150% in recent years, from 4 to 9.9 per 1,000 live births. I doubt any American wants innocent Cuban babies to die due to our policies."

The Members jointly wrote:

"As elected lawmakers tasked with oversight of U.S. foreign policy, we traveled to Havana to meet with Cubans of all walks of life and political perspectives to hear about the hardships the Trump administration's maximum pressure policies are creating for Cuban citizens, learn about recent reform efforts aimed at modernizing the Cuban economy, and explore ways to reset U.S.-Cuba relations on a path of engagement, diplomacy and mutual respect.

"The de facto U.S. fuel blockade on Cuba is producing indiscriminate pain for the most vulnerable Cubans, contributing to nationwide electrical blackouts-including one during our trip-buildups of trash on street corners, severe shortages of food, medicine, and public transportation, and widening inequality on the island.

"In our meetings with religious leaders, entrepreneurs, civil society organizations, humanitarian groups, medical professionals and farmers, everybody we heard from - no matter their views of the Cuban government or the pace and scope of the announced reforms - agreed on one thing: that they are being strangled to death under the current executive orders and longstanding economic blockade.

"The Trump administration has not provided any evidence that Cuba poses a pressing national security threat to the United States and our interests at home and abroad. We believe that any pretext used to launch an illegal, unauthorized, and unpopular military operation against the island would exacerbate a grave humanitarian catastrophe, put U.S. service members at unnecessary risk, and hurt the very people we claim to support.

"The severe secondary sanctions - including more announced today - mean that there is almost no fuel and no banking on the island, forcing blackouts that can last days. Foreign businesses are fleeing the island, crippling Cuba's private sector. Without electricity, hospitals, health care and all basic services are impacted. There is a growing humanitarian crisis and international aid organizations cannot distribute aid throughout the country. In other words, our policies are killing everyday Cuban citizens.

"We call on the Trump administration and our colleagues in Congress to listen to the majority of U.S. and Cuban citizens and the rest of the world by lifting the cruel sanctions weighing on the Cuban people and engaging in serious and comprehensive negotiations with Cuban authorities that help advance trade with the island, promote respect for human rights, and provide a much-needed solution for a Cuban population that doesn't have any more time to wait."