Connie Mack Cheers Congress Postponing Vote on Lifting Cuba Travel Ban

U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, the ranking Republican on the U.S. House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, cheered the House Foreign Affairs Committee postponing a vote on a proposed measure to lift the travel ban on Cuba.

While Im glad that Democrats chose not to push through a last-ditch effort to vote on lifting the U.S. travel ban on Cuba in the Foreign Affairs Committee this week, we shouldnt be having this vote in the first place until the Castro brothers make serious concessions to ensure freedom and improve human rights on the island, said Mack. Real democratic reforms are needed in Cuba, including free and fair elections, the release of all political prisoners, and a free and independent press that is allowed to operate without fear of oppression or violence.

Its outrageous that some members of this Congress would prop up the failing communist regimes economy by allowing an influx of U.S. tourist dollars in Cuba, added Mack. Opening Cuba to tourist travel is not going to change the Castro brothers tyrannical ways.

This Congress should be focusing on issues such as creating jobs, which would be accomplished by passing the pending free-trade agreements with Colombia and Panama not by bailing out the Castro regime, said Mack.