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Statement by Senator Ted Cruz on the Removal of Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism List

June 02, 2015


Opposes Administration's Removal of Cuba from Terrorism List

HOUSTON, Texas – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today released the following statement regarding the Obama Administration's removal of Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list:

"The removal of Cuba's Castro Regime from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list is only the most recent example of the failed Obama-Clinton-Kerry foreign policy. The Castros have done absolutely nothing to merit this change beyond give vague 'assurances' that they will not engage in terrorist activities, while the administration claims the regime has not engaged in terrorist activity 'at least for the last six months' — a laughable rationale that ignores their more than a half century of relentless violent hostility towards the United States.

"We need look no further than the example of North Korea to predict the ramifications of this most recent bad decision. In 2008, despite having done nothing to merit it, the Hermit Kingdom was removed from the list in the hopes that the concession would bring them to the negotiating table. Seven years later, an emboldened North Korea has become more dangerous — testing nuclear weapons, engaging in clandestine nuclear programs with Iran, launching cyber attacks against America, and most recently, threatening our homeland with a nuclear weapon. Furthermore, North Korea was intercepted in 2013 trafficking weapons from none other than Cuba.

"The State Sponsors of Terrorism list is not a bargaining tool. It is a tool to measure the bad behavior of hostile regimes and hold them accountable for it. But the Obama Administration seems to want an embassy in Havana more than they want to do the hard work of securing the American people.

"This dangerous recklessness must stop. We need a president who will chart a new course, not repeat the failures of the past. January 2017 can't come soon enough."

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Ted Cruz, Statement by Senator Ted Cruz on the Removal of Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism List Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/314731

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