“Today’s announcement on Cuba sets the U.S. back to the failed policies of the past. To be fair, it was reassuring to see that the U.S. will keep its Embassy in Havana open, not bring back the 'wet foot, dry foot' policy, and allow American airlines to continue their direct flights to Cuba. But, today’s changes will certainly hurt American farmers and job producers. By prohibiting individual educational trips and American companies from engaging with Cuban government entities, we are stifling potential economic growth and restricting the spread of American values. If the US prohibited business transactions with nations that had concerning human rights records, we would lose many of our trading partners. We should apply our standards uniformly. The new policy changes do not punish Cuba, they hurt Americans, American enterprise, and American values."

Poe is the Chairman of the Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade Subcommittee and a member of the bipartisan Cuba Working Group.