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seth moulton
Massachusetts Dems Urge Biden to Take Cuba Off US Terrorism List
"Removing Cuba from this list is one thing that the U.S. can do immediately to ease the daily hardships facing so many Cuban families," wrote seven lawmakers.
Jan 02, 2024
Following a private briefing on Capitol Hill in which a U.S. State Department official angered Democratic lawmakers by revealing that the Biden administration has not yet begun a lengthy review process to remove Cuba from the government's list of "State Sponsors of Terror," Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Jim McGovern led other Massachusetts Democrats in demanding that the White House expedite the process.
The letter sent to President Joe Biden was written in mid-December, a week after the closed-door meeting took place, but was not released on until Tuesday.
Pressley and McGovern were joined by Reps. Lori Trahan, Stephen Lynch, and Seth Moulton, as well as Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey in calling on Biden to reverse the "vindictive action" taken by former Republican President Donald Trump just before he left office in January 2021, when he added Cuba to the SSOT list.
The Democrats noted that while there are numerous reasons for Cuba's economic crisis, "without a doubt a significant contributing factor is the restrictions and penalties facing international financial institutions and other entities because Cuba is on the SSOT list."
"From the poorest and most vulnerable to the struggling private sector to religious, humanitarian, and cultural actors, the Cuban people are enduring the most dire deprivations in recent memory—everyone is suffering," the letter reads. "Removing Cuba from this list is one thing that the U.S. can do immediately to ease the daily hardships facing so many Cuban families, including its struggling private sector."
Inclusion on the SSOT list limits Cuba's participation in international financial markets, as other countries are forced to choose between doing business with the wealthiest country in the world and the small island nation that it claims supports terrorism.
Trump claimed the designation was necessary because Cuba was aiding terrorists in Colombia—reasoning that the lawmakers called "specious."
"During his most recent visit to the United States, Colombian President Gustavo Petro appealed personally to you for Cuba to be removed from the list to facilitate peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas," wrote the lawmakers.
The December meeting on Capitol Hill left several Democrats "furious," a lawmaker who was granted anonymity toldThe Intercept last month, particularly because McGovern had reportedly been told that the review process, which takes about six months, was ongoing.
In the letter the lawmakers pointed out that on the campaign trail, Biden pledged to "address re-engagement with Cuba" and lift Trump's punishing economic sanctions, returning to the normalized relations introduced by the Obama-Biden administration.
As William Leogrande wrote at the The Nation on Monday, Cuba's foreign exchange earnings have been "drastically reduced" by the sanctions.
"The impact of the economic crisis is visible everywhere," wrote Leogrande. "There are fewer cars on the streets and long lines at gas stations because of the fuel shortage. Tourist hotels stand half-empty and the once bustling streets of Old Havana are quiet. The shelves in state stores are mostly bare, often lacking even the limited basket of goods that Cubans receive at subsidized prices on their ration book. Garbage is accumulating on street corners. Street crime is rising."
Alleviating some of the suffering by removing Cuba from the SSOT list, said the Democratic lawmakers in their letter to Biden, "is the only option worthy of the United States."
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Progressives Push for High-Speed Rail Funding in Infrastructure Deal
"This is part of our overall goal to create millions of union jobs in the United States of America building climate infrastructure to bring down our carbon emissions, save our future, and improve our quality of life."
Jun 16, 2021
Clean transportation supporters in Congress joined with environmental and labor advocates for a Wednesday rally to demand funding for high-speed rail, a call that was echoed in a new letter from five Democratic lawmakers amid ongoing infrastructure talks.
"High-speed rail connects communities. It brings people together. It's the way of the future."
--Rep. Seth Moulton
The letter is spearheaded by Reps. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) as well as Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass)--some of whom spoke at the morning rally.
"For too long," Moulton said at the podium, "our highways have divided our cities. They have gone directly through neighborhoods--usually neighborhoods of color. High-speed rail connects communities. It brings people together. It's the way of the future."
As Ocasio-Cortez put it: "This is part of our overall goal to create millions of union jobs in the United States of America building climate infrastructure to bring down our carbon emissions, save our future, and improve our quality of life."
\u201cAOC: "Rail is climate infrastructure. As seriously as we take climate is how serious we take high-speed rail"\u201d— Sam Mintz (@Sam Mintz) 1623851106
The Democrats behind the letter are also among those who have expressed frustration with GOP attempts to water down President Joe Biden's two-part infrastructure proposal--the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan--that some progressive critics argue is already inadequate.
The letter, addressed to the party leaders in each chamber as well as key committee chairs and ranking members, says that "with the new administration, we have a generational opportunity to invest in our nation's infrastructure, and we are grateful for your leadership in ensuring we invest in next generation infrastructure, not just the infrastructure of the past."
"As negotiations continue to develop around a comprehensive infrastructure package, we write to express our support for the inclusion of dedicated funding to develop international-standard high-speed rail with high-performance connections that feed into a larger network," it adds. "A federal commitment to these modern and proven transportation systems will dramatically improve our environment, reduce inequity, and help grow cities and sustain vibrant downtowns across the nation."
\u201chigh-speed rail is cool \ud83d\ude0e\u201d— PDAmerica (@PDAmerica) 1623815456
"Reducing emissions from the transportation sector is critical to meeting our nation's climate goals and cutting our carbon footprint," notes the letter, echoing scientific findings. "A robust network of high-speed rail corridors with high-performance connections is the best option to dramatically reduce carbon emissions while improving intercity travel."
"As we rebuild coming out of the pandemic," it continues, "investing in a high-speed rail network with high-performance rail connections will create direct, good-paying, and secure jobs immediately, while enabling long-term economic growth across whole megaregions and providing vital access to opportunity for smaller communities."
The letter's authors are also leaders of major climate proposals recently put forth in Congress: Ocasio-Cortez and Markey reintroduced the Green New Deal Resolution in April; Markey and Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) unveiled the $10 trillion THRIVE Act that same month; and Moulton proposed a national high-speed rail plan in May.
Moutlon's "ambitious--and expensive--plan," detailed in a WIREDreport and a white paper (pdf) on his website, calls for investing $205 billion over five years into building a national high-speed rail network.
According to WIRED:
That money could, in turn, encourage another $243 billion in matching state, local, and private investments, Moulton says. The bill would create a unified, national vision of a rail network that could guide future investments and would iron out regulations to speed construction. It would encourage private companies to operate the new rail networks, instead of, say, Amtrak, which is projecting a $700 million loss this year. It cites firms like Virgin Trains USA, which runs and hopes to extend a rail line in Florida, and Texas Central Railway, Moulton's former employer, which is working to build one in the Lone Star State, as models.
The rally and letter initiative followed a Tuesday announcement that the developers behind the proposed high-speed rail project between Dallas and Houston signed a $16 billion contract with a construction and engineering company to build the 200-miles-per-hour train system.
Wednesday's developments also came a day after Markey joined with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) for an event under the "no climate, no deal" catchphrase that progressive lawmakers and advocacy groups are using in public discussions and demands about the developing infrastructure deal.
\u201cBig and bold climate action must be at the center of any infrastructure package. Period. I'm with @SenJeffMerkley to send a clear message: no climate, no deal.\nhttps://t.co/UMrWsa5Io3\u201d— Ed Markey (@Ed Markey) 1623769788
Kate Aronoff reported Tuesday for The New Republic that "progressive offices and nonprofits are now in the process of trying to align their priorities, which may include $1 trillion of funding for public renewables and $500 billion for clean transportation."
Sunrise Movement legislative director Lauren Maunus told Aronoff that "we understand the political constraints and reality in this moment, and we need to work within them while continuing to shift the conditions for more ambitious climate action in years to come."
"We need to make sure that Biden does not walk back his campaign commitments and the American Jobs Plan," said Maunus, whose youth-led group has endorsed bold climate proposals like the Green New Deal and THRIVE Act. "That's already a compromise, and we can't afford anything less than that."
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NIAC Applauds NDAA Amendment Aimed at Blocking Trump's Path to War
Jun 25, 2019
Today, an amendment was offered to the FY20 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would block an unauthorized war against Iran. The amendment, introduced by Representatives Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), has wide support including from the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Adam Smith, the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Eliot Engel and the Chairman of the House Rules Committee Jim McGovern. Many other legislators - including Reps. Anna Eshoo, Andy Levin, Barbara Lee, Seth Moulton, and Anthony Brown - who have been champions in the effort to ensure Trump doesn't lead us into an unauthorized war are already signed on as original cosponsors of the amendment.
In response to the amendment's introduction, NIAC President Jamal Abdi issued the following statement:
"Congress may be all that is standing between Donald Trump and war with Iran. It is crucial that lawmakers summon the wherewithal to act as a co-equal branch of government to stand up against a disastrous war with Iran.
"The Khanna-Gaetz amendment is a strong response to the growing risks of war with Iran that stem directly from President Trump's disastrous maximum pressure approach.
"After nearly two decades of endless war, the American people do not want another reckless war of choice with Iran. Congress must ensure that the defense authorization rules out war with Iran by passing the Khanna-Gaetz amendment in the House, the Udall-Kaine amendment in the Senate and protecting the provisions from pro-war legislators.
"Recent events have only underscored the importance of ruling out an unauthorized war with Iran. Our thin-skinned President lashed out on Twitter this morning in response to a mistranslation of an Iranian statement, and maintains that he does not need Congressional authorization to start a war. Other Members of Congress - including Mitch McConnell and Tom Cotton - have shamefully played defense for Trump's reckless actions in an attempt to keep the path to war with Iran open."
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