Looks like JayZ and Beyonce can go ahead and get…that…dirt off their shoulders.
After all, the GOP lawmakers who are attacking JayZ have no leg to stand on when they (GOPers) are the ones who helped to vote an end funding on the enforcement of the Travel Ban in Cuba. Why on God’s green earth would Cuban immigrants want to go back to Cuba on an extended vacation there on the tax payer’s dime? I thought Cuban immigrants wanted to flee the corrupt Cuban government — not go back on an extended vacation there. Why did Republican Flake vote to extend Cuban vacations to begin with if they are supposed to be fleeing Cuba? On the other hand, we see these same GOPers who are all about enforcement against the Mexicans, right?
Did you know that the Arizona Republican Senator Jeff Flake voted to end funding on the enforcement of the Travel Ban in Cuba, yet he is all about enforcement with regard to Mexican-American families here in the southwest? It’s true, Cuban immigrants receive preferential treatment over Mexicans and other immigrants from other parts of the country.
Here is what some GOPers supported a while ago and why they really can’t accuse JayZ and Beyonce of wrong doing:
Senate-House Press Conference to Highlight Vote Suspending Cuba Travel Ban
Event: Press Conference highlighting the successful passage in both the House and Senate to
eliminate funding for enforcement of the Cuba travel ban.
Date: Wednesday, October 29, 2003 12 noon
Location: Senate Radio-TV gallery, U.S. Capitol
Attendees: Senate and House cosponsors of the Cuba travel amendment, including U.S. Senators Max Baucus (D-Mont.) Sens. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Larry Craig (R-Ind.), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), among others.
Background:
On October 23, 2003, the U.S. Senate voted 59-36 in favor of eliminating funding that goes toward the enforcement of the Cuba travel ban. This vote mirrored similar House action taken in September, with a vote of 227-188, to eliminate travel ban funding. The amendment was included in the fiscal year 2004 Treasury-Transportation Appropriations Bill.
In recent months, momentum has grown in Congress and across the country for strengthened relations between the U.S. and Cuba. Earlier this year, bipartisan “Cuba Working Groups” were formed in both the House and Senate, with the goal of examining U.S. policies toward Cuba and determining the steps Congress can take to increase trade and strengthen the relationship between the two countries.
Sens. Baucus, Enzi, and Dorgan, among others have introduced legislation in the Senate to remove travel restrictions between the U.S. and Cuba. Companion legislation has been introduced in the House by Reps. Flake, Delahunt and others. In addition, a number of Members of Congress, including Baucus, have recently traveled to Cuba and met with leading dissidents, members of the Cuban government and the Cuban business
community.
At the press conference, the Members will be urging the Appropriations conference committee and the Administration to uphold the will of Congress and retain the Cuba travel provision in the final FY04 Treasury-Transportation legislation.
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