From our friends at the Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy came this comment

From our friends at the Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy came this comment. A fact check reveals that indeed Committee Chairman Howard Berman began receiving campaign donations from embargo extremists when he assumed the Chairmanship of the House Foreign Affairs Committee receiving $5000 in the last cycle and $5000 in the current cycle. When you see how much money is spread on the House Foreign Affairs Committee in both parties, one does have to wonder if there will be any objectivity on this issue.- TM :

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"The hearing this Thursday by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, chaired by Chairman Berman, may actually retard the efforts to pass the travel ban removal legislation, HR 874, this year!

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You will hear a different Howard Berman on Thursday. From the one who, when in the minority, sided with those of us who have been fighting to end the travel ban for Americans to go to Cuba and to end the United States embargo toward Cuba. This hearing on Thursday is going to be a real circus and all about human rights violations, political prisoners and Yaoni Sanchez's blog. What new information could possibly result from this hearing that has not been said ad nauseam in the past?

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This should be another lesson that the issue of the United States Cuba relations is not about political prisoners, human rights violations, Communism, Fidel Castro, or Yaoni Sanchez. It is about political money. The reason you will hear a different Howard Berman is because the ranking Republican on his committee, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, allegedly arranged for him to receive a total of $10,000 in campaign donations in the last and current election cycles. He had never before received monies from the extremists in Miami. Until those of us fighting to lift the embargo can play the "political money game", the embargo will remain in place, in my view. It is just that simple. While it is a sad commentary, it is a fact. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and her cohorts do not contribute money to anyone unless they have a commitment to maintain the embargo.

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Albert A. Fox, Jr.
President
Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy Foundation

www.responsiblecubapolicy.org