Tom Emmer

Tom Emmer addressing the Cuba Business Summit in 2019

Tom Emmer is a Minnesota Republican Congressman.

CUBA

Tom Emmer has been very active in "normalizing relations" Cuba. He has visited the communist dictatorship multiple times, visited with Raul Castro and initiated the Cuba Working Group in the House of Representatives.

2019 Statement on Cuba

In a press release dated June 4, 2019, as part if the Cuba Working Group, Tom Emmer called for "...new and improved relationship with our neighbor just 90 miles off the Florida coast..."

Washington, D.C. - Following the Department of Treasury's announcement Tuesday to increase restrictions on travel from the United States to Cuba, the Co-Chairs of the Bipartisan Cuba Working Group released the following statement:

“Every American should have the right to travel freely. The Administration’s decision to further restrict U.S. travel to Cuba not only infringes upon that right, it undercuts efforts to help promote democracy and improve the lives of the Cuban people. The United States’ failed embargo policy towards Cuba over the last 60 years has resulted in the outcome we see today. Now, Members of Congress must ask themselves whether they want to continue down the same path with respect to Cuba or chart a new course through engagement.

"An improved relationship between Cuba and the United States holds endless opportunities for both countries and the surrounding hemisphere. Economic engagement supports a range of U.S. industry, agriculture, and security interests while simultaneously bolstering a budding private sector economy that so many Cubans view as a means to build a new future. Unfortunately, today’s announcement runs counter to both our national security and economic interests. American travelers are the greatest ambassadors for democracy and freedom, spreading the values of our great nation. Their right to live out those ideals and the freedoms we hold dear should not be curtailed by our own government."

Representatives Tom Emmer (MN-06), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Rick Crawford (AR-01), and Barbara Lee (CA-13) serve as co-chairs of the Bipartisan Congressional Working Group in Congress.

Cuba Business Summit

Tweet from Tom Emmer dated May 22, 2019:,

"Had the opportunity to speak at the Cuba Business Summit about the importance of improved trade relations between our nations yesterday. Thank you to the U.S. Chamber Cuba Business Council for their continued efforts to build a better tomorrow – together.

2018 Statement on Cuba

In a press release dated April 19, 2018, as part if the Cuba Working Group, Tom Emmer called for "...new and improved relationship with our neighbor just 90 miles off the Florida coast..."

Washington, D.C. - Following the announcement of Miguel Díaz-Canel as the next President of Cuba, the Cuba Working Group issued the following statement:

“For the first time in nearly six decades, the world will know a Cuba without a Castro at the helm. For the United States, this is an opportunity for a new and improved relationship with our neighbor just 90 miles off the Florida coast - one we cannot afford to let slip through our grasp.

“Cuba’s new leadership holds cautious promise for the Cuban people, potentially ushering in a number of positive changes on the island. Should the United States fail to build on this opportunity, other nations will continue to fill the void, curbing market access for U.S. farmers and businesses, handicapping our national security, and limiting access by the Cuban people to important elements of the United States’ economy, culture, values, and democratic ideals.

“For years, efforts to improve relations between our two nations have been an Executive-led endeavor. While transitions take time, if Congress is serious about repairing American-Cuban ties and improving the well-being of the Cuban people, we must take action to reset relations and ensure the next 60 years are not filled with the same outdated, unproductive, and shortsighted rhetoric and policies of generations past.”

2017 Cuba Delegation

2017 Cuba Delegation

from the Center for Democracy in the Americas website:

"In March 2017, CDA led a fact-finding trip to Havana, Cuba for five Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives to learn about economic, political, and social issues in Cuba, and prospects for U.S.-Cuba trade. Representative Tom Emmer (MN-06), who has previously traveled to Cuba twice with CDA, helped lead the delegation. The group included Reps. Roger Marshall (KS-01), James Comer (KY-01), Jack Bergman (MI-01), and Jason Lewis (MN-02), all first-term members. During the trip, we met a wide array of Cubans, including senior leaders in the Ministry of Foreign Relations, Ministry of Foreign Investment and Trade, Ministry of Agriculture, Cuba’s telecommunications authority, and the University of Havana, as well as with diplomats serving on the island, business leaders and entrepreneurs, and artists.

2016

2016 Cuba trip

Representative Tom Emmer was part of President Barack Obama's March 2016 delegation to Cuba.

First Cuba trip 2016

From February 12-16, 2016, the Center for Democracy in the Americas led a fact-finding trip for a bipartisan congressional delegation to Havana, Cuba. U.S. Representatives Kathy Castor (FL-14) and Tom Emmer (MN-6) led the group, which included Reps. John Garamendi (CA-3), Paul Gosar (AZ-4), Alan Lowenthal (CA-47), Mike Bishop (MI-8), and Brendan Boyle (PA-13). As is CDA’s custom, we arranged for them to meet a wide array of Cubans – senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment, and the Cuban telecommunications authority; Cuba’s Catholic Church; private sector operators of a restaurant, baby clothes, and taxi businesses, visual artists in Havana and hip-hop artists in Regla. The group also visited the Port of Mariel and met with U.S. and third-country diplomats serving on the island. By their account, the delegation returned to the United States with a broader appreciation of the Cuban reality.

2015 Cuba trip

May 28, the Cuban Foreign Minister met with another delegation led by Representative Mark Sanford (Rep., SC), the author of a bill to expand U.S. travel to Cuba (H.R.664), with Bradley Byrne (Rep., AL), Tom Emmer (Rep., MN), Earl Carter (Rep., GA) and Don Beyer (Dem., VA).

Meeting Castro

North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp says she’s hoping that a face-to-face meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro will open the door to more U.S. agricultural exports.

Heitkamp was one of two senators and a handful of representatives to meet Friday in New York with Castro, the first Cuban leader to visit the United States in 15 years.

The Democratic senator says it might be difficult to find enough support to lift a trade embargo against Cuba, but she is pushing a bill that would finance agricultural exports. Cuba has a high demand for North Dakota crops like dry beans, peas and lentils.

Heitkamp visited Cuba in February 2014 but did not have a chance to meet Castro. She says the Cuban leader has invited her to return to his country.

The meeting at the request of the Cuban Embassy lasted about an hour and a half, and included Sens. Heitkamp and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., as well as about eight congressmen, including Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., of Minnesota's Sixth District.

Heitkamp said Leahy, who has a long history of working to restore relations, mentioned the need for Cuba to improve human rights, which could get "more members interested" in expanding economic relationships.

The North Dakota senator said she was impressed with Heitkamp's openness and willingness to "listen, and hear some things" that he doesn't like. She said Castro reiterated earlier statements that he intends to step down after another two years in the post.

Heitkamp said it was one of Castro's first meetings with American lawmakers since the U.S. and Cuba restored diplomatic ties. Heitkamp has worked in many ways to expand exports of U.S. agricultural commodities to Cuba, a country with high demand for North Dakota crops like dry beans, peas and lentils.