WASHINGTON Governor George Ryan said today that a potential agreement
in Congress to allow the sale of American food to the Republic of Cuba
is a groundbreaking step that will help Illinois farmers, help the people
of Cuba and help end the last vestiges of the Cold War.
Ryan, who lead a first-of-its-kind humanitarian mission to Cuba last
fall, also said that Congress should have the next step and lift the trade
embargo on medicine to Cuba.
"I applaud any move that is going to lift the embargo n food," Ryan
said. "But this agreement also should be extended to medicine. When we
were in Havana, we talked to doctors who were unable to perform surgery
on children because they did not have the necessary drugs In this day and
age, we shouldnt allow that to happen."
The governor said he wants Illinois to be first in line to market products
and crops in Cuba when the new food sales rules are finalized. Ryans humanitarian
mission has been credited with changing the focus of United States policy
toward Cuba. During that trip, he called for the lifting of the U.S embargo
against Cuba.
"This potential agreement is great news and welcome news," Ryan said.
"The U.S. embargo of Cuba has not produced what it was intended to produce.
It only serves now as the last thread of the Cold War. The embargo hurts
Illinois farmers and has been devastating to the people of Cuba. Relaxing
these rules is welcome news."
Ryan said he will order the Department of Agriculture and the Department
of Commerce and Community Affairs to immediately begin investigating ways
that Illinois businesses and Illinois farmers can take advantage of these
new rules.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Cuba currently spends an
estimated $900 million on food imports in a year. Most of the countrys
imports come from South America and Europe.
Ryan has said repeatedly that it would be much cheaper to Cuba to import
crops and processed food from Illinois.
The congressional agreement, hammered out earlier this week by members
of the U.S. House, would potentially allow the sale of American food products
and crops to Cuba for the first time in nearly 40 years. The agreement,
however, would prevent the Cuban government or the Cuban people from using
U.S. banks from financing any sales.
"I stand ready to bring Illinois farmers and exporters together with
the people f Cuba so we can put some opportunities together," Ryan said.