.I n g / = f I 0

| e ,

2 8 9 T R A D E W I T H C U B A

govern men 1___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Storage

H E A R I N G S

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON

INT ERSTA TE AND FOR EIG N COMMERCE 

HOUSE OF RE PRESENTATIV ES

EIGH TY -SE VE NT H CONG RESS

F IR S T SESS IO N

ON

H.R. 8465

A B IL L TO P R O H IB IT T II E SH IP M EN T IN IN TER STA TE OR 

FO REIG N CO MM ER CE OF A RTIC LES IM PO RTED IN TO TH E 

U NIT ED ST ATES FR OM CUBA, AN D FO R O TH ER PURPO SE S 

(A ND ID EN TIC A L B IL LS)

H.R. 8866

A B IL L TO P R O H IB IT T H E SH IP M EN T IN IN TERSTA TE OR 

FO REIG N CO MME RC E O F A RTIC LES IM PO RTED IN TO TH E 

U NIT ED ST ATES FR OM CUBA, TO PR OV ID E PEN A LTIE S

FO R SU CH SH IP M EN T, AN D FO R O TH ER PU RPO SE S

KSU LIBRARIES

AU GU ST 29 AN D SEPTEM B ER 1, 1961

P ri n te d fo r th e use of th e 

Com m itt ee on In te rs ta te an d For ei gn Co mm erc e

75553

TJ.S. GOV ERNMEN T PR INTING OFFIC E 

WASHINGT ON : 1961
COMMITTEE ON IN TE RS TA TE AND FO RE IGN COMMERCE

OR EN HA RR IS, Arkansas, Chairman

JO HN BE LL WI LLIAM S, Mississippi

PETER F. MA CK , J r., Illinois

KENNET H A. RO BE RT S, Alabama

MO RG AN M. MOU LD ER , Missouri

HA RLE Y O. STAGQERS, West Virginia

WAL TE R RO GE RS, Texas

SA MU EL N. FR IE DEL , Ma ryla nd

JOHN J. FL YN T, J r., Georgia

TORBERT H. MA CD ON AL D, Massachu setts

GE OR GE M. RH OD ES, Pennsylvania

JO HN JA RM AN , Oklahoma

LEO W. O’BR IE N, New York

JO HN E. MOSS, California

JO HN D. DI NG EL L, Michigan

JO E M. KI LG OR E, Texas

PA UL O. RO GE RS, Florida

RO BER T W. HEM PH IL L, South Carolina

DA N RO ST EN KO WSK I, Illinois

JO HN B. BE NNETT , Michigan 

WI LLIAM L. SP RI NGER , Illinois 

PA UL F. SC HE NC K, Ohio 

J. AR TH UR YO UN GE R, California 

HA RO LD R. CO LL IER, Illinois 

MIL TO N W. GL EN N, New Jersey 

SAMU EL L. DEV IN E, Ohio 

AN CHER NE LS EN , Minn esota 

HA ST INGS KEIT H, Massachu setts 

WILLA RD S. CU RT IN , Pen nsylvania 

AB NE R W. SIB AL, Connecticut 

VE RN ON W. TH OM SO N, Wisconsin 

PET ER H. DO M IN IC K, Colorado

JA MES C. HE AL EY , New York

W. E. Williamson, Clerk

Kenneth J. P ainter, Assis tan t Clerk

Professional Staff

Andrew Stevenson

Kurt Borchardt

Sam G. Spal

M artin W. Cunningham

II
A lia o b 1T0723

C O N T E N T S

Text of—

H.R. 8465_________________________________ ________________ _

H.R. 8866_________________________________________________ _

Report on H.R. 8465 from—

Bureau of the Budge t_________________________________________

Central Intelligence Agency___________________________________

Commerce De partm ent_______________________________________

Defense De partm ent_________________________________________

Justice De partm ent__________________________________________

Sta te Departm ent________________ ___________________________

Treasury De partm ent________________________________________

Sta tem ent of—

Behrman, Jack N., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Int ern ational 

Affairs, De par tment of Comm erce____________________________

Brown, Norm an S., attorn ey, Cigar Manufacturers Association of 

Tamp a___________________________________________________

Burnstan, Rowland, Assistant Secretary for Inte rna tional Affairs, 

Department of Com merce___________________________________

Casey, Hon. Bob, a Representative in Congress from the Sta te of 

Texas____________________________________________________

Edmondson, Hon. Ed, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of O klahoma______________________________________________

Fascell, Hon. Dante B., a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Florida_________________________________________________

Halpern, Hon. Seymour, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of New York______________________________________________

Hemphill, Hon. Robert W., a Representative in Congress from the 

Sta te of South Carolina_____________________________________

Mears, John S., legislative represen tative, national legislative commission, American Legio n___________________________________

Rogers, Hon. Paul G., a Represe ntative in Congress from the State of 

Florida___________________________________________________

Smathers, Hon. George A., a U.S. S enator from the S tate of F lorid a.. 

Woodward, Rob ert Forbes, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Int erAmerican Affairs, Department of State________________________

Additional inform ation sub mitted for the record by—

American Legion, resolution of national executive com mittee_______

Cigar Manufacturers Association of Tampa, letter from Norm an S.

Brown, att orney___________________________________________

Commerce Departme nt, letter from Jack N. Behrman, Acting Assistant Secretary for Inte rna tional Affairs________________________

Fascell, Hon. Dante B.:

House Memorial No. 1693, Legislature of Florida_____________

Resolution of—

Key West Junior Chamber of Comm erce________________

Miam i-Dade County Cham ber of Comm erce_____________

Fritze, Louis, letter from ______________________________________

National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs,

Inc., letter from Agnes S. Merritt, natio nal legislation ch airm an .. 

Rogers, Hon. Paul G.:

Jun e 1961 traffic thro ugh port of Palm Beach ________________

U.S. exports to Cuba:

October thro ugh December 1960_______________________

Jan uary thro ugh March 1961__________________________

July 1 to August 19, 1961_____________________________

U.S. imports from Cuba:

October through December 1960__________________ ____

Jan uar y thro ugh March 1961__________________________

July 1 to August 19, 1961_____________________________

Smathers, Hon. George A.:

Let ter from a corre spondent in Europe______________________

Letter from, to Hon. Christian A. Herte r, Jan . 7, 1961________

Page

1

2

4

3

3

4

5 

2 

4

55

65

55

14

52

15

51

14

63

6

41

25

64

76

57

19

20 

20

77

78

10

9

9

11

7

8 

11

50

42

h i

TR ADE WITH CUBA

TUESD A Y , AUGUST 29 , 19 61

House of Representatives,

Committee on I nterstate and F oreign Commerce,

Washington, D.C.

The committee met at 10 a.m., in room 1334, House Office Building, 

Hon. Oren H arris (chairman) presiding.

The Chairman. The committee will come to order.

The Committee on Inte rsta te and Foreign Commerce is meeting 

this morning for hearings on H.R. 8465 and related bills to prohibit 

the shipment in interstate or foreign commerce of articles imported 

into the United States from Cuba, or intended for export to Cuba.

This bill was introduced by our colleague on the committee, Mr. 

Rogers of Florida. With out objection, the text of H.R. 8465 will be included in the 

record at this point.

(H.R. 8465 follows:)

[H.R. 8465, 87th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To proh ibit the shipment in interst ate or foreign commerce of articles imported into the United Sta tes from Cuba, and for o ther purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and, House of Rep resentatives of the United States

of America in Congress assembled, Th at (a) no person shall intJwduce or deliver 

for introdu ctio n into interst ate or foreign commerce any article imported into 

the United States from Cuba on or af ter the date of enactment of this Ac t

(b) From and after the date of ena ctm ent of this Act, no person shall introduce or deliver for intro duction into in terstate o r foreign commerce any article 

intended for ex port to Cuba. (c) The provisions of thi s section shall not apply with respect to artic les 

imported from Cuba, or intended for exp ort to Cuba, by or on behalf of the United States in connection with the operation of any military or naval base of 

the United Sta tes situ ated in Cuba.

Sec. 2. As used in this Act, the term “in terstate or foreign commerce” means 

commerce between a point in any Sta te or possession of the United States (including the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Pue rto Rico) and 

any point outside thereof, or between points in the same Sta te or possession of 

the United States (including the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth 

of P uerto Rico) thro ugh an y point outsid e thereof.

The Chairman. Related bills, upon which we are also holding hearings, are as follows: H.R. 8503 by Mr. Casey; H.R. 8546 by Mr. 

Fascell; H.R. 8644 by Mr. Slack; H.R. 8645 by Mr. Teague of Californ ia; H.R. 8689 by Mr. Hal pern; H.R. 8T9i by Mr. Glenn; H.R. 

8794 by Mr. H emphill; H.R. 8801 by Mr. Staggers; H.R. 8827 by Mr. 

Roberts; II.R. 8828 by Mr. Williams; II.R. 8848 by Mr. Devine; H.R. 

8896 by Mr. Flynt; H.R. 8903 by Mr. Hu ll; and H.R. 8917 by Mrs. 

Norrell.

1
2 TRADE W IT H CUBA

H.R. 8866 by Mr. Edmondson and H.R. 8986 by Mr. Dominick are 

similar bills, but provide penalties. H.R. 8866 will be included in the 

record at this point.

(H.R. 8866 follows:)

[H .R . 886 6, 87 tli Con g., 1st se ss.)

A B IL L To pro hib it th e sh ip m en t in in te rs ta te or fo re ig n commerce of art ic le s im po rted 

in to th e U ni te d S ta te s from Cuba, to prov ide pe na ltie s fo r su ch sh ip m en t, an d fo r oth er 

pu rp os es

Be it en ac ted by the Sen at e an d Hou se of R ep re se nta tive s of th e United Sta te s

of Amer ica in Co ngr ess assemb led , T h a t (a ) no pe rson sh al l in tr odu ce or de live r 

fo r in tr oduct io n in to in te rs ta te or fo re ig n co mm erc e an y art ic le im po rted in to 

th e U nited Sta te s fro m Cu ba on or a fte r th e d ate of en ac tm en t of th is Act.

(b ) Fro m an d aft e r th e dat e of en ac tm en t of th is Act, no pe rson sh al l in ­

trod uc e or de live r fo r in tr odu ct io n in to in te rs ta te or fo re ig n co mm erc e an y 

art ic le in te nd ed fo r ex po rt to Cu ba.

(c ) The prov isions of th is section sh al l not ap pl y w ith re sp ec t to art ic le s 

im po rted from Cu ba, or in te nd ed fo r ex port to Cu ba, by or on beh al f of th e 

U nited S ta te s in co nn ec tio n w ith th e oper at io n of an y m il it ary or nav al ba se 

of t he United S ta te s si tu ate d i n Cu ba.

Sec. 2. As us ed in th is Act, th e te rm “i n te rs ta te or fo re ig n co mmerce ” m ea ns 

comm erc e be tw ee n a po in t in an y S ta te or po ssessio n of th e U nite d S ta te s (i n ­

clud in g th e D is tr ic t of Colum bia an d th e Com mon wea lth of Puert o Rico ) an d 

an y po in t ou ts id e th er eo f, or be tw ee n poin ts in th e sa m e S ta te or po ssessio n of 

th e U ni ted S ta te s (i nc lu di ng th e D is tr ic t of Co lumbia and th e Co mmon we alth 

of Pue rt o Rico ) th ro ug h an y poin t outs id e th er eo f.

Sec. 3. W ho ev er vio la te s su bs ec tio n (a ) or su bs ec tio n (b ) of th e firs t se ction 

of th is Ac t sh al l be fined no t m or e th an $10,000, or im pr ison ed not more th an 

one ye ar , or both.

The Chairman. The record also will include agency reports on all 

of these bills.

I have a report from the Department of State which is adverse; 

from the Department of Commerce, which is also adverse; we have 

one from the Central Intelligence Agency with no comment regarding 

their position.

(The letters referred to follow:)

Depa rtme nt of State, 

W as hi ng to n, A ugust 28,1 961. Ho n. Oren H ar ris ,

Cha irm an , Com m itt ee on In te rsta te an d For eign Co mm erc e,

Hou se o f R ep re se nt at iv es .

Dear Mr. Cha irma n : I re fe r to your le tt e r of Aug us t 3, 1961, tr ansm it ti ng 

th re e co pie s of H.R . 8465, a bill in tr oduc ed by R ep re se nta ti ve Rog er s wh ich , if 

ad op ted, wou ld pro hib it tr ad e be tw ee n th e U ni te d S ta te s an d Cu ba.

You w ill re ca ll t h a t th e U .S. G ov er nm en t in fu lfilling i ts res ponsi bility to i nsu re 

a re liab le so ur ce of su gar took th e m ajo r st ep la st y ear of elim in at in g im port s 

of Cub an su gar which const itute d ove r 70 per cent of Cub a’s no rm al ex por ts to 

th e U ni te d S ta te s. Con trol s ov er export s to Cu ba w er e al so in sti tu te d la st 

ye ar, effecti ve Oc tob er 20, barr in g all sh ip m en ts of U.S. good s to th a t co un try 

ex ce pt fo r cert ain no ns ub sidi ze d fo od stuf fs , med icines, an d m ed ic al su pp lie s. 

Th us, in co mpa riso n w ith 1958, th e y ear pri or to C ast ro ’s as su m ption of powe r, 

whe n U.S. ex port s to Cu ba to ta le d $546.2 mill ion an d U.S . im port s from Cu ba 

to ta le d $527.8 mi llion , th e c u rr en t a nnual ra te o f ex port s an d im po rt s is a bout $20 

an d $30 mill io n resp ec tiv ely.

Alth ou gh th e volum e of tr ad e w ith Cub a has be en re du ce d dra st ic ally, I ca n 

ass ure yo u th a t th e D ep art m ent re m ai ns de ep ly co nc er ne d th a t th e ho stile 

C as tr o regi me co ntin ue s to ob ta in doll ar inco me from sa le s of Cub an ex po rts in 

th e U ni ted Sta te s. As yo u kn ow , ex is ti ng le gis la tion pr ov id es br oad auth ori ty 

to ac co mplish th e aim whi ch wou ld be a ch ie ve d by p as sa ge of t he le gi sl at io n pro ­

posed by R ep re se nta tive Rog ers. T he D epart m ent feels, th er ef ore , th a t H.R. 

8465 is un ne ce ss ar y.

T he ad m in is tr ati on has un de r co ns id er at io n m ea su re s which , if ap plied, wo uld 

re su lt in an em ba rg o on U.S. tr ad e w ith Cu ba . I sh all be pl ea se d to co mm un i-
TRADE WITH CUBA 3

cat e to you as soon as possible any furth er developments with respect to this 

ma tter. The Departm ent has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that, from the standp oint of the adm inistration’s program, the re is no objection to the submission of this report. l’lease do not hesitate to call on us if we can be of any fu rth er assistance. 

Sincerely yours, Brooks Hays, Assistant Secretary.

The Secretary of Commerce, 

Washington, D.C., August 28, 1961.

Hon. Oren Harris,

Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,

House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Chairman : This is in furth er reply to your request for the views of 

thi s Department with respect to H.B. 8465, a bill to proh ibit the shipment in interstate or foreign commerce of articles imported into the United States from 

Cuba and for other purposes. This bill would embargo all imports from and exports to Cuba from the date 

of its enactment. Based on data for the first 6 months of 1961, U.S. imports from Cuba are run ning at an annua l rate of about $30 million. Unm anufactured tobacco, 

largely for use by the Tam pa cigar industry, accounts for over 60 percent of 

the total. U.S. exp orts to Cuba are severely limited by exports controls. In the first 6 months of this year they were valued at $12.5 million, but declined rapidly as the period advanced an d were less tha n half a million dollars in value 

in June. It is doubted whethe r total exports to Cuba in 1961 will be much 

greater than $15 million. Under existing law the administration has disc retiona ry autho rity to limit 

or ban tra de with Cuba. The Cuban situ ation is being given ear nes t and con­ tinuous study with a view to adapting the policies followed under presently 

existing law to changing circum stances. As the committee is aware, changes are constan tly occurring not only in the 

Cuban scene but in. the world at large. It is highly desirable th at our policy 

be quickly adaptable as changing circu mstances may require. For these reasons it is the view of this Departm ent th at it would be better 

not to limit by legislation of the chara cte r before the committee the present 

flexible autho rity of the President to deal with the question of Cuban trad e. The Bureau of the Budget has advised there would be no objection to the 

submission of this rep ort from the stan dpo int of the adm inistration’s program.

Sincerely yours, Edward Ghdeman,

Under Secretary of Commerce.-

Central Intelligence Agency, 

Was/iin(Z#OM, D.C., August 8, 1961.

Hon. Oren Harris,

Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,

House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Harris: You have requested our views on II.B. 8465, a bill to prohib it the shipm ent in inter sta te or foreign commerce of articles imported into 

the United States from Cuba, and for other purposes. This bill would prohibit 

the introduction into foreign or interst ate commerce of any article inten ded for 

export to Cuba and any article impo rted into the United States from Cuba.

The Cen tral Intelligence Agency has no policymaking or intern al security 

functions. We, therefore, believe it inappropriate to comment on the proposed 

bill.The Bureau of the Budget advises th at there is no objection to the presentation of this report.

Sincerely, John S. Warner, Legislative Counsel.
4 TRADE W iT H CUBA

(Furt her reports and statements received follow :)

Executive Office of the President,

Bureau of the Budget,

Washington, D.C., September Hon. O 7, 1961. ren Harris,

Chairman, Committee on Inte rsta te and Foreign Commerce,

House of Representatives,

Neiv House Office Building,

Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Chairman : This is in reply to your request of August 11, 1961, for 

comments on H.R. 8465. a bill to prohibit the shipment in interstate or foreign 

commerce of articles imported into the United States from Cuba, and for other 

purposes. For the reasons set forth in the report of the Department of State 

on this bill, the Bureau of the Budget recommends agains t its enactment.

Sincerely yours,

Phillip S. Hughes,

Assistant Director for Legislative Reference.

Department of the Treasury,

Hon. O August 29,1961. ren Harris,

Chairman, Committee on Inte rsta te and Foreign Commerce,

House of Representatives,

Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Chairman : Reference is made to your request for the views of this 

Department on H.R. 8465, to prohibit the shipment in inte rsta te or foreign 

commerce of articles imported into the United States from Cuba, and for other 

purposes.

Since the subject matter of the proposed legislation relates primarily to the 

conduct of our foreign relations, the Department defers to the views of the 

Department of State with respect to its general merits. However, the Department would be glad to furnis h any technical assistance or advice with respect 

to existing authority of the Treasury in this area which may be desired by your 

committee in connection with its consideration of the bill.

The Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget tha t there is 

no objection from the standpoint of the admin istration’s program to the submission of this report to your committee.

Sincerely yours,

Robert H. Knight, General Counsel.

General Counsel ofthe Department of Defense,

Washington, D.C., September 11, 1961. Hon. Oren Harris,

Chairman, Committee on Inte rstate and Foreign Commerce,

House of Representatives.

Dear Mr. Chairman : Reference is made to your request for the views of the Department of Defense with respect to H.R. 8465, 87th Congress, a bill to prohibit the shipment in inte rsta te or foreign commerce of articles imported into 

the United States from Cuba, and for other purposes.

H.R. 8465 proposes to stop all imports into the United States from Cuba and 

all U.S. exports to Cuba by prohibiting from the date of enactment any sale or 

purchase of such goods in the United States. Imports or exports by or on 

behalf of the United States in connection with the operation of any militar y or 

naval base of the United States situat ed in Cuba would not be affected.

The present situation is tha t exports from the United States, except fowl and 

certain medical supplies, are controlled and the imports of sug ar from Cuba are 

cut off. The chief remnants of the once substantial two-way trad e are U.S. 

imports of Cuban tobacco, indust rial molasses, and fresh pineapples. If all 

trad e with Cuba were cut off, the economic effects would be felt by ce rtain U.S. 

industries but they would be insignificant to the United States as a whole. The 

economic effects on Cuba might well be serious food shortages there.
TRADE W IT H CUBA 5

Inasmuc h as H.R. 8463 is prima rily concerned with forei gn policy, t he Depar tment of Defense d efers to the De par tment of Sta te with respe ct to its enactment.

The Bureau of the Budg et advises tha t, from the standp oin t of the adm inistra tio n’s progra m, the re is no objec tion to the pre sen tati on of this rep ort for

the c onsidera tion of th e committ ee. 

Sincerely yours, Cyrus R. Vance.

U.S. Department of J ustice,

Office of the Deputy Attorney General,

Washington, D.C., Septe mber 12, 1961.

Hon. Oren Harris,

Chai rman , Committee on In te rs ta te and For eign Commerce,

House of Rep resentati ves,

Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Chairman : This is in response to your request for the views of the 

De par tme nt of Jus tice concerning the bill (H.R . 846 3) to proh ibit the shipment 

in in terstate or foreig n commerce of art icles impo rted into the United Stat es 

from Cuba, and for othe r purposes.

The bill would pro hibit the introductio n, or deliv ery fo r intro duction, into 

in terstate or foreig n commerce of any art icl e impo rted from, or intend ed for 

exp ort to, Cuba, other th an art icl es impo rted or expo rted by or on behalf of 

the United Sta tes in connect ion with the operatio n of any mil itar y or nava l base 

sit ua ted in Cuba.

The licens ing and control of exports and imports ar e auth orized under severa l sta tut es. The Expor t Contr ol Act of 1949 (5 0 U.S.C. App. 2021 et seq.) 

aut hor izes control of exp orts generally. The Mutual Assistan ce Act of 1954 

(2 2 U.S.C. 193 4) author izes the control of exports and imports of arms, ammunitio n, and implem ents of war. And the Tra din g With the Enemy Act (50 

U.S.C. App. 5) authorizes bro ad controls over tra nsa ctions with foreign countri es and their natio nals. In each case the imposition of contro ls rests in the 

disc retion of the executive bran ch, to be exercis ed in accordance with standa rds 

laid down by Congress and wit h chang ing cons idera tions of intern atio nal rel ations and milita ry stra tegy. Violation of each of the foregoing sta tut es is a 

crim inal offense. In addition, the Pre sid ent has broad powers, unde r 22 U.S.C. 

401, to preven t unla wful exp orts by seizure of the arti cle s and any vessel or 

vehicle con taining them. The bill would depriv e the Pre sident of the flexibility over the conduct of fore ign rela tions which is needed unde r present 

conditions.

Also, the bill would pre sen t difficult problems of proof. Unless subsection (a ) 

were int erp reted as limit ed to cases where the def end ant had or is chargeable 

with knowledge th at the artic le ha d been impo rted af ter the dat e of enact ment 

of the measure, it migh t pre sen t con stit utiona l questio ns, compare Tot v. United

States, 319 U.S. 463. Proo f of such knowledge, however, would be difficult, and 

in many cases impossible.

Accordingly, the Dep artm ent of Ju sti ce i s unab le to recomme nd the enactmen t 

of the bill.

The Bureau of the Budget has advised th at the re is no objection to the submission of thi s rep ort from the standpoint of the admi nis tra tio n’s program .

Sincerely yours,

Byron R. White, 

Deputy Attorney General.

The Chairman. We want to go ahead at this time and expedite the 

hearings as much as we can since the time we have is limited.

We observe we have several colleagues here who are interested in 

this legislation. It might be well if we gave just a few minutes to 

each of them to express their positions.

Since Mr. Rogers of Florida introduced the first bill we shall be 

glad to hear from him for a brief comment.

75 55 3— 61 2
6 TRADE W IT H CUBA

STA TEMENT OF HON. PAU L G. ROGERS, A RE PR ES EN TA TIVE IN 

CONGRESS FROM TH E STATE OF FLO RID A

Mr. R ogers of Florida. Th an k you very much, Mr. Ch air man, for 

the op po rtun ity of presentin g my views o n the leg islation now under 

con sidera tion, H.R . 8465, a measure whi ch I intro du ced af te r much 

delibera tion. I am hopef ul th at once the facts sho wing the need for 

such a measure hav e been p res ent ed to t he com mittee, fav orab le action 

will th en occur.

Th e p urp ose of H.R. 8465 is cle ar: it is a st ep which lo gic ally follo ws 

the action alr eady taken by the Uni ted St ates in its presen t policies 

wi th Cuba . Th is bill will pr oh ib it any exc han ge of artic les between 

the U nited States and Cuba, exclu din g those destined f or U.S. m ilitary 

use at the Gu antan am o Naval Bas e in Cuba. In effect, th is b ill will 

establ ish a com plete economic boy cott. I plan to offer two amend ­

ments. One would be a penalty am endm ent and an othe r wou ld be a 

ter mina tio n amendm ent.

The island of Cuba is loca ted, as you well know, ju st 90 m iles fro m 

the U.S . ma inland. I t has a po pu lat ion of approx im ately 6 millio n 

peop le an d has been a tru e geog rap hical an d cu ltu ral lin k between 

the Un ite d S tates and La tin Am erica.

Since the start of th is centu ry, Un ite d States h as enjoyed fri en dly 

and coo perativ e relations wi th the Cu ban people. U.S. indu str y, e xpressing confidence in the Cu ban peo ple and sho wing fa it h in their 

governments, has over the pa st 50-odd years made subs tan tia l investment in Cuba. Th e indu str ial m ight o f t he Un ite d St ates w as shared 

with Cuba as majo r dom estic co rporati on s bu ilt fac tor ies in Cuba 

sim ila r to those lo cated here in th e U nited Sta tes . I t provid ed nu me rous jobs to C ubans.

In 1951, d uring the heigh t of t he Ko rea n conflict, a me eting o f the 

Or ganiz ati on of Am erican States was called in W ash ington to consider th e u nd erm ini ng influence o f interna tio na l comm unism. Th ough 

at th at tim e the re was no imme dia te th re at of commun ism in this 

hem isph ere, t he United Sta tes , Cuba, an d the other 19 mem bers of the 

OA S adopted a pledge of un ite d resista nce ag ains t Comm unist encroach ment in the West ern Hemisph ere .

Th is pled ge was reaffirmed in the Carac as Ag ree me nt of 1954.

Yet tod ay Com munist enc roachm ent in this hem ispher e is a cold 

fact. Intern ationa l communism has tu rned the island of Cuba, only 

90 miles south of the U .S. m ain lan d, w ith it s 6 millio n friend ly people, 

into a p olice s tat e n ightm are .

Wh en Fide l Ca str o and h is ba nd of g ue rri lla s were o pe ratin g in the 

Orien te Provinc e o f Cuba in 1958, the accusation s t hat he w as a Com ­

mu nis t were cons idered only rumo r. Th e wh isp ers o f his C ommunist 

affiliations grew lou der when he ma rch ed triu m ph an tly int o Ha vana. 

Sh or tly af te r taki ng power, however , the fears of the fre e people of 

this hem isphere were calm ed when Ca str o’s early tele vision ap pe arances denie d his Comm unist affiliation.

Sh ortly after his taki ng power, the Cast ro gover nm ent be gan a ru th ­

less blood purge of his fello w cou ntrym en. B itte r attack s ag ain st 

the Un ite d State s were h ea rd above the en dles s cra ck ing of the firing 

squads. U.S . inv estments, w hic h serv ed fo r ma ny years as symbols of 

confidence in the Cu ban peop le, were seized with ou t hi nt o f pay ment. 

U.S. citiz ens, previo usly welcomed as tourists on th at isla nd, were 

har ass ed, even jailed.
TRADE W IT H CUBA 7

Each day the American newspapers carried bold headlines telling 

of new Castro provocations. On Januar y 3,1961, this Government, its 

patience frayed by insults, justifiably severed diplomatic relations with 

the Castro regime.

This formal action follows several other measures. On July 6,1960, 

the year before, the Cuban sugar quota, which for many years had 

amounted to a generous subsidy of the Cuban economy, was withdrawn. This Congress initiated action on that. Shortly thereafter, 

in October 1960, a partial economic embargo was imposed. Under 

this restriction, no U.S. goods were allowed to be exported to Cuba 

unless they could be classified as foodstuffs or medical supplies.

As stated earlier, the limited restriction on Cuban trade was imposed October 21, 1960. Since that time, trade with Cuba has been 

carried on in a manner which has been morally and economically indefensible. Goods have been imported and exported as though relations between the United States and Cuba were close to normal. Castro received American dollars regularly in exchange for Cuban goods, 

and uses these dollars to finance his Communist Government, further 

his brutal domination of the Cuban people, and expand the Communist ideology through Latin America.

I want to commend the Department of Commerce for the fine job 

they did with these figures.

In a 3-month period the general exports amounted to $16.7 million. 

That means American dollars going to Castro in a 3-month period 

in 1960. Actually this was right afte r the time tha t we put on our 

ban on exports there.

Then I took a 3-month period, Jan uar y through March of this 

year, 1961, of Cuban imports coming into this country, giving dollars 

to Castro. General imports were $9.4 million and imports for consumption $11.5 million. This is for a 3-month period alone.

Mr. Chairman, may I insert pages 4 and 5 of my statement at this 

point?

The Chairman. They may be inserted.

(The pages referred to follow:)

Am on g th e co mm od iti es ch ief ly im po rted from Cu ba are tob acco, pine ap ples, 

or an ge s, tomatoe s, cu cu mbe rs, n ati ve ve ge tables , an d lo bs ter. The fig ures fo r 

th e p er io d Octo be r th ro ugh D ec em be r 1960 are a s fo ll o w s:

U.S. imports from Cuba

fin m illio ns of doll ar s]

I. Fo od stuf fs (to ta l)_________________________________________________ 5.3

(1 ) Ix ib ster s___________________________________________________ • 7

(2 ) Veg etab les________________________________________________ -3

(3 ) F ru it s_____________________________________________________ 1. 1

(4 ) Ca ne su g ar_______________________________ .1

(5 ) Molasses an d su gar sir u p --------------------------------------------------- .2

(6 ) Molasses (n ot fo r hum an co nsu m pti on)----------------------------- 2.6

(7) O th ers ____________________________________________________ -3

II . To ba cc o an d m anufa ctu re s (to ta l)--------------------------------------------------- 7.5

(1 ) U nm an ufa ct ure d to ba cc o---------------------------------------------------- 6.0

(2 ) Cig ar s an d ch er oots _______________________________________ 2. 0

III. M et al s an d m anufa ctu re s ( to ta l)-------------------------------------------;------- 2.2

(1 ) Ni ck el and nick el ox id e___________________________________ 2.1

(2 ) O th er m eta ls ______________________________________________ .1

IV. Misc ellane ou s item s ( to ta l)----------------------------------------------------------- .8

G en er al im po rts (to ta l)__________________________________________ 16 .7

Im port s fo r co ns um ptio n (to ta l)--------------------------------------------------- 15 .8
8 TRADE WIT H CUBA

It should be mentioned that this is the period which immediately followed the 

exp ort restric tions which included all commodities except foodstuffs and medical 

supplies, and th at at no time were restric tions of any kind imposed on imports.

The figures for the period Janu ary through March 1961 are as follows:

U.S. imports from Cuba

[I n m ill io ns of do llar s]

I. Foodstuffs (tot al )____________________________________________ 3.8

(1) Lobsters_____________________________________________ .7

(2) Vegetables___________________________________________ .8

(3) Fruits_______________________________________________ .6

(4) Mollasses (not for human consu mption)__________________ 1.5

(5) Others______________________________________________ .2

II. Tobacco and m anufactures (t ota l) _______________________________ 6.7

(1) Unmanufactured tobacco______________________________ 6.3

(2) Cigars and cheroots___________________________________ . 4

II I. Metals and manufac tures (t ota l) ______________________________ 2.2

(1) Copper______________________________________________ .3

(2) Chrome ore__________________________________________ . 1

IV. Miscellaneous items (t ota l) ____________________________________ .6

(1) Synthetic filaments____________________________________ . 1

(2) Others______________________________________________ .5

General imports_____________________________________________ 9. 4

Imports for consumption_______________________________________ 11. 5

Mr. Chairman, the above figures are for imports only. As you can readily see, 

most of these imports are in the form of foodstuffs. Aside from the moral 

aspect of trading with a nation which has insulted th e U nited S tates as Cuba has, 

and which boasts of affiliations with one of the most vicious enemies the United 

States has ever known, the importation of Cuban foodstuffs could pose a dang er 

to the health of the American i>eople. The lack of d iplom atic relatio ns with the 

Castro Communists makes inspection and certification of these imports difficult 

if not impossible. San itation and inspection for diseased commodities cann ot 

be executed in a normal manner when the importer is unab le to obtain cooperation or, for that m atter, inspection facilities in the cou ntry of origin.

Mr. R ogers of F lorid a. As you can readily see, most of these im po rts 

are in the form of food stuffs. Aside fro m t he m oral aspect of tr ad in g 

with a natio n whi ch has insulte d the Uni ted States as Cuba has, an d 

which boasts of affiliatio ns with one of the most vicious enemies the 

Un ite d State s has ever known, the im po rta tio n of Cu ban foodstuffs 

could pose a da nger to the he alt h of the Am erican people. Th e lack o f 

diplo mati c r ela tions w ith the C ast ro C ommunists makes inspe ctio n a nd 

cer tifi cat ion of these im po rts difficult if no t impossible. Sa ni tatio n 

an d in spectio n for diseased comm odities cannot be executed in a norm al 

ma nner when th e im po rte r is u nab le to ob tai n coo peration o r, fo r th at 

matter , insp ection facil ities in the coun try of origin, which we ha d 

before we broke dip lom ati c relations.

Mr. Ch airma n, I would lik e t o insert pages 6 an d 7 of m y sta teme nt 

at t hi s point.

Th e Chairman. Ve ry well.

(P ag es 6 and 7 re ferre d to f ol lo w:)

Under the general categories of foodstuffs and medical supplies, the following 

commodities and qua ntities were exported from the United States to Cuba for 

the period October through December 1960. Again, this is the period which 

immediately followed the limited restriction imposed on Cuban trad e.
TRADE WIT H CUBA 9

U.S. exports to Cuba

[In millions of dollars]

October November December

I Foodstuffs _ _____________________________________ $4.7 $2.3 $4.2

(1) Meat products _______________________________ .3 .1 X

(2) Lard ____________________________________ 1.8 .3 1.3

(3) Rice ................................-..................................... .6 .8 . 4

(4) Wheat flour ___________________ _________ .3 .1 . 4

(s) Vegetables (chiefly dried beans and peas )__________ .6 .5 4

(6) Fruit ____________________________________ .1 . 1

II. Anim al and vegetable produc ts (inedible)................................. 1.1 .4 X

Ill Textiles and man uf ac tures____________________________ .7 .1 X

(1) Cotton and du ck _______________________________ .1 X X

(2) Manmade fibers_______________________________ .8 .2

(3) Broad wo ven fabrics____________________________ .2

IV Wood and pap er______________________________________ 1.6 .1 X

(1) Wood and m anufactures __________________________ .1 X X

(2) Pulp and p aper________________________________ 1.5 .1 X

V. Nonmetallic m inera ls__________________ ______________ .6 .2 .2

(1) Petroleum an d pro duc ts_________________________ .1 X

(2) Glass and products ___________________________ .2 .2 .2

VI Metals a nd manufactures _____________________________ .6 X X

(1) Iron an d steel mill products _____________________ .3 X X

(2) Advanced manufactu res_________________________ 9 X X

VIT Machin ery a nd vehicles ____________________________ 3.7 .1 .1

(1) Mac hinery _________________________________ 3.4 .1 .1

(2) Vehicles ________________________ -___________ .3 X X

VI II. Chemicals an d related p roducts ................................................

(1) Pharma ceutical prod ucts________________________

3.6

.5

.4

.3

.5

.5

IX . Other s. _ _ _____ ___________________________________ .5 .3 .2

X=less th an $50,000.

Tlie figures for the perio d Janu ary thro ugh M arch 1961, a re as follows:

U.S. exports to Cuba

(I n millio ns of do lla rs]

I. Foodstuffs (to tal)__________________________________________ $6.9

(1) Meat pro duc ts_______________________________________ X

(2) La rd_______________________________________________ 3. 6

(3) Rice________________________________________________ . 1

(4) Wh eat flour_________________________________________ .2

(5) Vegetables__________________________________________ X

(6) Fru it_______________________________________________ .2

II. Tex tile fibers________________________________________________ X

III. Wood and paper_____________________________________________ X

IV. Nonmetallic minerals_________________________________________ . 1

V. Metals_____________________________________________________ X

VI. Machinery and vehicles_______________________________________ . 4

VII. Pha rmaceutical pro ducts_____________________________________ 1. 5

VIII. Oth ers_____________________________________________________ .4

X = le s s th an $50,0 00.

The ill-fated Cuban invasion of April 16-17, 1961, had gre at moral implications. However, those involved in tra din g with Cuba were in fac t supplying 

American dollars which helped to finance equipment used to slau ghter those 

freedom-loving Cubans who trie d to recover their lost island. A ft e r a brie f 

lull in tra din g with Castro, it was “business as usual” with the United States. 

Incoming shipments appe ared almost regularly at the port of Palm Beach, Fla., 

and many oth er ports o f entry along the ea stern and gulf coasts.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. After a brief lull in trad ing with Castro, 

when they put on this embargo as far as exports are concerned, it was 

not long before we started business as usual again. Incoming shipments appeared almost regularly at the po rt of Palm Beach, Fla,, and 

many other ports of entry along the eastern and gulf coasts. June
10 TRADE W IT H CUBA

1961 figures, this June, for traffic through the port of Palm Beach 

are as follows:

Im p o rt s: Pou nds

(1 ) To bacco (in 5 sh ip m ents )_________________________________ 1, 63 0,19 4

(2 ) Pin ea pp le s (in 6 sh ip m ents )--------------------------------------------- 1, 08 3, 28 8

E x p o rt s:

(1 ) L ar d an d po rk fa ts (in 3 sh ip m ents )______________________ 1,07 9,32 0

(2 ) H os pi ta l su pp lie s (i n 1 sh ip m en t) _________________________ 11,68 8

(3 ) D en ta l su pp lie s (in 1 sh ip m en t) ___________________________ 1,46 4

(4 ) Meteorolog ica l ba llo on s (i n 1 sh ip m en t) __________ __________ 46

They brought in tobacco, 1,630,196 pounds in five shipments. They 

brought in pineapples, 1,083,288 pounds in six shipments.

We exported lard and pork fats, over 1 million pounds in three 

shipments; hospital supplies, 11,688 pounds in one shipment; dental 

supplies, 1,464 pounds in one shipment; and meteorological balloons, 

46 pounds in one shipment.

Lard and fat are very important to the diet in Cuba. I will discuss 

that later.

Incidentally, these pineapples arrived in refrigerated railroad cars. 

They were quickly unloaded upon arrival and moved to waiting 

trucks. Public indignation in Florida was so high tha t the trucks 

transporting these commodities had to be masked so tha t their insignias and companies could not be shown in order to avoid identification.

Mr. Chairman, trade continues with Cuba. There is no total restriction specifically mentioning commercial exchange with Cuba, so 

a few are willing to disregard our national interest in order to continue their pursuits. We know Cuba suffers under a Communist 

regime. Our Government has officially branded Cuba a “clear and 

present danger” to the security of this hemisphere. The Congress has 

adopted a resolution recognizing the Communist affiliation of the 

present Government of Cuba, and there are how reports that Cuba 

may be used as a missile base for Red rockets aimed at the United 

States. This fact may be borne out by the June 9 visit of two distinguished Communist tourists in Cuba. Czech Minister of General 

Engineering Polacek and Deputy Minister of Heavy Engineering 

Andre made a thorough inspection tour of the Cuban geography. 

Also, recent refugees arriving in Miami bring further reports which 

serve as evidence tha t Castro may be constructing missile and submarine bases.

Cuban dependence upon th e Sino-Soviet bloc clearly illustrates the 

Communist eagerness to use Cuba as a steppingstone to Latin America. 

On J une 3, the Czechoslovakian Government pledged $80 million in 

supplies to Cuba for the balance of this year. At the recent conference 

in Punta del Este, Uruguay, Cuban economic czar, Ernesto “Che” 

Guevara, boasted tha t the Communists had extended $345 million in 

credits to Cuba. Finally, the State Department estimates that the 

Communist world will have to gra nt Cuba between $100 and $200 

million a year to maintain the economic standards Cuba enjoyed before Castro came to power.

Just recently the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House included 

in the 1961 Mutual Security Act a provision to prohibit any assistance 

to Cuba. The House extended the action of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Certainly it is time to now restrict all Cuban trade. If the
TRADE W IT H CUBA 11

Congress is to deny American dollars to Castro by excluding him 

from its foreign aid program, why should the Congress allow Ameri­ can dollars to go for payment of Cuban goods? Why should we 

do indirectly what we would not do directly ? Mr. Chairman, export licenses are still being granted for Cuban consumption. The following figures are for the past 8 weeks, and this shows exports and imports. This is for a period from Jul y 1 to August 19, the latest figures we have been able to get from the 

Treasury Department, Bureau of Customs. It shows tha t imports coming in amount to $4,142,762 in an 8-week period. These are American dollars going to Castro. Exports are only $338,000 at this time so they have been greatly reduced.

Mr. Chairman, may I insert page 10?

The Chairman. Very well.

(The p. 10 referred to follows:)

U.S. im po rts fr om Cuba (J ul y 1 to An y. 19)

P o rt C om m odit y V al ue

T obacc o___________________ $2,948 ,874 

2,291 

1,369 

400 

61,275 

893,896 

197,823 

19,129

Alip mi __ _____________________________

F oodst uff s________ ________

L abels _____________________

S p o n g e s .................... ............

C ig ars ..................... ................... ..

W est Ufilm Hftanb _______ - _____________ ■.__ T obacc o___________________

F ru it . ___________________

G lu e sto ck _________________

U.S. expo rts to Cuba (J ul y 1 to Aug. 19)

P o rt C om m o d it y V al ue

N ew Y ork .

N ew O rl ea ns_____

T a m p a __________

M ia m i________ ...

W est P alm B ea ch

D r u g s .. .___________________

E le ct ro nic p a rts ____________

M ac hin e p a r t s . , . . . - . . ----------

L ead in g o ts ................................

H o sp it al su pplies.....................

H o sp it al su pplies.......... ...........

F o o d stu ff s.. . . .................... .

H o sp it al an d m edic al su p ­

plies.

A uto m obil es _______ '-----------

$36,269 

121 

1,226 

154 

63,9 16 

41,6 26 

17, 570

115,321 

4,334

T o ta l: Im p o rts _________________________________________ . . . ________ __________ _________ . . . . . . . .

E x p o r ts ...,............................................................... - .................................................................... . ...................

$4,142, 762 

338,791

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Though trade with Cuba has been greatly 

reduced, certain items have great significance. As you may recall, Erwin Harris, Miami advertising executive, established a claim against the Castro government for over $400,000 as partial payment for public relations work done by the Harris firm for Castro. Afte r repeated attempts to obtain payment, Harris seized by court order 29 railroad cars of lard destined for shipment to Havana. Lard is a staple in the Cuban diet, and almost immediately the Castro government rationed lard in Cuba. Mr. Chairman, the importance to the Castro government of trade with the United States is clearly evident. The one countermeasure the Castro regime greatly fears from the United States is a complete economic embargo. Castro knows the already strained economies of
12 TRADE W IT H CUBA

Russia, Red China, and Eastern Europe will not entirely support his 

revolutionary government. It is my opinion tha t the economic boycott envisioned in this bill would hasten Castro’s downfall and return freedom to Cuba.

Furthermore, I believe tha t the enactment of this measure would 

serve as a firm step toward reestablishing the United States as the 

directive influence in this hemisphere. Our positions of late have thus 

far been fruitful. The House clearly spelled out its position on Cuba 

in the Mutual Security Act by making provisions to exclude Cuba 

from this act. The nations of Latin America are becoming more 

cognizant of the threat Cuban communism poses to their own security 

as well as ours. Recently, Cuban Economic Minister Ernesto “Che” 

Guevara visited Argentina. Things had not gone well for Cuba at 

the conference at Punta del Este, and Guevara’s overtures for realinement with the United States and this hemisphere were exposed 

during his visit with Argentine President Frondizi. Upon Guevara’s 

departure, President Frondizi ordered a crackdown on Argentine 

Communists, and reiterated Arge ntina’s alinement with the West 

heritage and Christian tradition.

The resignation of Brazil’s left-leaning Jan io Quadros illustrates 

further tha t Latin America is becoming less tolerant of influences 

alien to this hemisphere. The more the United States assumes a more 

positive attitude in its actions, then the more it may be regarded 

once again as the directive influence in this hemisphere. It is my 

opinion tha t the complete embargo as envisioned in this bill would 

be such a positive action. With this action the United States may 

again emerge as an effective leader, and will encourage those forces 

in Latin America who share our philosophy to come forward and 

speak up.

The Chairman. Does that conclude your statement ?

Mr. Rogers of Florida. That concludes my statement.

The Chairman. I imagine there could be a good many questions. 

However, in view of the fact we have several other colleagues who 

want to make a statement, and we have a representative of the State 

Department here, I wonder if we could limit our questioning.

Mr. Williams. I have one question, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. Very well, Mr. Williams.

Mr. Williams. I would like to know the source of the export-import 

figures which you included in your statement.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. These are from official sources which I have 

quoted from the Commerce Department and from the Customs Bureau.

Mr. W illiams. The reason I asked the question is tha t in its letter 

to the committee giving its report on this legislation, the Department 

of State says “the current annual rate of exports and imports is about 

$20 and $30 million respectively.”

According to your figures, the figures you gave us in your statement 

on page 5, showing U.S. imports from Cuba in millions of dollars-----

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Tha t is for a 3-month period.

Mr. Williams. From Jan uary through March of 1961, you show 

an amount of $45,700,000. If your figures come from the Department 

of Commerce and they are authoritative, then the S tate Department’s 

figures are erroneous.
TRADE W IT H CUBA 13

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Perhaps I might point this out, and I can 

see how you will misinterpret these figures—actually the totals are 

at the bottom of those figures.

Mr. Williams. I totaled the complete group.

Mr. Rogers. Th at is right. Actually it is for a 3-month period 

which would be about $ ll 1

/£ million of imports for consumption.

Mr. Williams. I stand corrected.

The Chairman. Wh at is the difference in general imports and imports for consumption?

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Imports for consumption are imports which 

usually go directly to the companies that will use them and distribute 

them and they are not put on the shelf.

General imports are those imports which are in the country, perhaps 

in warehouses, and so forth, which are stored up.

Mr. Schenck. Does tha t mean, then, there is a total of $20.9 million ?

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Th at is a breakdown within the figures, as 

I understand it. Commerce representatives are here and they can 

testify in detail on those pa rticular figures.

Mr. Schenck. Then the 9.4 and the 11.5 are not the total of the 

figures listed on page 5 ?

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Generally they are a total. There are some 

small items tha t were not included, such as household items being 

shipped.

Mr. Schenck. General imports are those brought in for sale at 

some la ter time.

Mr. R ogers of Florida. Or can be stored.

Mr. Schenck. And the others are used directly in commerce or in 

business ?

Mr. Rogers of Florida. That is my understanding. The Department of Commerce representatives are here and they can answer details on that.

The Chairman. We would certainly be glad to get this straightened 

out. I am confused on these figures, too. You have foodstuffs totaled 

as $3.8 million under No. 1. No. 2, you have tobacco manufactures 

totals, $6.7 million.

No. 3, you show metal manufactures total, $2.2 million.

Miscellaneous items are $0.6 million. That adds up to $13.3 million. 

1 don’t know how you get $9.4 million for general imports and $11.5 

million for imports for consumption.

Mr. R ogers of Florida. These are the figures I received from Commerce and you will have to go into them with those representatives. 

I merely copied these figures from what I was furnished.

The Chairman. Furth er questions?

Mr. Y ounger. I am not so much concerned with the confusion regarding the figures, they are there, anyway, whether they are small, 

large, or small. I want to compliment our colleague for the very 

forceful manner in which he has presented the problem which faces 

us. I am very sympathetic with it.

The Chairman. Thank you very much. I, too, in behalf of the 

committee and myself personally wish to compliment the gentleman 

from F lorida for bringing this matter to the attention of the Congress 

and the very forceful statement he has made.

Our member from the committee, Mr. Hemphill, has a brief statement.

7555 3— 61------ 3
14 TRADE W IT H CUBA

STA TEM ENT OF HON. ROBERT W. HE MPH ILL, A RE PR ES EN TA TIVE 

IN CONGRESS FROM TH E STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Mr. Hemphill. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, I introduced companion legislation to the legislation which Mr. Rogers 

introduced after some consultation with him. I am highly in favor 

of the legislation. I commend him on his magnificent effort.

The Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. Hemphill.

Mr. H emphill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. We are glad to have our colleague, the Honorable 

Bob Casey.

STATEMENT OF HON. BOB CASEY, A RE PR ES EN TA TIVE IN 

CONGRESS FROM TH E STA TE OF T EXAS

Mr. Casey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, on the 26th of 

July I sent a communication to the President urging a complete economic blockade. This was generated due to the fact tha t we had many 

of our colleagues urging armed invasion of Cuba, due to the plane 

hijackings. Of course, some of my own constituents thought tha t 

that should be the thing to do but I was reluctant to make such a 

recommendation or urge such an action due to the fact tha t we were 

continuing to trade with Cuba.

Since I received no commitment from the administration with 

reference to any furth er action as to stopping this m atter, and having 

conferred with my colleague, Mr. Rogers, he told me of his action 

and introduction of this bill, I promptly seized upon his brilliant idea 

and followed suit.

My bill was introduced and I think it is word for word the same as 

his. I claim no pride of authorship but I do want to earnestly urge 

this committee's serious consideration of the adoption of this bill.

On August 16, in reply to my communication, I received on behalf 

of the President from the State D epartm ent a letter calling my attention to the fact that they had a blockade of sorts on Cuba, stating 

that nothing but foodstuffs and medicines were going to Cuba. However, I do want to call the committee’s attention to the fact that some 

of these foodstuffs are not purely foodstuffs. The lard tha t Mr. 

Rogers called your attention to is used in making nitroglycerine. 

There is no question in my mind tha t tremendous quantities of lard 

are most likely transshipped for the manufacture of explosive materials. Also with reference to Mr. Harris, the very energetic gentleman who is harassing Castro with his court orders, I want to point 

out tha t lie also seized with his attachments 42 diesel engines. This 

was carried in an Associated Press report. The report says: “Tanktype diesel engines.” That may be an assumption of the repo rter; it 

might be an assumption of Mr. Harris, but nevertheless they were 

diesel engines which if they are the heavy type could easily be used 

in military machinery.

Incidentally, I have been furnished the same repo rt as Mr. Rogers 

by the Commerce Department as to the commodities and the exports 

and imports, hut if we do feel as strongly about the Cuban Government and the Castro regime as is indicated on the floor of the House
TRADE W IT H CUBA 15

and by the letters from our constituents and by those who hold executive positions, I think it is a little ludicrous to continue to assist this 

regime in any manner. In my communication to the President I 

urged tha t the Organization of American States be urged to join us 

in this economic blockade. The reply I received from the State Departm ent stated th at this would probably be explored. I feel strongly 

about this, gentlemen, and I certainly want to urge the favorable 

consideration of one of these measures. The gentlemen from Florida 

has stated he would offer amendments to his bill for penalties, which 

I think should be in the bill, and also for a termination period.

One thing tha t does disturb me is our participation in some of the 

voluntary organizations under the U.N. because unless there is some 

awakening in tha t respect, there could certainly be a subterfuge used 

to go around this bill. In fa ct, it has been used because immediately 

after we refused to take sugar from Cuba they applied to the special 

assistance fund of the U.N. and obtained $1,240,000 for agricultural 

research and the U nited States paid 40 percent of that fund.

Gentlemen, I seriously urge your favorable consideration of this 

legislation.

Than k you, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. Mr. Casey, thank you very much for your statement and contribution to this record. We are glad to have your 

interest in this legislation.

We are very glad now to recognize our colleague from Florida, Mr. 

Dante Fascell.

STATEMENT OF HON. DANTE B. FASCELL, A REPRESENTATIVE IN 

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA

Mr. F ascell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I appreciate this opportunity to testify on pending legislation. 

I am here in support of II.R . 8465, introduced by my distinguished 

colleague from Florida, w’ho is a member of this committee. I have 

cosponsored the legislation myself, my bill being II.R. 8546.

Mr. Chairman, it seems to me t hat the issue boils down to the ju risdiction of this Committee on Interstate Commerce: Shall interstate 

commerce and the goods flowing freely therethrough be used to trade 

with Cuba?

This issue as a national question is not a recent one. I know th at 

in my own case that I have been exhorting two Presidents, starting 

back in J anu ary of 1960, to invoke by Presidential action a complete 

embargo on Cuba, for reasons which are obvious. Now i t could be 

said, for example, and I th ink we might as well discuss it because the 

issues will arise in the consideration of this measure by your committee, that there exists ample legislation to do this. There is some question about whether under the Expor t Control Act and whether under 

the Wa r Powers Act such complete authority existed. Nevertheless, 

I can understand why our Government might not like to invoke the 

Wa r Powers Act or Tra ding W ith the Enemy Act or the declaration 

of a national emergency to use the powers under t hat existing legislation because it might be said that we are engaging in economic warfare.

The technical question, however, I think has been resolved by the 

adoption by the House of the amendment which I offered to the mutual
16 TRADE W IT H CUBA

security bill, which authorizes the President to invoke an embargo 

without relying on any national emergency or the invoking of the 

War Powers Act or the Export Control Act. This eliminates the 

political question of calling these extreme measures into action.

As far as the question as to whether the U nited States is engaging 

in economic warfare as such in contravention to many declarations 

made by us and other free peoples, I think the answer to th at is very 

simple. Mr. Castro, himself, said on many occasions, and I am pa raphrasing the quote because I do not recall it exactly, tha t his big job 

in Cuba was to reorient the economy of the Cuban Government and 

the Cuban people away from the West and toward the Communists. 

This is everything to which he has dedicated himself. If that is not a 

declaration of economic war, I do not know what it is. He has 

thrown down the gauntlet. The United States has not. So while it 

might be said as a result of action taken by the Congress or the United 

States that we engage in economic warfa re against a small nation, the 

facts are tha t Mr. Castro and the Communist Government of Cuba 

have already engaged in tha t economic warfare and I do not see why 

we should continue to help them at all. If it is his desire and ambition and he has taken every step, publicly and otherwise, by statements and actions to orient his economy, if he thinks his people will 

be better off then we had better make a decision tha t t ha t is the way 

it ought to be. I do not see why we should allow the avenues of inte rstate commerce to be used for the movement of Cuban imports in the 

United States particularly since it provides needed dollars.

This is a matter which has been under consideration as a national 

policy during two administrations. The Congress has acted on this 

matter several times, once in the adoption of the OAS resolution 

which we passed e arlier this year. I still have the conviction th at it 

would be better to seek concerted action in the Western Hemisphere in 

this matter but I think it is obvious to any impartial, objective observer tha t we are not soon going to get th at kind of concerted action. 

The House also has expressed itself for the desirability of conceited 

action, first, and so we adopted the OAS resolution. The practical 

situation which confronts us, in my judgment, we are not going to get 

that concerted action and time is going by the board. Therefore, I 

think it behooves us in our own interest to act where we can. Here is 

a place where we can act. The Congress also expressed itself by 

unanimously authorizing the President, if there should be any technical questions involved, to invoke an embargo w ithout using au thority under the War Powers Act eithe r by way of national emergency 

or declaration of war or trad ing with the enemy.

The Chairman. Was t ha t the OAS resolution?

Mr. Fascell. No, sir; tha t was the amendment to the Mutual Security Act.

The Chairman. What was the provision of the OAS resolution ?

Mr. F ascell. The provision of the OAS resolution was in effect that 

we should seek by our leadership to obtain concerted action through 

the Organization of American States for economic sanctions against 

Cuba.

That, has not been done. There can be, and I can understand why 

there might be reluctance on the part of the President to invoke an 

embargo under existing legislation but I think the position is entirely
TRADE W IT H CUBA 17

different from the standpoint of international politics and national 

politics in following the course laid down under this bill, especially 

in view of the statements and the actions of the head of the present 

Government of Cuba.

I think the bill under consideration presents a perfect vehicle to 

move in this area. I think it emphasizes the determination of the 

Congress that something further needs to be done.

I think action under this bill can properly be taken without embarrassing the Executive, without embarrassment to our international 

policies, without embarrassment to any commitments which we may 

have, which are multilateral in origin. This is simply a m atter of in ­

ternal regulation of our interstate commerce. Yet its effect would 

have important bearings.

I would say to those who are skeptical about the value, certainly 

this is going to hu rt some of our economy, particula rly in my own 

State. I do not deny that. Sometimes you have to draw a line. The 

time has come in my judgment to draw that line. I think the Congress has said tha t many, many times. But whether the action is 

effective, whether it is good from the standpoint of bearing down on 

the existing Government of Cuba—and I do not thin k that it will 

bring them to their knees, if you asked me my honest opinion I think 

it would cut off some dollar revenues which I think ought to be cut 

off—-I think the action should be taken because the important thing 

is tha t what we are saying is symbolically, “Let’s isolate this cancer 

which is communism in the Western Hemisphere, endangering all of 

the Latin American Governments, detrimental to our own security; 

let’s cut down to zero their American dollars which come about as a 

result of trad e in interstate and foreign commerce, and let the United 

States take the lead now because this is the only way we can take the 

lead, unilaterally and lay the symbol before the whole world tha t we 

have started.”

I say, Mr. Chairman, in closing, th at by no stretch of the imagination can any impartial or objective observer say that the United States 

in taking this action or tha t this committee or this Congress is engaging in economic warfare. We must remember th at Mr. Castro is 

the man who threw down the gauntlet in this economic fight. Mr. 

Castro is the man who said, “I will lead my people and I will reorient 

them from dependence upon the economy of the West.”

He does not like our free enterprise system. He does not like our 

capitalism. He wants to give them the allegedly great but disproven 

benefits of the wrongly called classless society of communism. That 

is the course he has chosen: to have his people suffer. I do not see 

why the United States should in any sense be a party to it.

Thank you, Mr. Chairm an and members of the committee, for holding these hearings on this important subject. I am delighted to join 

my colleague from Florida wlio for a long time has been leading this 

fight. I am happy to cosponsor this legislation. I trus t the committee will act on it favorably.

The Chairman. I will say to our colleague that we want to thank 

you for your testimony, in bringing to our attention the information 

you have imparted to us.

I think from my own reactions and from the reactions of other 

Members of the Congress and from our own mail, tha t there can be
18 TRADE W IT H CUBA

no doubt of the feeling of the American people regarding the Castro 

regime and what is taking place down there. I think the overwhelming sentiment is jus t as strong as the gentleman and other gentlemen 

have presented it here this morning.

I think, however, in order tha t the record may lie complete regarding what the situation is, in all frankness we must admit there has 

been a great deal done in this held. Is th at not true ?

Air. Fascell. Tha t is true, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. The report from the Department of State which 

has been alluded to heretofore draws a comparison in 1958 when the 

Castro regime took over. It states in 1958 there were total exports 

to Cuba from the United States of $546.2 million in foods and there 

were imports from Cuba totaling $527.8 million. That comparison 

with the current annual rate of exports and imports is something like 

$20 and $30 million, respectively. I think sometimes we overlook 

the fact that some action has been taken. It means as compared with 

1958, prior to the Castro regime there were exports of $516.2 million 

in exports to Cuba as compared to $20 million at the current rate. 

Imports are $527.8 million as compared to $30 million, which we must 

recognize is quite a decrease.

Mr. F ascell. Mr. Chairman? you are eminently correct in putting 

this matter in proper perspective. We have to consider tha t things 

have been done. I certainly commend the action that has been taken 

in bringing the figures down from the high that you have pointed out, 

clown to the present low amount. All I can add to that, still keeping 

it in proper focus and perspective, I still believe the symbol is necessary to cut it down to zero if possible. I th ink this would be very helpful for the United States.

The Chairman. Of course, we recognize the fact that the United 

States has broken off relations completely with the Castro regime, in 

addition to the economic action tha t has been taken. As was indicated 

by Mr. Rogers, the primary imports th at we have stopped have lieen 

in the sugar industry. I think sugar represented 70 percent of total imports. Action was taken in Congress 2 years ago in that regard.

Does the gentleman have any comment on an effort toward a complete economic embargo against Cuba?

Mr. Fascell. As I understand it, Mr. Chairman, this is the purport of the legislation which is now pending before you.

This would be the effect of it.

The Chairman. As far as the United States is concerned only.

Mr. F ascell. Yes, sir. I think this would be the practical effect 

of this legislation, without having to invoke the idea of a complete 

embargo. This is another way to get at it, simply by internal 

regulation.

The Chairman. You would not advocate a complete embargo by not 

only the United States but other sources?

Mr. F ascell. Mr. Chairman, as fa r as T am concerned, I have advocated such an embargo, not only by the United States, but by all of the 

Western Hemisphere as far as Cuba is concerned. If our objective is 

to isolate the Communist cancer of Cuba I think this is the fastest way 

to do it.

The Chairman. I am one of those who feel just as strongly as the 

gentleman does that some action should lie taken. I think tha t is
TRADE W IT H CUBA 19

true so fa r as the sentiment, of the American people is concerned, but 

I do not think we should overlook the fact that action has been taken 

and is being taken in this field.

Mr. Fascell. You are absolutely correct. I commend the action 

tha t has been taken both by the Congress and by administrations of 

our Government in this area.

Mr. Chairman, before I leave I would like to submit for the committee, House Memorial No. 1693, memorial to the Congress of the 

United States from the Legislature of Florida, adopted at th eir regular session in 1961 in which they urge that the Congress take all steps 

necessary to cease all American trade with the Republic of Cuba so 

long as diplomatic relations bet ween the two nations do not exist.

The Chairman. That will lie inserted in the record.

(The House memorial follows:)

H ous e Mem oria l N o. 1693

a m em oria l to t h e co ng ress of t h e u nit ed st ate s to provide th a t t h e u nit ed

ST ATE S CE AS E ALL TRA DE W IT H T H E REP UBLI C OF CUB A

W her ea s th e R ep ub lic o f Cu ba , lo ca te d w ithin 90 m ile s of th e U ni ted Sta te s, h as 

be en led by it s le aders in to th e blo c of Com m un ist nat io ns wh ose av ow ed p ur po se 

is to de st ro y th e U ni te d S ta te s an d it s fo rm of gov er nm en t; an d

W her ea s th e Rep ub lic of Cub a has in te ntional ly attem pte d to dis cr ed it th e 

U ni te d S ta te s in the eye s o f t he w or ld : a nd

W her ea s un to ld hundre ds of m illion s of doll ars of pro per ty ow ned by A m er ica ns ha ve been co nfisca ted by th e Rep ub lic of Cu ba w ithout du e proc es s of law 

or ju s t co m pe ns atio n ; and

W her ea s A m er ic an s and free do m-lo ving Cub an s ha ve be en fe lle d by bu llet s 

whi ch well m ig ht ha ve be en purc has ed fr om Com m un ist na tion s, w ith do llar s 

earn ed by t ra din g w ith th e U ni te d S ta te s ; and

W he re as th e G ov er nm en t of th e United S ta te s has de em ed it pr op er to se ve r 

di pl om at ic re la ti ons and cu rt ail tr a d e w ith th e Rep ub lic of C u b a; an d

W he re as to co nt in ue an y tr ad e w ha tsoe ve r, an d th er eb y co nt ribu te to the eco nom y of a co un try who w ith ea ch ne w day hum ilia te s th e U ni ted S ta te s by an y 

m ea ns av ai la bl e, is an a b su rd it y of th e hig hes t deg re e; an d

W her ea s th e pe op le of F lo ri da jo in w ith al l oth er fre ed om -lo ving peop le in 

fe el in g th a t th e re la ti vel y sm al l am oun t of tr ad e le ft w ith th e Re pu blic of Cu ba 

sh ou ld no t lie us ed to fin an ce th e purc hase of arm s fo r th e co ntinuat io n of th e 

Cub an b loo d bath : Now, th er efo re , be it

Res ol ve d by th e Leg is la tu re of th e S ta te of Florida , T h a t th e Co ng ress of th e 

U ni te d S ta te s be an d it is re qu es te d to ta k e th e appro pri ate step s ne ce ss ar y to 

ce as e al l Amer ican tr a d e w ith th e Rep ub lic of Cu ba so lon g as di pl om at ic re la ­

tion s be tw ee n th e two nat io ns do n ot e x is t; be i t fu rth e r

Res olve d, T h at co pie s of th is m em or ia l be dis pat ch ed to th e P re si dent of th e 

U ni ted S ta te s; to th e P re si dent of th e U.S. S enate ; to th e Spe ak er of th e Hou se 

of R ep re se nta tive s of th e U ni ted S ta te s ; and to ea ch mem be r of th e Flo ri da 

co ng re ss io na l de lega tio n.

Filed in oflice se cre ta ry o f sta te J u n e 5, 1961.

Sta te of F lor ida

Offic e of Sec re ta ry of Sta te

I, Tom Ada ms , Sec re ta ry of S ta te of th e Sta te of F lo ri da, do he reby ce rt if y 

th a t th e ab ov e an d fo re go ing is a tr u e an d co rr ec t cop y of Hou se M em orial No. 

1693, re gula r session 1961, as sh ow n by th e rec or ds o f th is oflice.

Given under my ha nd and th e G re at Seal of th e S ta te of Flo ri da a t T al la has se , 

th e C ap ital , th is th e 6 tli da y of J u n e A.I). 1961.

[ sea l] T om Adam s, Sec re ta ry of Sta te .

Mr. F ascell. I request we insert in the record a resolution adopted 

by the Miami-Dade County Chamber of Commerce and Key West
20 TRADE W IT H CUBA

Junio r Chamber of Commerce. A similar resolution was also adopted 

by the Florida State Jun ior Chamber of Commerce.

(The resolution follows:)

Mia m i-Dade County Cha mb er of Comm erce Reso lut ion

Whereas the establishment and continued existence of a de facto communistic 

regime in Cuba constitutes a threat to the security of the people of these United 

States of America, as well as the peoples of the other American Republics; 

and

Whereas the activities of that regime have violated and continue to violate 

the terms of existing inter-American treaties, as well as the Monroe Doctrine; 

and

Whereas these undeniable facts are known to all the peoples and governments 

tha t form part of the Organization of American States; and

Whereas the Government of the United States of America should and has 

followed the required procedures in seeking joint action in accordance with 

inter-American agreements of the Organization of American S tat es; and

Whereas the Organization of American States has failed to react to this 

threat from Cuba with the vigor, determination, and action required to adequately protect the principles and agreements tha t bind its member states together; and

Whereas agreement with other countries for joint action in the defense of 

common principles and interest does not relieve the Government of the United 

States, or any other government, from its responsibility to its citizens to act 

individually when those principles and interests are, in its judgment, threatene d: 

Therefore be it

Resolved, That the executive committee of the Miami-Dade County Chamber 

of Commerce recommend to the Congress and the President of the United 

States, recognition and acceptance of these facts;

1. That the Communist-controlled Castro regime of Cuba constitutes an 

intolerable threat to the national security of the United States and all the 

peoples of the Western Hemisphere.

2. That our national security, the preservation of individual liberty and 

national sovereignty require and demand tha t the Cuban thre at be considered 

as equal, if not greater, in importance than those tha t exist in Europe, the Far 

East, and other regions of the world; and be i t further

Resolved, to recommend and urge the U.S. Government act promptly and with 

determination, in accord with other nations if possible, but alone if necessary 

to remove the Communist threat from Cuba, by whatever means are necessary; 

be it also

Resolved, That copies of this resolution be forwarded to the President of the 

United States, the Secretary of State, the Under Secretary for Inter-American 

Affairs, the Florida congressional delegation, members of the appropriate congressional committees, other pertinent governmental officials, and the Ambassadors of the American Republics to the Organization of American States; and 

be it finally

Resolved, That the Miami-Dade County Chamber of Commerce seek endorsement of this resolution by other chambers of commerce and civic organizations 

throughout the United States.

Unanimously adopted by the executive committee of the Miami-Dade County 

Chamber of Commerce on August 3, lfifil.

William P. Simmons, Jr., President, Miami-Dade County Chamber of Commerce. Attested:

Alfred Canel, 

Executive Vice President.

Key West J un ior Cha mb er of Commer ce Reso lut ion

Whereas communism is at work steadily and patiently undermining country 

after country; and

Whereas communism has now launched its attac k on the Western Hemisphere 

and has won its first beachhead in Cuba ; and

Whereas Cuba is an island country located approximately 90 miles from the 

shores of the United States, and is one of the main crossroads to Latin America ;
TRADE W IT H CUBA 21

W he re as W es te rn H em is ph er ic se cu ri ty an d so ve re ignty is part ic ula rl y th re a ten ed b y th e in te rv enti on o f co mmun ism in C ub a ; an d W he re as th e Cub an Gov er nm en t has ill eg ally co nfisc ated American -owne d 

pro pert y i n Cu ba w ort h ap pro xim at el y $861 million ; an d W he re as D ic ta to r Fid el Cas tro, ac ting as th e Pri m e M in iste r of Cuba, re ce nt ly at te m pte d to blac km ai l th e U ni ted S ta te s in to ex ch an gi ng f ar m tr acto rs f or p ri so n ers ; an d W he re as American co m m er ci al air pla nes ha ve be en hi ja ck ed an d illeg ally divert ed to Cu ba in su ch nu m ber s and in such a pir ati cal m an ner as to in di ca te 

th a t a co ns pi ra cy e x is ts ; a nd W he re as be ca us e of th e Cub an G ov er nm en t’s ac tio ns , Cu ba m us t now be consi der ed a m em be r o f t h e Com m un ist b lo c; an d W her ea s th e C as tr o se lf-p ro clai m ed Red dic ta to rs hip do es no t in fa ct com ply 

w ith th e re qu ir em en ts a nd pr in ci pl es of a pr op er ly c onst itute d g ov er nm en t of the 

Cub an peo p le ; an d W he re as th e fu rt h e r sp re ad o f co mmun ism in th e AV est er n H em isph er e m us t be 

stop pe d, and t h a t which e xis ts m us t be de stro ye d : T her ef ore be it

Res olve d, T h at th e Ju n io r Cha m be r of Co mm erc e of Ke y W est, Fl a., an d th e 

F lo ri da Ju n io r Cha m be r of Co mm erc e, as k th e Pre si dent an d th e C on gress of th e U ni te d S ta te s to ta ke th e ne ce ss ar y st ep s to plac e in to effect a co mplete tr ad e em ba rg o w ith th e is la nd of Cub a in ord er to de prive th e Com mun ist le ad er s of th a t co un tr y of th e econ om ic ass is ta nce de rive d from tr ad e w ith th e United S ta te s; th at, in ad di tion , th e U nite d S ta te s w ithdra w it s official re co gn iti on of th e C as tr o go ve rn m en t and reco gn ize in it s pl ac e an ex ile go ve rn m en t more 

re pre se nta ti ve of the C ub an p eople ; be it f u rt h er

Res olve d, T h at th e Ke y W es t Ju n io r Cha m be r of Co mm erc e do es he reby su bm it th e a bo ve re so lu tion fo r co nsi der at io n o f th e b oar d o f dir ec to rs o f t he Flo rida Ju n io r Cha m be r of Co mm erc e a t it s su m m er co nf er en ce m ee ting a t Cocoa Be ach, 

Fl a. . A ug us t 17-20,1 96 1.

Mr. Fascell. Thank you for your courtesy in holding hearings on 

this important legislation.

The Chairman. Mr. Rogers?

Mr. Rogers of Florida. 1 want to say, Mr. Chairman, tha t I do not 

know of any other Member of Congress who has a greater understand­ ing of what is happening in Cuba than my colleague from Miami because he has had to deal with literally thousands of Cubans who have 

had to leave Cuba to get away from its Communist dictatorship. Tha t 

is why he is very concerned about it and realizes, I think, and I feel from his testimony, tha t we have got to start taking the leadership because we cannot expect a small nation in Central or South America to be the one to come and take the leadership and say, “L et’s really put on an economic boycott of Cuba.” I understood that to be the 

feeling of my colleague.

The Chairman. Mr. Sprin ger ?

Mr. Springer. May I say to the distinguished gentleman from 

Florida t ha t this legislation will have my support in this committee and my support on the door, so that there will be no misunderstanding. I have been a little disturbed recently by what I have been hearing under the table and I do not seem to be able to get anybody to verify i t ; on the other hand, I can find no one in the State Department who will deny it. As the gentleman will recall, at the recent Conference in Montevideo, Guevara, who is Cuba's chief economic man, indicated that he would like to reopen negotiations with this country on a more normal basis. The only inference that can come from th at as I gather it is that the embargo which we have put on thus far, with the exception of food and medical supplies, is bearing fruit.

75 55 3- 61 -
22 TRADE W IT H CUBA

The gentleman is a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

May I ask the gentleman if there is any information tha t has come 

to that committee which would tend to support that theory, that they 

are in the process of trying to find an avenue to reopen negotiations 

with the United States upon some normal basis insofar as trade is 

concerned ?

Mr. F 'ascell. I will say to the gentleman from Illinois tha t no such 

information has come to my knowledge or as far as 1 know to the 

committee.

Mr. Springer. Does the gentleman know whether or not any signs 

of this have been made to the State Department by neutral countries ?

Mr. F ascell. That I do not know. I would not have any way of 

knowing that. Of course, I read as you did the statements in the paper 

revolving around the action of the Foreign Minister of Argentina. 

My own interpretation of that, frankly, is that I am not too concerned 

about the fact tha t they had a meeting or a conference.

Mr. Springer. I take it, then, the gentleman does not have any information on that point and states frankly tha t he does not.

Mr. F ascell. Tha t is right.

Mr. Springer. I understood the gentleman to say tha t he did believe 

a complete embargo which might be placed on Cuba would have the 

effect of probably driving this administration out of power.

Mr. F ascell. I do not think that the passage of this particular bill 

would do that by itself, no, sir, but it would just be another half-inch 

of the nail.

Mr. Springer. The gentleman knows there is a section which has 

to do with the powers of various committees. The Committee on 

Foreign Affairs has foreign trade. Have there been any such resolutions as this introduced before your committee ?

Mr. Fascell. Not to my knowledge.

Mr. Springer. That would be an embargo on foreign trade with 

Cuba.

Mr. Fascell. Not to my knowledge, although I do not quite see 

how we could.

Mr. Springer. Your committee has one word in its statement of 

powers which says “foreign trade.” There has been no suggestion by 

anyone in your committee tha t you p ut an embargo on foreign trade 

with Cuba?

Mr. Fascell. Well, other than the invocation of the authority, which 

is part of the Mutual Security Act.

Mr. Springer. That has to do, however, only with the funds under 

the mutual security autho rization; is that not true ?

Mr. Fascell. The authority is broader th an that. It not only has 

to do with the funds under tha t act but the authority goes beyond that 

act.

Mr. Springer. It does not cover the question of embargo on trade?

Mr. Fascell. Yes, it does. It covers everything. The authority 

is broad enough to cover everything.

Mr. Springer. Would tha t then not cover this particular matter 

insofar as any trade between the United States and Cuba is concerned, if that is true? I am trying to find out how far that authority goes.

Mr. Fascell. I do not think there is any question about the authority. The only difficulty is it requires Presidential invocation.
TRADE W IT H CUBA 23

Mr. Stringer. Then the President would have to invoke tha t at 

his discretion?

Mr. F ascell. That is the principal difficulty as I see it under existing legislation.

Mr. Springer. That brings me to the final point which I wanted to 

ask the gentleman, on which he may or may not have information. It 

is awfully important to know. Does the gentleman have any indication as to whether or not the President would sign this bill in this 

language ?

Mr. Fascell. I do not have the slightest idea.

Mr. Springer. I agree w ith the gentleman tha t what the President 

does is not our responsibility. Our responsibility rises from different 

powers than does his. I do believe tha t it would be very important 

to be able to say that this is looked on as friendly legislation. I think 

it would be. a distinct blow if this were to go to the White House and 

the President were to veto it. There are no politics in this. I hope 

the gentleman understands I believe this is a most difficult situation, if 

we were to follow through with our duties and then we were to have 

a veto.

Mr. F ascell. I understand what you are driving at and I appreciate your bringing it up. Tha t is why in my remarks I was careful 

to lay down the considerations as I saw them which revolve around 

this legislation from the standpoint of presidential action and why in 

my judgment and opinion complete action by either President—-Eisenhower or Kennedy—has not been taken under existing legislation. 

This is a matter which I certainly feel would have to be judicially 

resolved by this great committee.

Mr. Springer. I have one other question: The gentleman being a 

member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, in order to completely 

do this job and to isolate Castro, and as you say the cancer in the 

Western Hemisphere, have you given any consideration to what other 

action or legislation ought to be taken by this Government to follow 

up on this legislation in order to do the job ?

Mr. Fascell. No, sir, I have not, but I think tha t the amendment 

which was adopted and offered by the gentlemen from Florida, Mr. 

Rogers, who is a member of this committee, to the Mutual Security 

Act is a first big step in the righ t direction.

Mr. Springer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. Are there further questions?

Mr. Rogers of Texas. Mr. Chairman, if I may ask one question: Mr. 

Fascell,, the question is importation from Cuba and introducing these 

goods into interstate commerce. Why couldn't this problem be solved 

by prohibiting imports from Cuba?

Mr. F ascell. I suppose it could.

Mr. Rogers of Texas. Why do it indirectly ? Why not simply pass 

legislation prohibiting the importation of any goods from Cuba?

Mr. F ascell. I see a technical nicety with respect to political arguments that might be raised, Mr. Rogers, and that would be th at in 

one case you are talking about “waging an economic war,'' which I do 

not think this country at this time wants to be tabbed with in international circles. Tha t would be a complete ban.

Mr. R ogers of Texas. You do not think the other foreign countries 

are so naive as to think that is not what we are doing? I mean they 

realize that tha t is what this is.
24 TRADE W IT H CUBA

Mr. F ascell. I think they realize th at is the effect of it. I do not 

think they can argue around the fact tha t you have control internally 

of your own policies regardless of the effect on other people.

Mr. Rogers of Texas. This would prohibit importation of goods 

from Cuba tha t could be sold all over Florida, but not transported 

anyplace else?

Mr. Fascell. You know better than I the definition of interstate 

commerce. If there is anything that has been left out I am not aware 

of what it is.

Mr. Rogers of Texas. You mean if it goes from Miami to St. Pe tersburg it might be intrastate commerce.

Mr. F ascell. If the product is processed and subsequently sold, possibly it is.

Mr. Rogers of Texas. Of course you have foreign commerce here, 

introduction in reverse. Suppose Cuba sells goods to Canada and 

then Canada exports them into this country. Would that be in your 

opinion an import of a Cuban product? "

Mr. F ascell. Under the terms of this legislation ?

Mr. Rogers of Texas. Under the terms of this legislation.

Mr. F ascell. I have not briefed the legal niceties of that question. 

Offhand, I would say “No.” I would leave that to the committee experts to decide.

Mr. Rogers of Texas. I am trying to get your thinking about it. 

Would it be your feeling that if such products were sent to Canada 

and then into this country by the Canadian Government tha t this 

ought to lx^ barred from tra nsportation in interstate commerce?

Mr. Fascell. 1 would like to see us stop all imports in which American dollars eventually wound up in Cuba. That would be my objective. Whether this bill does all of that, I am quick to say I do not 

know. I am not sure that would be the complete effect of it, but I say 

this appears to me to be a welcome avenue to do practically everything 

we want to do without any of the disadvantages tha t are involved, 

such as interference with other governments’ international questions, 

and political issues.

Mr. Rogers of Texas. lias not Canada pursued a policy with relation to shipping wheat to Red China tha t is not in complete compliance with our views?

Mr. F ascell. Surely.

Mr. Rogers of Texas. She is also doing business constantly with 

Cuba.

Mr. Fascell. We have allies who do not see eye to eye with us on 

international economics. But when you talk about interstate commerce in the United States I think our allies have very little to question.

(Discussion off the record.)

The Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. Fascell.

Mr. F ascell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I am against communism 

wherever it is.

The Chairman. Mr. Robert Forbes Woodward, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, Department of State. Mr. 

Woodward, we will glad to have your testimony on this proposed 

legislation.
TRADE W IT H CUBA 25

STATEMENT OF ROBERT FORBES WOODWARD, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, BUREAU OF INTER-AMERICA N AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT 

OF STATE

Mr. Woodward. Thank you very much.

The Chairman. We welcome you to this committee on behalf of the 

members. I would like to say to you that we are very glad to have 

your testimony in order to help the committee arrive at a solution to 

this problem that we now have before us.

Mr. Woodward. I would like to Hist express my own admiration and 

sympathy for the point of view that has been expressed by the distinguished witnesses. I think this reaction of mine would be shared 

by other officials in the executive branch and regardless of what the 

action of the committee may be on this proposed legislation, I believe 

it is extremely valuable to have an expression of the views of the distinguished witnesses who have already appeared before the committee.

I say this because there has been some impression in the Department of State that there were differences of opinion among the Senators and Representatives on this final residual trade and at least 

one member of the Florid a delegation would prefer to have this trade 

continue.

However, tha t is a matter which I am sure you gentlemen know a 

great deal more about than I do.

There is no difference of opinion on the general objectives and the 

attitudes expressed here between the legislators and the people, at 

least in the Department of State, and I believe this is true of any 

other agency of the executive branch. The difference is only a question of the method and timing.

The chairman pointed out that trade with Cuba had been very large 

in 1958 as compared with now; some $540 million worth of imports, 

some $527 million worth of exports, and I might mention tha t about 

$135 million of that amount was the difference between the world 

price and the premium price on sugar, which was one of the great 

benefits the Cubans were receiving from their exportation to the 

United States. All of this has been stopped now, except for approximately $30 million worth of exports insofar as we can project the 

current amounts. There are $38 million per annum of exports from 

Cuba to the United States and I would say on the basis of the last 

few months’ trade in the other direction, from the United States to 

Cuba, there were probably not over $12 million.

Mr. Dominick. Could I interrupt righ t here, Mr. Chairman?

The Chairman. Yes, sir.

Air. Dominick. T do not like to interrupt but I would like to comment. on the figures if T might. According to the Department of 

Commerce figures which I have before me through June of this year, 

there has already been $30 million worth of general imports and imports for consumption taken into the United States. If you project 

that through the end of this year, this is not $30 million; it is $72 

million.

Mr. Woodward. The very large item in that trade, sir, which existed 

up until June has now been stopped and that is the exportation of 

lard. The last lard shipments were embargoed by Mr. Harris from 

Miami and the exporters simply were discouraged from making 

futlier shipments.
26 TRADE W IT H CUBA

Mr. Dominick. I am sorry, I understood you to say imports into 

this country, not exports.

Mr. Woodward. This is the $12 million figure I mentioned on the 

exports.

Mr. Dominick. There have been $12.6 million of exports through 

June, again according to the Department of Commerce which means 

if you project it again, $25 million worth of exports will go out by 

the end of the year. There are continuing to be exports because I have 

the daily licenses which have been given to me by the Department of 

Commerce, which have been issued since the 1st of July.

Mr. Woodward. The figure Mr. Rogers mentioned, on page 10 of his 

statement shows total exportation from July 1 to August 19, $338,000.

Mr. Dominick. I have that.

Mr. Woodward. These are the most up-to-date figures.

The Chairman. What page is that on, Mr. Secretary ?

Mr. "Woodward. Page 10 of Mr. Rogers’ very excellent presentation.

The Chairman. You may proceed.

Mr. Woodward. In any event, the amount of shipments in both 

directions has come down to a relatively small proportion of those 

tha t existed in 1958. It is well below 10 percent, we can say, I think 

without any question here of the trade in 1958. This was considered 

to be a relatively minor trade and I believe the administration was 

very seriously considering the invoking of the Trading With the 

Enemy Act back at the time of the elections in November. Action 

was then not taken because the amount of the trade was small and it 

was felt advisable to give the new administration an opportunity to 

decide what additional steps it wished to take in this situation.

Then as events proceeded during the first part of 1960, we came 

up to a period within a couple of months of the conference which 

was to be held in Uruguay the first 2 weeks of August. I understand 

the attitude at tha t time was that we wished to encourage the other 

American Republics to see that the problem posed by Cuba in the 

hemisphere is not only a problem which they share at least as much 

as we do, but which in many respects is a greater and more urgent 

problem for them because in many respects they are more immediately endangered by the existence of the Communist-controlled government in Cuba than the United States is.

There has been a consistent effort on the part of our critics in other 

parts of the hemisphere to try to build up the idea that the problem 

of Cuba is a problem between the United States and Cuba and not 

a problem for the entire hemisphere. We consider this to be an utterly mistaken idea. Action invoking the Trading With the Enemy 

Act at the time tha t we were entering into further discussions at a 

conference with the other nations of the hemisphere would have lent 

weight to the idea of the bilateral problem as compared with the 

broader multilateral problem which we are convinced is the one which 

exists.

Such important emphasis on this problem as tha t given by action 

by the Congress would tend further to encourage or give some basis 

for the argument of the bilateral nature of the problem. The authority already exists in the Trading With the Enemy Act to turn 

off this trade. It is just a question of the best time to use this further 

measure in our international relations. The flexibility of the Execu-
TRADE WIT H CUBA 27

tive would of course be reduced by a mandate from the Congress on 

this subject.

This is the explanation for the letter which was addressed to the 

chairman of the committee mentioning the State Department’s view 

tha t the projected legislation appeared unnecessary.

The Chairman. Does tha t complete your statement, Mr. Woodward ?

Mr. Woodward. Yes, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. We observed that the Department seemed to think 

this unnecessary on the basis of the information presented. Have you 

a copy of your letter ?

Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir.

The Chairman. I would like to refer to the next to the last paragraph.

The adm inistration has had under consideration measures which, if applied, 

would res ult in an embargo on U.S. tra de with Cuba.

Are you in a position to elaborate on tha t statement ?

Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. The administration has had under consideration repeatedly the invoking of the Tra ding With the Enemy 

Act which would not only embargo all trade with Cuba, but which 

would have the effect of freezing any assets of the Cuban Government 

or of enemy aliens in this country. Of course, we could expect the 

possibility of retaliatory action on remaining assets in Cuba.

The Chairman. You of course are not in a position to state now just 

what will result from the consideration of this problem.

Mr. Woodward. I am afraid I do not have the authority to predict 

that.

The Chairman. I realize it is a rather far-reaching policy problem.

Do you agree with the figures submitted by Mr. Rogers which he 

obtained from the sources he explained, as to the degree of imports 

and exports from Ju ly 1 to August 19 ?

Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir.

The Chairman. 1 observe there tha t practically all the imports 

from Cuba are tobacco products. What is there about the tobacco 

situation which requires us to continue to receive tobacco from Cuba 

when we felt it would be in the interest of this country to cut off the 

sugar quotas? Why is tobacco more important, under the circumstances, tha n sugar, as an example ?

Mr. Woodward. Mr. Chairman, I do not consider myself competent 

to address myself to that question. I have only heard there are certain types of tobacco wrappers which are preferred by the Tampa 

manufacturing trade. If I am not mistaken, I believe there is someone here who is an authority on th at subject.

The Chairman. With all deference, Mr. Woodward, it would seem 

to me th at the Government—and I assume it would be true of your 

Department—would have concerned itself with it to the extent that it 

would be advised as to the importance of tobacco and why we should 

continue to receive tobacco and send dollars to Cuba to that degree. 

There must be some explanation for it. I would much prefer to have 

it from the horse’s mouth, which is the State Department, than to 

receive it from someone who is interested in it from a business standpoint.
28 TRADE W IT H CUBA

Mr. Woodward. I would like to say again, sir, tha t having expressions of views here today which imply that there would not be a great 

objection to the tu rnin g off or stoppage of these imports is extremely 

valuable information from the viewpoint of the executive branch, and 

would, of course, result in much less hesitation in going ahead with 

the Trad ing With the Enemy Act.

The Chairman. I have the feeling it is unnecessary for us to have 

the hearing today to find out how the Members of Congress generally 

and the American people feel about it. I think the reaction the last 

several weeks has been very clear on tha t score. I do know there are 

some motivations in connection with any problem, regardless of how 

serious it is. Since we have had this situation for the 6-week period 

of July and August, with practically everything cut off except tobacco, there must be something with reference to tobacco which permits it to continue to come in. If you would inquire of the proper 

sources which have the information, I would lie glad to have tha t 

information supplied to us, if you will.

Mr. Woodward. The items which are mentioned in the listing of 

U.S. imports from Cuba, which include tobacco and some fru it and 

a couple of other items, sponges and glue stock, indicate the rather 

narrow range of product which, in addition to sugar, were being 

shipped in to the United States from Cuba. In other words, afte r 

the sugar trade was shut off, this was about all there was left. The 

fru it importation is seasonal. It comes in only during periods when 

domestic production is not able to supply the market.

The Chairman. If you take the tobacco part out of it and you 

have practically nothing left, just as if you take the hospital and drugs 

out of the exports, you have practically nothing left.

Mr. Rogers of Texas. May I ask a question ?

The Chairman. I promised to yield to Mr. Rogers of Flor ida for 

a question.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. I would like to point out two or three quick 

items, Mr. Secretary.

First of all, as to the effect of the Cuban vegetables coming in, of 

course the imports are not reflected in Jul y and August because the 

harvest season is early. So the really big imports of vegetables and 

fruits which come in are in the first part of the year. These fruits 

come in right at the beginning of the season when the high prices 

are obtained. They flood the market, which then ruins the market 

for the local producers in this country. It does have a definite effect.

However, there are other considerations. I am concerned and I 

am pleased to hear you say you are favorably considering and for 

some time have favorably considered invoking the T rading With the 

Enemy Act. A number of us have been tr yin g to get the administration to do th at for 2 years now, ever since Castro has been in there. 

According to my understanding, they did not want to do that, because, once the Tra ding With the Enemy Act is invoked, it requires 

the statement that the security of the U nited States is affected, which 

then activates the Rio Treaty, which requires a meeting of the Organization of American States. It was my understanding from the 

explanation the Department of State had given me previously, that 

on the activation of the Rio Pact, which calls for multilateral action, 

they were afra id they could not get enough votes to have a complete
TRADE W IT H CUBA 29

economic boycott of Cuba, which they would like to have had. Therefore, they did not want to move with the Trading W ith the Enemy 

Act, and there is still a reluctance to do that because it might embarrass this Government in asking them to join with us; whereas this 

bill avoids the problem entirely and lets us go ahead and act.

You have been willing to act to cut off exports to a great extent, is 

that not true? You are willing to take bilateral action there without 

asking the Organization of American States to do that. You are 

willing, as the chairman has pointed out, to have us cut off sugar in 

an action just between the two countries, in a bilateral action. What 

reluctance is there to go ahead and do it properly all the way? We 

are just giving a few more dollars here all the time.

I am glad to see tha t you have no real objection to this, but you 

simply feel th at maybe there is enough authority under the Trading 

With the Enemy Act. That is correct, is it not ?

Mr. Woodward. That is my understanding, yes. I am frank to 

admit I was unaware of the necessity for invoking all of this other 

machinery.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. That is what some of your predecessors 

have told me, and also some of the aids from the White House have 

given me tha t explanation.

May I add one more question.

The Chairman. I hope the gentleman does not feel that I yielded 

to him to make a speech. I yielded for a question. Other members 

have questions as well.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. I yield back the time.

The Chairman. Have you a question ?

Mr. Rogers of Texas. I have just one question at this time. I have 

several, but just one right now.

Mr. Woodward, is it the position of the State Department that if 

this particular act were passed, it would be possible for certain articles 

to be imported from Cuba directly and be used in the manufacture 

of other products, and that the transportation of the end product 

would not be in violation of this act?

Mr. Woodward. No, sir. I thin k we have assumed tha t this act 

would shut off all trade.

Mr. Rogers of Texas. In other words, a Tampa cigar with a 

Havana wrapper would have to stay in Florida.

Mr. Woodward. I was unaware of the fine points in the draft legislation, but T assumed it would not be possible to bring wrappers into 

Florida from Cuba under this proposed legislation. Perhaps I have 

misunderstood the pu rport of the bill.

Mr. Rogers of Texas. The bill, as I see it, says tha t things imported from Cuba shall not be introduced into interstate commerce, 

which to my way of thinking assumes there will be continued imports 

from Cuba.

Mr. Woodward. Tha t is a fine point. I thought tha t was a method 

of stopping importation.

Air. Rogers of Florida. I think you are in error.

Mr. Rogers of Texas. It says you cannot put things through the 

States which have been imported after the date this act passes, so it 

assumes there will be continued imports. It is a complex situation.

I yield back to the chairman.

75553— 61------ 5
30 TRADE W IT H CUBA

The Chairman. Mr. Springer, have you a question ?

Mr. Springer. To clarify this fo r the Secretary and for Mr. Rogers, 

my understanding now is tha t “through any point outside thereof” 

would mean across the 3-mile limit in interstate commerce; th at if it 

came from Cuba across the 3-mile limit, it has crossed a point from 

outside thereof. I believe Mr. Woodward’s interpretation is correct.

Mr. Woodward, at the present time it is my understanding that in 

your present job you are formulating policy with reference to Latin 

American countries.

Mr. Woodward. My responsibility is to recommend it, at least, to 

higher authority.

Mr. Springer. Do you feel the passage of this legislation would 

in any way hinder you as representing the U nited States in its Latin 

American affairs?

Mr. Woodward. Yes, in the sense tha t it reduces the flexibility of 

the Executive in using such instrumentalities as it has in handling a 

situation of this kind.

Mr. Springer. It is my understanding from what you have said, 

sir, tha t you would rather have a choice as to when and under what 

conditions to impose an embargo or a partial embargo. Is tha t 

correct ?

Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir.

Mr. Springer. Th at is fundamentally your position with reference 

to this legislation, is tha t correct?

Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir.

Mr. Springer. There is a thin g which intrigues me when we see 

the figures which Mr. Rogers has given on page 10. This is an infinitesimal part of the trade which we carried on with Cuba before. 

Undoubtedly people are eating. They are having the various things 

which are necessary to live and exist in Cuba. Apparently a great 

deal of this is now being carried someplace else. Ilav e you any idea 

what percentage of this trade is implemented by our own neighbors, 

such as Canada or Mexico or any of our other friendly powers in the 

Western Hemisphere?

Mr. Woodward. Sir, the percentage is very small, because now about 

70 percent of Cuban trad e in both directions is with the Soviet bloc.

Mr. Springer. Seventy percent is with the Soviet bloc. That leaves 

30 percent with the rest of the world.

Mr. Woodward. Thi rty percent with the rest of the world. A considerable part of tha t 30 percent is with European nations. Tha t 

would leave a still smaller percentage—I do not happen to have p recise data—of trade with Canada and a lesser amount with Latin 

American countries.

The principal trade with any Latin American country before the 

Castro takeover in January of 1959 was the flow of petroleum from 

Venezuela to the Cuban refineries. One of the first acts of the Castro 

government was to try to obtain a source of supply of petroleum from 

the Soviet bloc.

Mr. Springer. Are they doing th at at the present time?

Mr. Woodward. Yes, they are.

Mr. Springer. As the Assistant Secretary in Charge of Latin American Affairs, have you come to a conclusion as to what it would take 

in addition to an economic embargo to overthrow the Castro government?
TRADE W IT H CUBA 31

Mr. Woodward. That is a very big question, sir.

Mr. Springer. It is all a part of this legislation to know what part 

this would play. I ask fo r the remaining things which will be necessary if we are to get at Castro, other than an economic embargo both 

ways.

Mr. Woodward. With your permission, 1 would prefer to answer 

the question the other way around by saying that I do not think the 

passage of this legislation would be a significant or very important 

step to further handicap the Castro administration.

Mr. Springer. You do not believe an embargo both ways, of the 

remaining trade, would be of great moment ?

Mr. Woodward. That is correct.

Mr. Springer. You used the words, “We believe this legislation 

to be unnecessary.” Do I state you correctly ?

Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir.

Mr. Springer. May I ask this pointblank question, because I think 

it im portant: Are you opposed to the legislation ?

Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; because it reduces the flexibility.

Mr. S pringer. In tha t statement, I presume you speak for the State 

Department.

Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir.

Mr. Springer. Do you also speak for the administration ?

Mr. Woodward. I believe so, sir.

Mr. Springer. You have at the present time, for dealing with Castro 

in the field covered by this bill, the Trading With the Enemy Act and 

the recent amendment to the Mutual Security Act introduced by the 

distinguished gentleman from Florida, Mr. Rogers, which I assume 

will be in the act when i t is finally adopted. You are familiar with 

tha t, to o; are you not ?

Mr. W oodward. I had not been familiar with tha t before listening 

to this testimony today.

Mr. Springer. You do know what th at does ?

Mr. Woodward. I am not absolutely ce rtain; no, sir.

Mr. Springer. You do know that is discretionary with the President. He may invoke it or he may not.

Mr. Woodward. No, I did not know that.

Mr. Springer. You did not know that? If we pass this legislation, it would take away all the discretion which you have under the 

Mutual Security Act and the Tra ding With the Enemy Act. Is that 

true ?

Mr. Woodward. That is my understanding; yes, sir.

Mr. Springer. Then I take it tha t is chiefly the reason you are opposed to this legislation.

Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir.

Mr. Springer. That is all, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. Mr. Williams.

Mr. Williams. To clarify your opposition to the legislation, Mr. 

Woodward, does the State Department take a position in opposition to 

the principle involved in the legislation, that principle being, as I 

understand it, a total economic embargo against Cuba?

Mr. Woodward. The State Department is not opposed to the ultimate objective of the legislation, but I believe I can say tha t the 

State Department is opposed only to the limitation on the flexibility
32 TRADE W IT H CUBA

of its own discretionary authority under the Trad ing W ith th e Enemy 

Act.

Mr. Williams. Of course, the ultimate objective of the legislation 

is to bring about a total economic boycott or embargo against Cuba. 

If the State Department is in favor of that objective, then why would 

it need flexibility ?

Mr. Woodward. Because up to the present we had not wished to 

lend fur ther fuel to the argument which has been advanced repeatedly 

by people in other American republics th at this difficulty with Cuba is 

largely a bilateral problem with the United States. We have been 

waiting until there seemed to be further reason or circumstances in 

which it would seem appropriate to take this final step.

Mr. Williams. Do I understand, then, tha t efforts are being made 

to do this through the Organization of American States rather than to 

do it unilaterally on the part of the United States?

Mr. Woodward. No, there is no movement afoot at. present to attempt to invoke any kind of multilateral embargo on trad e with Cuba 

because there is so little trade with the other American republics; and 

there seems to be insufficient sentiment at this time among those countries to warrant an effort to try to get a multilateral action on the 

problem.

Mr. Williams. Mr. Casey in his statement before the committee indicated th at in addition to the do llar exchange in imports and exports 

with Cuba, we have given through the United Nations and its allied 

organizations additional moneys which have gone in to Cuba. Are 

you familiar with any program of the United Nations which would 

send money in to Cuba, to which we contribute?

Mr. Woodward. I have heard only in very general terms about a 

recent request from the Cuban Government to the United Nations 

for some technical assistance in the field of agriculture, I believe it is.

Mr. Williams. Do you know whether aid has gone into Cuba since 

the Castro regime took over, from the United Nations?

Mr. Woodward. I am sorry to say I am not adequately informed 

on that point. No, I do not know. I should know, and I shall try to 

find out.

Mr. Williams. I believe that is all.

The Chairman. Mr. Younger.

Mr. Younger. Mr. Woodward, I am somewhat amazed at your 

statement tha t expressions here on behalf of this legislation in favor 

of doing something about Cuba would have an effect on the Executive 

to determine his action Is there any doubt in the minds of those in 

the State Department, or the Executive about how the American people 

feel on this question?

Mr. Woodward. Yes, s ir ; there has been a little doubt. In the first, 

place, the trade was considered to be relatively minor and some very 

highly respected—at. least one highly respected opinion has been 

expressed by a Member of the Congress indicating reluctance to see 

this trade stopped.

Mr. Williams. What Member is that, Mr. Secretary?

Mr. Woodward. The head of the F lorid a delegation.

Mr. W illiams. The head of the Florida delegation? Who would tha t be?

Mr. Woodward. Senator Holland.
TRAD E W IT H CUBA 33

Mr. Williams. The senior Senator?

Mr. Woodward. Perhaps I am using the wrong terminology, but I 

refer to Senator Holland.

Mr. Younger. Regardless of Senator Holland’s view, if you had 

listened or if your people had listened to expressions of Congress all 

during the debate on the mutual security bill, you would have found 

out very definitely how the majority feel, not how some one Senator 

happens to feel. So th at your statement rath er amazes me.

The other point is the question of the flexibility of the action of the 

President, that this seems to be something sacrosanct tha t we should 

not interfere with. If the flexibility which the President has is inconsistent with the will of th e people and the will of Congress speaking 

on behalf of the people, how can you correct tha t other than by action 

of th is kind ?

Mr. Woodward. Tha t, sir, is a very broad question of the relationship between the legislative and the executive branches, and I feel my 

opinion is relatively inconsequential. I am sure tha t you gentlemen 

who live with these problems know much more about tha t than I do.

Mr. Younger. I guess we cannot get anywhere on that.

One other thing. You referred to all of this talk about the Organization of American States and the necessity of dealing with them. 

I just want to make this comment which seems to apply. I think it 

was a very famous French Prem ier who, at the time of the Revolution, 

made this statement. He said, “The mob is forming outside in the 

streets. I must find out which way they are going, because I am their 

leader.” That seems to be the position of the United States throug hout in its action about Cuba as well as Berlin. We seem to be waiting for some mob to form and to find out how they are going before 

we act. I am afra id your testimony, Mr. Woodward, rather convinces me that t hat may be true.

That is all, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. Mr. Rogers.

Mr. R ogers of Texas. I yield.

Mr. Macdonald. I have just one question. First, I would like to 

say I agree with you about not interfering with the outside world until 

we are completely sure of all the facts. One thing th at has amazed me 

about y our testimony is t his : Do you dispute what was said by Mr. 

Rogers concerning the effect of the Rio Trea ty going into effect and 

going throu gh the Organization of American States if we do put on 

a complete embargo ?

Mr. Woodward. I must admit this is new to me.

Mr. Macdonald. How can it be new to you? For my own info rmation, how can it be new to you i f you are the Under Secretary in 

Charge of Latin America ? Eit her Mr. Rogers is wrong and people to 

whom I have talked are wrong, or you are wrong. I would like to 

hear th at I am wrong or that Mr. Rogers is wrong.

Mr. Woodward. I think that is a point on which I had better make 

sure of the absolute precision of my information and inform the committee by letter.

Mr. Macdonald. It is a rather broad, general principle, and it seems 

to me one to be first looked at in making a decision of this sort. It 

seems to me this was the reason th at this had not taken place earlier. 

If that is not so, I would like to hear it from the State Department.
34 TRADE W IT H CUBA

Mr. Woodward. I had not heard of that reason, and I have discussed 

this question in considerable detail with people in the Department of 

State.

Mr. Macdonald. What reason do they give, except tying up the 

flexibility of the President to be used at a more strategy time, perhaps, 

than now ?

Mr. Woodward. Tha t was the reason.

Mr. Macdonald. There was no mention of the invoking of the Organization of American States?

Mr. Woodward. No, sir.

Mr. R ogers of Florida. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. Rogers of Texas. I will be happy to yield. Let me ask one 

question first.

The position of the State Department with regard to this legislation is th at you feel you have a better source of strength if you have 

a flexible position so you are able to bring this weapon to bear at the 

proper time, your choosing the time, rath er than to have i t rigid. Is 

that correct?

Mr. Woodward. That is correct, sir.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. As I understand it, you decided the time 

was proper some number of months back to invoke a boycott on exports, but now it is your position to bring about flexibility to invoke 

a boycott on imports. Do I understand tha t to be your position?

Mr. Woodward. I believe, sir, the further embargo would apply 

to both the remaining exports as well as the imports.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Yes, this would be complete. But as I understand your testimony now, you are saying they are not of much 

significance, so maybe it will not matter, anyhow. So why do you 

need flexibility if it is not going to have any effect? Is there any 

reason to ask for flexibility m this situation ?

Mr. Woodward. The relative unimportance of the trade as compared to the former trade does reduce the need for flexibility, yes, sir.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. But you do feel that it would have some 

impact, and that is why you want to keep the flexibility. Is th at right ?

Mr. Woodward. That is right.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Then you do feel it would have some effect?

Mr. Woodward. Yes, it would have some effect.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Wh at effect would it have?

Mr. Woodward. Mostly psychological, I would say.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Yes. Would it have some effect on our 

other neighboring countries in Central and South America to see us 

take this action?

Mr. Woodward. Yes, I thin k it would.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Then this possibly could have great effect, 

could it not, if it has a psychological impact on our neighbors?

Mr. Woodward. It could have grea t psychological effect, yes.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. I th ank the Secretary for making that clear.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Rogers of Texas. Th at is all.

The Chairman. Mr. Keith.

Mr. Keith. Mr. Secretary, you mentioned the need for flexibility 

in the use of our several tools of foreign policy. I believe we have 

military force, foreign aid, and economic efforts which we can make.
TRAD E W IT H CUBA 35

I was surprised to find tha t you had not seriously considered and 

contemplated the amendments which were offered by Congress, because 

it would seem to me tha t they should be sampling your opinion as to 

whether or not the administration would concur in these amendments 

which the House considers so vital. The administration seems to 

disregard Congress in a larger and more important role than this. 

Were you consulted prior to Secretary Dillon’s making his statement 

tha t the United States would furnish a large portion, some of it 

through public funds, of the $20 billion over the next 10 years in 

South America?

Mr. Woodward. Yes, I was one of many people who were consulted 

by Secretary Dillon.

Mr. Keit ii. Were you aware of the fact th at implementation of this 

plan requires congressional approval?

Mr. Woodward. Yes. Of course, substantial portions of the amount 

of the assistance are from funds which are appropriated by the Congress.

Mr. Keith. Do you not think it would have been easier for us to 

have discussed the subject in Congress and determine our course of 

action if the Secretary had said, “We will ask Congress for the funds 

to do this job,” rather than sort of committing us prio r to making 

the request of Congress ?

Mr. Woodward. I cannot speak for Secretary Dillon, b ut I feel he 

was basing his statement on his own extensive experience and conversations with representatives of Congress, and tha t he was simply 

projecting what he interpreted to be the attitude which already had 

been shown by the Members of the Congress.

Mr. Keith. We cherish our role and we would like to be consulted 

prio r to being committed as a nation. It seems from the conduct of 

these hearings tha t we feel we have some responsibilities, and tha t 

recommendations we make, can and should, be brought to the attention 

of the subordinates in the State Department who in turn should determine the policy of the administration and advise us whether or not 

they can go along with these amendments.

Mr. Macdonald. Does the gentleman indicate tha t Congress does 

or should run our external foreign affairs?

Mr. Keith. No, I do not imply that. I do feel that where financing 

is required in order to implement them, we have a responsibility.

Mr. Macdonald. As I recall, the gentleman exercised that responsibility in holding down the spending and planning for foreign aid to 

a 1-year period. I do not really know what the gentleman’s point is.

Mr. Keith. My point is tha t the members of the State Department 

and other members of the administration, in making commitments 

to the countries of Latin America, should have the support of Congress prior to making commitments.

I yield back to the chairman.

The Chairman. Mr. Rogers of Florida, have you anything further?

Mr. Rogers of Florida. No more questions.

The Chairman. Mr. C urtin.

Mr. Curtin. Mr. Secretary, did I understand you to say in your 

testimony that you felt this was not the proper time to take any 

stronger action on the Cuban situation ?
36 TRADE W IT H CUBA

Mr. Woodward. No, sir, I do not feel th at I should predict at just 

what time it would be proper to take the action which the President 

is now authorized to take under the Trading With the Enemy Act. 

It could come at any time.

Air. Curtin. I was wondering whether anything was happening 

in relation to the situation which made this time peculiarly inauspicious for this type of legislation.

Mr. Woodward. No, sir, I would say not.

Mr. Curtin. I understood you also to say tha t one of the main 

reasons why the administration may be reluctant to do anything further would be fear of retaliatory actions as against remaining American assets in Cuba. Is tha t correct ?

Mr. Woodward. No, sir. I alluded to the fact th at such retaliatory 

action might be effected, but I do not think th at fear of such retaliatory action should be considered as a deterrent.

Air. Curtin. Would you tell me what is the approximate value of 

American properties still remaining unattached in Cuba ?

Air. Woodward. That is very difficult to estimate or find out, because 

they are mostly properties held by individuals who have comparatively 

small properties. The guesstimate is somewhere between $10 and $15 

million of properties.

Air. Curtin. Out of a total value of how much as of the time Air. 

Castro took over ?

Air. Woodward. Around a billion dollars.

Air. Curtin. Incidentally, just what section of the State Dep artment do you head ? I was not here when you started your testimony.

Air. Woodward. The Bureau of Inter-American Affairs.

Air. Curtin. You have charge, then, of all South American affairs?

Mr. Woodward. I feel as though tha t is something of an exaggeration, but tha t is the job description, Latin American Affairs.

Air. Curtin. Tha t is all, Air. Chairman.

The Chairman. Air. Sibal.

Air. Sibal. Mr. Secretary, when you were commenting on the desirability of this bill particularly at tha t time, I believe you gave as 

the principal reason the fact tha t the administration, the President if 

you will, has authority under the Trad ing With the Enemy Act to 

accomplish what this bill is designed to accomplish.

Air. Woodward. Yes, sir.

Mr. Sibal. Under the Tra ding With the Enemy Act, he has the 

flexibility to consider the timing and the effect on other countries, and 

so forth. Is that correct ?

Mr. Woodward. That is correct.

Air. Sibal. Did I understand you also to indicate some surprise 

at the expression of members of this committee about invoking the 

Tra ding With the Enemy Act because you had been under the impression tha t it was the feeling of Congress, as expressed by the distinguished senior Senator from Florida, that this should not be done?

Air. AVoodward. I think “surprise” would be a stronger word than 

I would have wanted to use.

Mr. Sibal. What word would you use ?

Air. AVoodward. I would say it is very helpful to learn tha t there is 

such a unanimity of opinion other than the isolated comments th at I 

had heard before.
TRADE W IT H CUBA 37

Mr. Sibal. Today was the first time you got th at impression?

Mr. Woodward. The first time that 1 knew there was such strong 

and unanimous or almost unanaimous opinion, yes, sir.

Mr. Sibal. Do you read the Congressional Record?

Mr. Woodward. I am sorry to say I have not read it very carefully.

Mr. Sibal. You also referred at one point in your testimony—1 am 

trying to be precise here—to the perhaps superior understanding 

Members of Congress might have about the relationship between the 

Congress and the executive as compared to th at which you might have 

in your position. Did you not ?

Mr. Woodward. I tried not to presume to make any sweeping statements on that subject.

Mr. Sibal. To get to my real point, do you or do you not feel it a 

part of your job to acquaint yourself with congressional opinion and 

congressional expressions, particularly, of course, in the area fo r which 

you are responsible—Inter-American Affairs?

Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; I hope to be able to accomplish that more 

and more.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. I do think it ought to be brought out tha t 

the Assistant Secretary of State Woodward has just come on this 

job and he is in the process of acquainting himself with many of these 

problems. I feel in fairness th at should be stated. As you know, he 

has just been appointed.

Mr. Sibal. 1 appreciate tha t and I certainly want to be fair with 

the distinguished Secretary.

I would point out this point, however:

It has been in only the past week or so th at we passed what is the 

present version of the mutual security bill. Do I understand you are 

not familiar with the provisions as they affect our relations with Latin 

America which are included in that particular bill at this moment?

Mr. Woodward. I have not had an o pportunity to study tha t as yet, 

sir. I am natu rally very much interested in those provisions, of 

course.

Mr. Sibal. Do you have any suggestions, based on your experience 

and responsibilities, to the Congress in term s of dealing with the very 

complex problems of Latin America ?

Mr. Woodward. I beg your pardon?

Mr. Sibal. Did you have any suggestions a t the time we were considering these problems? Did you have any position in relation to 

the suggestions which were made by various Members of Congress?

Mr. Woodward. I have had 3 hours before the Passman subcommittee discussing the prospective legislation. Tha t particu lar provision was not discussed during that hearing.

Mr. Sibal. In other words, at the conclusion of your testimony, 

having expressed yourself, you did not feel th at the debate on the floor 

and the amendments offered on the floor were something on which you 

could pass judgment on a moment-to-moment basis?

Mr. Woodward. No. I should have kept myself informed, of 

course, but I left immediately the next morning for the conference at 

Uruguay, got back a week ago, and was sick in bed for 3 days. I 

have not had much op portunity to bring myself up to date.

Mr. Sibal. We are going to have to consider this program further 

as a result of the disagreement in the versions between the two Houses.

75 55 3— 61— 6
38 TRADE W IT H CUBA

Do you have any opinions now concerning the Latin American aspects 

of the mutual security bill ?

Mr. Macdonald. We are not in the Senate confirming Mr. Woodward and I do not see what this has to do with this hearing.

Mr. Sibal. We are trying to become informed on Latin American 

affairs. You will recall the question you directed concerning the 

mutual security bill.

Mr. Macdonald. I referred to a treaty which would go into effect 

if the Trading With the Enemy Act is put into effect. It was my 

understanding th at this bill would perhaps circumvent tha t and I did 

not want to get us another defeat in the Organization of American 

States.

Mr. Sibal. The gentleman will agree we should become as informed 

as we can.

Mr. Macdonald. I am sure the gentleman is well informed on all 

these matters.

Mr. Sibal. I wish th at were so.

I have no furth er questions.

The Chairman. Mr. Dominick?

Mr. Dominick. When we send exports to Cuba do we get paid in 

the form of American dollars?

Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; I believe the exporters require cash with 

order.

Mr. Dominick. Where do these American dollars originate ? Have 

they been ap propriated from American businesses or American citizens down there?

Mr. Woodward. I don't know where they come from although 

there has been sufficient Cuban exportation to the United States to 

pay for the limited amount of imports.

Mr. Dominick. That is one of the things I was trying to get at. 

Presumably, then, if we cut off the imports, and the dollars which 

flow there, we would be cutting off a lot of the exports because they 

could not pay fo r them. Would tha t be true ?

Mr. Woodward. It would certainly be much more difficult for them 

to get the dollars.

Mr. Dominick. In connection with some of the specific shipments 

which have been made since the 3d of July, I have here from the 

Department of Commerce an indication tha t on the 19th of July a 

special license was issued to send $24,000 worth of aircra ft parts and 

tires to Cuba.

Did the State Department know about this?

Mr. Woodward. I don’t think that the State Department is regularly informed of these applications, but I would like to refer to the 

Department of Commerce licensing authorities who are represented 

here on tha t point. If these were for military aircra ft they would 

have to be cleared through the State De partme nt; and, of course, they 

would not be approved.

Mr. Dominick. Is there regular coordination on these licenses between the Department of Commerce and the State Department?

Mr. Woodward. I think on any questionable application there certainly would be very close consultation, yes, sir.

Mr. Dominick. During Jan uar y and March, according to the Department of Commerce, $400,000 worth of industrial machinery was
TRADE W IT H CUBA 39

exported to Cuba. Do you happen to know what th at was or whether 

the State D epartment concurred in it?

Mr. Woodward. No, sir, I do not know what that was. I can only 

assume it must have been something considered to be relatively noncontroversial or it would not have been approved.

Mr. Dominick. Mr. Chairman, I merely want to say for the benefit 

of the record I am wholeheartedly in support of th is bill and I hope 

we can get prompt action on it.

The Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. Woodward, for your 

appearance here today and your testimony on this subject.

The committee will adjourn until Fri day morning at 10 o’clock, 

at which time we shall have with us the Assistant Secretary of International Affairs from the Department of Commerce, Mr. Rowland 

Bum stan.

Mr. Bum stan, can you return on Friday morning?

Mr. B urn Stan. Yes, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. Very well. The committee will adjourn at this 

time.
a <LT.. l ' V . UAH';

V \f ■■ : UU. . ’ 

v

f lf iy (■ .!.:• 1

no»:

 ». ! :• : ..... ; .

ofi.1 . ,• •. :

I brr.j h.co rbFo ds

/ • '• ? A . •.

■ :

 \ f ! • . . . . • 'JX

.• • •

' . ’ : • \ • . v (;d . : ‘ ■

>1 .

! .' ,!• \ j ; ' .

i f t :

 '. 11 i • • ■ • • I } \ v i •

‘ (I I

! 'id \ .
TRADE WIT H CUBA

FR ID A Y , S E P T E M B E R 1, 19 61

House of Representatives,

Committee on I nterstate and Foreign Commerce,

Washington, D.G.

The committee met a t 10 a.m., in room 1334, House Office Building, 

Hon. Oren H arris (chairm an) presiding.

The Chairman. The hearing will come to order.

The Chair feels we must proceed immediately with the hearings 

this morning. Other members will be in later. There are several 

witnesses we must get to as we continue hearings on II.R. 8465, a bill 

by Mr. Rogers, of Florida, and a number of other similar bills which 

would prohibit the shipment in interstate or foreign commerce of 

articles imported into the United States from Cuba, and for other 

purposes.

We are pleased to note the presence of our colleague and friend, the 

Honorable George Smathers, a great Senator from the great State of 

Florida, with whom we had the privilege of serving in the House for 

a good many years.

Senator, may I extend to you in behalf of the committee a cordial 

welcome.

Senator S mathers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. We are glad to have you with us, and if you care 

to make a statement on th is legislation we would be glad to have it 

at this time.

STATEMENT OF HON. GEORGE A. SMATHERS, A U.S. SENATOR FROM 

THE STATE OF FLORIDA

Senator Smathers. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I would 

like to make a brief statement after first stating to you tha t I appreciate the generosity with which you have introduced me. I say the 

most pleasant duty in many ways that I had as a Member of the Congress was tha t of being a member of this particular body. I would 

not want anybody to presume by tha t tha t I am not satisfied where 

I am, but nonetheless the more pleasant aspects of the job were here 

with you gentlemen.

First and very briefly, I do want to say that I think the bill which 

has been introduced by Congressman Rogers is a meritorious bill. It 

deserves the support of the Congress of the United States. I think 

its purposes are wholly worthy. I believe we must do something 

in order to try to get rid of Fidel Castro and his Communist government in Cuba.

41
42 TRADE W IT H CUBA

I would say to you th at in looking through my file of last Jan uary, 

I noted t hat on Janua ry 6 I wrote a letter asking tha t an embargo be 

put on Cuba. I wrote to the Honorable Christian A. H erter, Dep artment of State, which was before the advent of the new administration, 

and I set out in tha t letter the reasons that I then thought tha t the 

State Department on its own initiative should bring about this action.

If there is no objection, Mr. Chairman, I would like to make that 

letter pa rt of the record.

The Chairman. We are glad to have it and it will be received fo r 

the record at th is point.

(The letter referred to follows:)

January 7, 1961. Hon. Christian A. Herter,

Department of State, Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Secretary : Prior to the recent break of diplomatic relations between 

the United States and Cuba, I have strongly advocated and urged the President 

and the Department of State to take prompt and effective economic sanctions 

against the present Government of Cuba to prohibit the imports of fru its and 

vegetables and other dutiable commodities into the United States.

In my opinion such action is imperative to the security not only of the United 

States but to the entire Western Hemisphere because i t is apparent tha t the present Government of Cuba has been for some time and continues to be openly 

hostile to its longtime friend and ally, th e United States.

This open hostility clearly following t he philosophy of the world Communist 

movement is diametrically opposed to free peoples and free governments everywhere. The patience and tolerance of the United States has been tax ed beyond 

the realm of prudent endurance. Immediate steps to contain and eventually 

render impotent the enemies of freedom are essential if we are to win the battl e 

of survival itself.

You will recall tha t the Congress this past year took effective action at the 

request of the Presid ent of the United States to deal effectively with respect to 

the Cuban sugar quota. This was designed to prevent American dollars from 

being used to finance the Communist movement in Cuba and throughou t other 

Latin American countries as well. It seems only logical to conclude tha t this 

action alone is insufficient without insuring tha t the present regime of Cuba is 

prevented from receiving dollars from other sources obviously to be used for the 

same purpose. In this respect I cannot urge too strongly tha t immediate consideration be given toward invoking the provisions of section 5 of the Trad e 

Agreement Extension Act of 1951, as amended, in order tha t all dutiable imports 

from Cuba be prohibited. This step appears warr anted in light of the President’s 

recent action designating tha t the present Government of Cuba is Communist 

controlled.

I realize tha t such a determination would have broad consequences but in my 

opinion it is essential that this action be ta ken immediately if we are to preserve 

the security of the United States, the security of the Western Hemisphere, and 

the security of the free world generally.

I would be pleased to have your reaction to this proposal at your earliest 

convenience.

With best wishes, I am,

Sincerely yours,

George A. Smathers, U.S. Senator.

Senator Smathers. I would also like very much to quote for the 

record a letter which I have just received irom an individual who 

had lived all of his life in Cuba. In the letter he set out that he had 

27 relatives now there, tha t he could not help but believe that the 

United States was not doing the right thing in carry ing on, under 

existing circumstances, trade between the United States and Cuba.

He said tha t we hear the argument they are not putting on an embargo because of the fact it would bring some distress to the people 

of his country.
TRADE WITH CUBA 43

He said—

I can say, having gotten out of there only 3 days ago, tha t as far as my 27 

immediate relatives are concerned, we believe we are going to have to undergo 

considerable pain and considerable suffering in order to get rid of the Com­ munist dictatorship which now controls our land. We recognize tha t fact. As 

a matter of fact, we would welcome some days and even some weeks of additional hardships over those which we are now suffering if we thought in the 

end it would help bring about the downfall of Fidel Castro

and he canot help but believe th at completely cutting off tra de would 

help bring Castro’s downfall.

I further would like to state tha t it is my information, and I believe 

my information is reasonably good, tha t the dictatorship of Fidel 

Castro, referring to the Communist dictatorship which he has there 

now, is suffering great economic pains. As a matter of fact, one of 

our representatives who attended the Conference at Montevideo at 

Punta del Este, and I am not at liberty to divulge this gentleman’s 

name though I would back this up in any forum because I know it is 

a fact, this gentleman indicated that he heard “Che” Guevara, in 

talk ing with some of the representatives of other countries, admit 

they were suffering grea t economic hardship. However, of course, 

“Che” Guevara maintained that they would finally and ultimately 

win. It was indicated by Guevara’s conversation tha t the people were 

getting restive over the fact they were not getting the kind of protein 

diet which they had been accustomed to previously even though it 

was low compared to our standards. They had no soap, very little 

paper, very little of the things which the people of Cuba had been 

accustomed to having.

I think it is important that we remember th at this Communist dictatorship was not brought about in Cuba because of a real low 

standard of living. As a matter of fact, the Cubans had the thir d 

highest standard of living of all the countries of Central and South 

America as of the time Fidel Castro took over. The argument tha t 

the Communists take over only because of poverty is not necessarily so, 

as proven by the takeover of Fidel Castro and the Communists. The 

Communists we know can take over wherever they get control of the 

weapons and the means of warfare by which they can subjugate the 

people and where they can get a means of propaganda as well.

I cannot help but believe th at while the trade we carry on with 

Cuba today is not large in terms of the trade we carry on with many 

other peoples, nonetheless I think the figures reveal it is in the neighborhood of some $60 million. I do not see any earthly justification 

for our continuing to provide Fidel Castro and his Communist government with even tha t small amount of money when he uses that 

money for the purpose of fur the r entrenching his own particular 

Communist dictatorship and fur the r subjugating the people of Cuba, 

and then using that money, and other money which is released because he has this money, for the purposes of propagandizing and advancing the cause of communism in adjacent countries and throughout 

South America.

I think the time has long since passed, I have stated this on many 

occasions, and, I regret, without success, where we must recognize the
44 TRADE W IT H CUBA

type of government tha t exists there and we must begin to move 

affirmatively to get rid of it.

Consequently, in light of the fact tha t the State Department has 

demonstrated reluctance to do this, I cannot help but believe that this 

legislation which has been introduced by my colleague from Florida 

is worthy and meritorious and should be passed, and if passed it will 

help facilitate the downfall of the Communist government of Fidel 

Castro.

Mr. Chairman, that it all tha t I would care to say at this time. If 

anybody would like to ask me any questions I certainly would be delighted to try to answer them.

The Chairman. I might say tha t the testimony presented by the 

State Department a few days ago revealed t ha t there was last year, 

compared to the previous year, an amount of $548 million in exports 

as compared to $20 million this year, and imports amounting to $543 

million in 1958 as compared with about $30 million within the past 

year, which means that the trade with Cuba has been reduced almost 

to the point of being a nonentity.

As I recall it, the representative from the State Department for 

inter-American affairs testified tha t the rate now was approximately 

$12 million a year.

Senator Smatiiers. On that point, Mr. Chairman, I would like to 

say that I think that is growing relatively less important, as the State 

Department has testified. The amount has dropped. Cuba at one 

time was the fifth best customer we had. However, it has dropped off.

I think we must cut it all off. I believe it would be a great encouragement to the other nations of Central and South America. I think 

we must demonstrate to those nations of Central and South America, 

and particularly to those governments which are not exactly sure as to 

how we stand with Fidel Castro and his Communist dictatorship, 

that we can take some action which would let them know specifically 

we do not approve of this government, do not approve of what is 

going on, and we hope it will fall.

I think the best way we can demonstrate that, at least one of the 

ways we can demonstrate th at, is through adoption of this particular 

action.

Once having done that I think other countries of Central and South 

America would follow and do the same thing.

While it may lie that the amount which he is getting from us today 

is small, nonetheless the amount he is getting from some of the other 

countries totaled up is quite large, so when we stop it and we take the 

leadership in stopping it, and the other countries of Central and South 

America, with the possible exception of Brazil and Mexico, would 

follow our lead, I think then the total loss to Fidel Castro and his 

Communist dictatorship would be great.

There is no doubt th at he is suffering and there is no doubt th at the 

sooner the people of Cuba who have been misled by his propaganda 

recognize tha t this Communist dictatorship cannot even feed them, 

the sooner they will be persuaded that the time has come to try to get 

rid of Fidel Castro and communism.

The Chairman. Do you have any information that other Latin 

American nations will follow the lead of the United States with regard to an embargo ?
TRADE W IT H CUBA 45

Senator Smathers. It is my personal information, Mr. Chairman, 

there are a number of Latin American countries which would be of a 

disposition to follow our lead. There are eight Latin American countries th at have already broken relations with Cuba. We formally have 

not done that, but there are eight Latin American countries, notably 

Peru, which already have done so.

1 noticed at Pu nta del Este, where the Peruvian Government, led by 

President Prado, tried to get through a resolution during the Economic Conference that no aid would go to any one of these countries 

where they did not have free elections and where they did not practice 

democracy. Regrettably, in my judgment, that particular phrase was 

left out at the insistence of the Cubans, and regrettably apparently 

with the acquiescence of the United States of America.

1 think we cannot stand up and say we will give help to a country 

which does not at least try to be democratic. I think we are flying in 

the face of what the taxpayers of the United States want, I do not 

believe that the taxpayers of America are of a disposition to reach 

down into their pockets and make a contribution to help underdeveloped or rapidly developing countries of Latin America or anywhere else where those countries th at are receiving this help are Communist inclined or are moving in the direction of a dictatorship rather 

than moving in the direction of a democracy. I thought and still 

think, that the whole motive of the program is to try to bring about 

democracy.

That particular resolution was developed by the ladership of Peru 

and the leadership of Colombia, and I regret to say we did not give it 

the support it deserved on the ground tha t this was not a political 

conference, that it w’as solely an economic conference, and we would 

not get into the political question.

There is an article which recently has been issued written by Jules 

DuBois, Castro’s Boswell at one time. He was tremendously impressed with Fidel Castro. He is a reporter who used to work with 

the Chicago Tribune. He has written a book on Fidel Castro, where 

I think he calls him Robin Hood. It is a very friendly book about 

Fidel. It was published about a year and a ha lf ago.

Since that time Jules DuBois has admitted th at he made a mistake, 

tha t he was misled by the representations of Fidel Castro, as I know 

many others were.

He went around the Latin American countries just recently, more 

recently than the visit of Ambassador Stevenson. It was his conclusion, which is my conclusion also, Mr. Chairman, because I think 

I have traveled Latin America about as much as anybody in Congress, 

tha t you can hear almost anything you want to hear, but what you 

hear unofficially is different from what you hear officially—that the 

leadership of most of the Latin American countries would like the 

United States to be strong and decisive in getting rid of Fidel Castro 

because they realize that they have no future if Castro and his communism take over in their countries.

Most of these men have been democratically elected. There is no 

future fo r them in a Communist-dominated country. They would like 

to have the United States as leader of the Western Hemisphere, and 

we hope actual leader of the free world, to exercise some leadership 

in getting rid of communism in this Western Hemisphere. They
46 TRADE W IT H CUBA

would welcome it but they are afra id to say so publicly because they 

have in their countries, as we have in our country, certain small, wellorganized, but loud and vociferous groups who are talking about the 

new revolution, the social revolution, and so on, which we have heard 

for many years and which frank ly has now led us to the brink of 

what might be the third and last world war.

They have those people in their countries, too, and they do not 

want to take them head on unless they know exactly where the United 

States stands, and unless they know tha t the United States in fact 

will support them and stand with them. If we take a completely 

neutral and standoff position, and if they bump head to head with 

the Communist groups in their countries and say, “We are staying 

out of it,” they may have some trouble. They would like to know 

where we stand, and we thus far have not given any actual indication 

of where we do stand other than to from time to time make rather 

platitudinous general statements tha t we believe in democracy, tha t 

we believe in freedom, that we believe in all of these things. * However, we have not done much more than make speeches up to this 

point, Mr. Chairman.

I think the time has come for the Congress to demonstrate tha t the 

people of the United States and their representatives do not approve 

of this Communist dictatorship of Fidel Castro in this hemisphere.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Of course, I certainly agree wholeheartedly 

with the very excellent statement Senator Smathers has made. I 

think it does bear particu lar weight because of his long background 

and, to my mind, his being the expert on L atin American affairs in 

the Congress.

As he said, he has called the attention of the State Department to 

this problem repeatedly, the problem of continuing trade, and still 

there has been no action. I must say th at I think recent events substantiate exactly what the Senator has said, tha t the people of those 

countries are looking to us for leadership. I think recent events of 

“Che” Guevara’s visit to Argentina, when the pressure was so great 

tha t the President of that country had to come out and clarify the 

situation after his visit there, points tha t up. Brazil now has forces 

which do not want communism. They are trying to come to the fore. 

They need encouragement of the righ t type.

I wanted to bring out the fact tha t the State Department agrees 

with us in p art tha t this bill would have great psychological effect on 

the Nation, and it was so testified to the other day by Assistant Secretary of State Woodward, who is in charge of L atin American affairs, 

when he said in answer to my question as to what would be the 

effect, “It could have great psychological effect.”

I agree wholeheartedly with the Senator. Congress needs to act 

because we have just been wishy-washy on this particular phase. I 

am very grateful to the Senator for his statement.

Senator Smathers. Thank you, Mr. Rogers.

The Chairman. Mr. Younger.

Mr. Younger. I have no questions. I do want to compliment the 

Senator very much, because I subscribe wholeheartedly to everything 

he has said.

Senator Smathers. Thank you, Mr. Congressman.

The Chairman. Air. Rogers of Texas.
TRADE W IT H CUBA 47

Mr. Rogers of Texas. Just one question, Senator. You subscribe 

to the policy th at all trad e with Cuba ought to be stopped; do you 

not?

Senator Smathers. Yes, sir.

Mr. Rogers of Texas. The thin g tha t disturbs me in the situation 

so far as this bill is in relation to the interstate commerce activity, 

where they begin, and if they begin in the first instance. In other 

words, we say tha t any goods imported from Cuba cannot be carried 

in interstate commerce. Where does interstate commerce end—at the 

3-mile limit?

Senator Smathers. Mr. Rogers, I think tha t is a legal and somewhat technical matter. At the outset, before you arrived, I said I 

agree with the purposes of this legislation. I think Congressman 

Rogers intends the purpose of it to be not only to stop the trade, but 

to have it eventuate in the psychological benefit which is needed all 

over the area. As to specifically whether or not we would have destroyers out 3 miles attempting to intercept, I do not know. I would 

doubt tha t would be very practical. I think, however, if this bill 

were passed, it would be very easy for the Immigration and Customs 

people, as goods came in, merely to stop that. I do not think there 

is any great problem in that particular regard.

I am not actually familiar with the details of this particular bill. 

I am familiar with the purposes of it and the objectives of it, and it is 

with tha t t hat I wish to associate and have associated myself.

Mr. Rogers of Texas. Are we getting into a situation where goods 

could be imported into any gulf coast por t of Florida, for instance, 

and those goods could be traded among Floridians but could not be 

traded between Floridians and Georgians?

Mr. Rogers of Florida. The intent of the bill introduced was that 

those goods could not pass in interstate commerce, and the definition 

of the bill states tha t from any point outside the State. If goods 

came from outside the State of Florida, they would be stopped at the 

border of Florida. Tha t was the intent of the bill. I think the 

wording is sufficient to do that. If not, then I think it should 

definitely be changed by the committee in its deliberations.

Mr. Rogers of Texas. Of course, I thin k all trade should be 

stopped, and the thought in my mind is invoking the Trad ing With 

the Enemy Act if it did not bring into play many other facets that 

are not on the surface and not visible at the present time. We discussed tha t with Mr. Woodward, the Assistant Secretary of State in 

Charge of Latin American Affairs, and he amazed me at his lack of 

information on this particular problem. Perhaps he just did not want 

to give it out. He told us th at they had not even discussed the situation insofar as the status of the Organization of American States with 

relation to this problem; that they had discussed it only from the 

point of keeping this matter flexible so a t the proper time, when they 

felt it would be more effective or most effective to bring this into 

play, they could invoke the provisions of the Trading With the Enemy 

Act.

Senator Smathers. Mr. Congressman, I would only say if we can 

judge the future by the past, when they talk about flexibility, they 

mean inactivity. I thin k when they say they have doubts about it 

and probably do not want the bill, they mean they want the righ t to 

do nothing.
48 TRADE W IT H CUBA

I have made many representations to the State Department, starting 

with tlie last administration and this administration, and I must say 

they certainly cannot claim ignorance of the fact tha t the trade we are 

carrying on with Communist Cuba is doing damage to our stature 

and our image all over Central and South America, and it ought to 

be stopped. It is to their advantage as well as to our advantage. 

They have seen fit to follow the policy, frankly, of doing nothing 

about it. I think Congressman Rogers is endeavoring to at least let 

the people’s representatives speak, those who have been elected, who 

speak for our constituents. I think most of our constituents believe 

something should be done. I think this is a method, in some way to 

get the State Department to do something. That is really the purpose of Mr. Rogers’ bill. I do not think i t is quite so much whether 

or not $12 million or $(>5 million is involved, but whether or not 

there is actual trading of commodities back and forth. Actually, it 

does not affect our economy to a great extent, one way or the other.

Mr. Rogers of Texas. I think the Senator is exactly correct in his 

conclusion about the State Department. I think the flexibility would 

make it a more potent weapon but, as you point out and I think past 

experience proves, the State Department will not use the full potency 

of tha t weapon. If it were possible for the Congress to act with 

tha t same degree of flexibility or to act by using this weapon a t the 

opportune time, I think it would be exactly right. As you point out, 

past experience proves that unless we take some action, it will not be 

done.

Thank you very much.

The Chairman. Mr. Thomson.

Mr. Thomson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to ask the Senator if he has any information as to 

whether the bill will be signed if it is enacted by Congress.

Senator Smathers. 1 have none, Air. Thomson. I have no info rmation.

Mr. Thomson. Do you know whether or not the executive branch is 

making any effort to prevent the bill from moving through the Congress ?

Senator Smathers. I have no information on that.

Mr. Thomson. I agree with the position you have taken here, and 

I hope the executive branch will allow the Congress to speak on this 

matter.

Senator Smathers. Sir, I have talked with both this executive 

branch and the last executive branch about this matter. I did not 

seem to make much of an impression with either one. Tha t is a fact 

which I exceedingly regret. I really believe it has been to the loss 

of U.S. prestige.

The Chairman. Mr. Hemphill.

Mr. II emphill. I wish to thank the gentleman for coming and 

appearing. After hearing you testify, the thought occurred to me 

if the executive branch of the Government will not listen to a U.S. 

Senator, it is a p retty sad state of American politics.

Senator S mathers. I appreciate your saying tha t. Of course, they 

have the right to do what they want. I do not want to get involved 

in another matter and I do not accuse anybody of any lack of patriotism or lack of anything, but I regret to say that I find within the
TRADE W IT H CUBA 49

State Department a certain line has been followed for a long number 

of years, which is the belief tha t everything can somehow be negotiated, a feeling that somehow, if you do not meet a problem head on, 

it will go away. I have observed th at over the course of many years 

within what, you can call the hard core of the State Department.

Because of our civil service protection, the people who were making 

tha t policy 12 years ago in many instances are making it today. These 

are the men through whom all the reports from the held have to filter. 

When they get through reworking an ambassador's report, an economic 

officer’s report, or a political report from the held, regretfully, sometime tha t report no longer reflects the actual facts from the held. It 

more likely reflects the thinking of the person who is sitting on the 

desk, who is dedicated to a certain line.

Again, I say I am attacking nobody’s patriotism. It is a foreign 

policy within a foreign policy. For example, of the some 14,851 

employees of the State Department, counting the ambassadors, the 

President of the United State s can appoint only 181 when he comes 

into office. So you have a hard core of people there who have their 

own foreign policy and, regre tfully , are always defending tha t foreign 

policy. They made it in the early days, and they are defending it 

today. I think this is one of the dangers of our system. We are 

seeing it reflected in this matter with respect to Cuba.

Mr. H emphill. Thank you very much.

The Chairman. Mr. Dominick.

Mr. Dominick. Thank you, Air. Chairman.

I just, want to associate myself with your statement, Senator Smathers. I think it was an excellent statement. I also want to associate 

myself with your feeling about the State Department. We had a 

very interesting series of remarks made by the present Under Secretary for Latin American Affairs when he was up here at the previous 

hearing, during which he indicated quite plainly th at he was not even 

aware of some of the feelings of Members of Congress which, to say 

the least, is disconcerting so far as we are concerned.

Do you happen to have any idea why tobacco is still permitted to be 

imported, when sugar has been cut off ? The chairman asked this 

question before, and I though t maybe you might have some ideas. We 

got none from the State Department.

Senator Smathers. I do not know, other than I would say—I say 

this in all kindness—of course, in my State there is an area, a very 

important and sizable area, whose representatives are here this morning, and whose counsel is here, who is a personal and good friend of 

mine, who ably represents his industry and does a fine job. Obviously, he is a smart man. lie went to Harvard Law School. I 

like him. I do not know whether he has been able to accomplish 

this or not,. In any event, natu rally when I recommended that this 

total embargo go into effect last January, T was not a very popular 

man in that. area. As a matter of fact, I was hung in effigy one 

evening there by some of the cigar workers. Much as I sympathize 

with them and as deeply as I feel that I would hate to see them in 

any way economically hurt, I think the problem is bigger than that. 

I am satisfied this is a problem which will require some suffering 

and some sacrifice on the part of some people, and the sooner we do it. 

the quicker the situation will then stabilize itself and the people in the.
50 TRADE W IT H CUBA

tobacco industry will be back on their feet, knowing with whom they 

are dealing. These are very patriotic people. I know they do not want 

to contribute to the continuation of communism, and particularly 

where communism has some of their relatives by the throat.

To get back to your question as to how it happened, certain fruits 

and vegetables are still being shipped into Flor ida from Cuba. Obviously, some people take the position tha t we ought to cut tha t olf 

but let tobacco come in, and some say cut otf tobacco and let fruits 

and vegetables come in.

In my judgment, an embargo means th at all of it has to l>e stopped. 

I do not think you can have just a little embargo. I think that which 

we are trying to accomplish in relationship to the tobacco industry 

as well as the fresh fru it and vegetable industry is so much bigger 

and affects so many more people. Consequently, I think we must 

keep our eye on the big picture rath er than the little picture, even 

though I know certainly I and I am sure you and everybody else 

would feel very sorry for those people who might be economically 

hurt by the temporary imposition of an embargo.

How they do it, in answer to your question, I do not know.

Mr. Dominick. May I ask just one more question. Would you say 

the feelings you have given expression to here are reflected by the 

other Members of the Senate ?

Senator Smathers. I think my feelings are reflected by 90 percent 

of the Senate.

Mr. Dominick. Have these feelings been made plain to the executive department by others besides yourself?

Senator Smathers. I would say a large number of Senators have 

made expressions to this effect, yes.

Mr. Dominick. I was quite surprised, because I was sure this would 

be true, and yet the Und er Secretary said that he thought the executive 

department would be—he did not say “surprised” ; I guess he said 

“pleased” to find the apparent unanimity of opinion which the executive department did not know of before the day that he testified, 2 or 3 

days ago. It seems to me it has been self-evident for some time in 

Congress.

Senator Smathers. I am certain that the general sentiment of the 

Senate is pretty much as I have expressed it. There are those who do 

not agree with it, however. Generally speaking, I think the Senate is 

very much in favor of some action, and I believe this particular legislative proposal might give them the opportunity so to express themselves.

Mr. Dominick. Thank you.

The Chairman. Thank you very much, Senator. In behalf of the 

committee, we appreciate your interest in this problem and your contribution.

Senator Smathers. Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to 

appear before you again.

(The following letter was later submitted for the record by Senator 

Sm athers:)

August 26. 1961. S en at or George Smat he rs ,

Washington, D.C.

Dear Sen at or: Than ks fo r your th ou gh tf ul ne ss in se nd in g me a cop y of th e 

Con gr es sion al Re co rd w ith my Ju n e 18 pie ce on Cu ba pu blishe d th er ei n. I t has 

be en go ing th e ro un ds of my fr ie nds her e wh o fo un d it m os t in te re st in g.
TRADE W IT H CUBA 51

Many of us he re ar e pr ay ing th at no so ft- he arted and soft-head ed do-gooder 

in Washin gto n will st art as kin g th at the Un ited St ates supply food to the “poo r 

suffe rin g people" of Cuba . T ha t is ju st wha t Ca str o an d th e Krem lin wan t—for 

th e United State s to come to Cas tro’s hel p hee aus e of hu m an ita ria n feeling s.

You as a leader in hand lin g problems involving the gr ea t Cuba n crisis will be 

doing a service both to th e Un ited St ates and to th e real Cub an people if you 

as su re th at our econ omic embar go ag ai ns t Ca str o—inc lud ing foods and medicines— is tig htened ra th er th an relaxed.

I have ju st re tu rn ed from a 10-(lay to ur of Angola, in Po rtu gu ese Africa , and 

th er e ag ain I saw every ind ica tio n th at th e Un ited St ates is ag ain ac tin g with ou t 

thi nking , in supp ortin g an Afric a fo r the Afri ca ns long bef ore tho se sam e 

Afri ca ns ar e rea dy to ru le themse lves . I am so rry th at you an d some of the 

people lik e you could no t have ma de the sam e tri p, inste ad of havin g Mr. 

William s pay ing wha t wa s to th e Po rtu gu ese an unw elcome and ill-tim ed trip.

You will be glad to know th at most Cub an ex pe rts with whom I ha ve tal ked 

in th e la st 2 ye ars and more—inc lud ing vario us Eu rope an an d La tin Am erican 

dip lom ats—feel th at wha t the Un ited St ates nee ds toda y is more men who ac t 

an d think as S enato r Sm ath ers does.

I ’m off tom orrow to hel p cov er th e “un commi tte d” na tio ns con ferenc e in 

Be lgr ade, wh ere I exp ect to see Pre side nt Do rtic os tryi ng to ac t lik e a sma ll, 

beardle ss Cas tro.

I do sincerely hope, Senator , th at if you sho uld be ma kin g a tr ip to this par t 

of Europe, I have a cha nce of seeing an d talking with you.

Most sincerely,

The Chairman. Our colleague from New York, Mr. Halpern.

STATEM ENT OE HON. SEYMOUR HA LPER N, A RE PR ES EN TA TIVE 

IN CONGRESS FROM TH E STATE OF NE W YORK

Mr. Halpern. Mr. Chairman, I could not have been more pleased 

than I was by the announcement some days ago that this committee 

was scheduling hearings on legislation to establish a U.S. trade embargo with Cuba. These hearings indicate the determination of the 

committee to brin g this issue to a head.

As one who has joined with the distinguished gentleman from 

Florida, Mr. Rogers, in the introduction of legislation to invoke a 

complete embargo, I want to heartily commend you, Mr. Chairman, 

and tlie members of your committee for holding these hearings. I am 

certain they will bring forth meaningful testimony to truly justify 

your action.

Like Mr. Rogers’ bill, II.R. 8465, my measure, II.R. 8689 would 

invoke a complete ban on the shipment of goods to and from Cuba.

Earlier this year I called on President Kennedy and the State Department to invoke a ban on Cuban imports and exports, but to this 

day, Cuba is still doing business in many commodities with the United 

States. IIow ironic a situation. How ridiculous, if it were not so 

tragic.

Ninety miles from our shores, Cuba, under the Castro regime, has 

become a Soviet satellite and its Government has confiscated hundreds 

of millions of dollars worth of American property. Nevertheless, our 

Nation, acknowledged as the leader of the free world, continues to 

provide Dictator Castro with the cash which he desperately needs to 

maintain his antidemocratic, anti-U.S. regime. Time is long overdue 

for imposing and enforcing a firm embargo across the board to end 

this ridiculous and damaging contradiction.

Motivated by Executive inaction and by the continuing insults 

and indignities against the United States by Red Dictator Castro,
52 TRADE W IT H CUBA

as well as the sec uri ty th re at so close to ou r shores, I felt com pelled 

as a Member of this House to do my utm ost to call a ha lt to thi s 

irre spo nsible t yr an ny in the most effective way possible. I joined t he 

gentlem an fro m Fl orida, who has provide d sup erb lea dersh ip in this 

Congress, in su pp or tin g this embar go which I feel certa in reflects the 

views of all Am eric ans.

Th e bill wou ld effect such an embar go bv ba nn ing all interstate 

shipm ent of goods i mp ort ed into the Un ite d States from C uba , and all 

goods destine d fo r expo rt to Cub a. It now seems necessa ry fo r Congress to tak e str on g acti on and end the continuous flow of Am erican 

dollars to the Ca stro regime. Th is bill wou ld prevent th e in terstate 

tra ns po rtatio n of goods to or fro m Cuba, and would end the outflow 

of m ore th an $1 m illion per mo nth th at Cuba still receives fro m thi s 

tra de . Iron ically, certa in news artic les hav e repo rte d th at "mo st 

Gov ernment economists con sider Cuba trad e insig nific ant.'’ Mr. 

Ch air ma n, the issue here is not the volume we tra de with C uba; it is 

th e fact th at we tra de wi th Cub a. I t is a mo ral issue—no t an economic one.

Th ere is no excuse, no justifi cation fo r the co nti nuati on of tra de 

wi th Cuba. I t is time to resolve the prese nt parad ox of ou r Cuban 

policy. We have, on the one ha nd , wi thdraw n dip lom atic relations, 

bran de d Cas tro ’s gov ern me nt as Com munist, supp orted free Cub ans 

in th eir efforts fo r libera tion, and cut the im portation of suga r from 

Cuba into the Un ite d Sta tes . Yet, we still allow many othe r Cub an 

im po rts into this coun try in exchan ge for U .S. d ollars , food stuffs, and 

ma ny othe r item s whose ex po rta tio n can onlv bolster the Castro 

regime.

Su rel y this policy can not con tinue if we expect to adv anc e freedom 

at full speed in Cuba. Positive act ion is necessa ry to haste n Ca stro's 

down fall.

Th is is what many of us in the House have a dvo cate d f or a lon<r time. 

We h ave called for direct action on tp e par t of the Presiden t. We 

have demanded results f rom t he St ate De partm ent. Despite repeated 

assu rances th at the m atter is “u nd er conside ration ,” still no overt 

steps hav e been tak en. I am convinced, Mr. Ch air man, th at only the 

ena ctm ent of legisla tion lw Congress such as th is can br in g abou t the 

kind of res ult s which are needed. I tr ust the se hearings will bear out 

th is fact and that you will act quickly and fav ora bly on this measure.

Mr. Ch air man, th is is a no np artis an issue. I t is an acute one th at 

affects all o f us. I trus t each m emb er o f th is c ommitte w ill vote fa vo rably fo r a Cuban trad e embar go and thus serve notice on the wor ld 

once and for all how we feel about Red T yr an t Castro .

The C hair man. Th an k you, Mr. Ha lpern. We shall now hear our 

colleag ue, Air. Edm ondso n, o f O klahom a.

STA TEMENT OF HON. ED EDMONDSON, A RE PR ES EN TA TIVE IN 

CONGRESS FROM TH E STATE OF OKLAHOMA

Mr. E dmondson. Mr. Ch air man, 1 appre cia te the op po rtu nity to 

ap pe ar before the dis tin guish ed com mittee in supp ort of the Rogers 

bill, H.R. 8465, or some va ria nt of it. I want to com plime nt the commi ttee fo r sch eduling he arings on this mea sure so speedily af te r the 

introduction of thes e measures.
TRADE WITH CUBA 53

Aly own bill on the subject is practically identical to the bill introduced by the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Rogers, except tha t it adds 

a penalty clause which would make possible a line of not to exceed 

$10,000 or imprisonment of not more than 1 year for violation of the 

prohibition against trade. That is ILK. 8866.

To me, the principal value of this legislation would be not so much 

the prevention of the trade as the expression in emphatic terms of 

the feeling of the people of the U nited States on the subject of doing 

business with the Castro regime. 1 think if the feeling of the people 

in the Second District of Oklahoma is any measure on the subject, 

more than 95 percent of the American people would like to see this 

kind of action. 1 think it would have a special value throughout the 

world, and particularly in Latin America, if it came not as an Executive action but as an expression of the representatives of the people 

themselves.

It has been my own experience in trave ling in Latin America that, 

while frequently resentment is expressed against American business 

interests or the concept of Yankee imperialism, at the same time there 

is a pretty wholesome respect and regard for the individual American 

and for the American people among the people of Latin America, who 

consider us good neighbors. Because tha t feeling prevails, I think 

there would be a special value to legislation which recorded, in the 

only forum in which the American people can speak, the sentiment of 

the American people that tra de should be stopped.

To me, it is absolutely incredible that we are still shipping to Cuba 

things like machine parts, airplane p arts, and even lead which can be 

fashioned into bullets. I know tha t is going on. I think it should 

be stopped. I am willing to give up smoking Havana cigars if necessary, on the rare occasions I get hold of one of them, if it will help to 

record for the whole world to see, the strong feeling of the American 

people th at we do not want to do business with the Castro regime.

In the hope that it would hasten the downfall of tha t regime, I think 

this bill should be passed as speedily as possible by the House and 

the Senate and personally I feel the President would not hesitate to sign 

it.

The Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. Edmondson.

Mr. Springer. I know how deeply the gentleman feels about this. 

May I say t hat I share his feeling and agree with everything he said. 

This is not said with any thought other than to lie constructive. When 

the State Department was here the other day, they were rather 

cautious, but they said they believed the legislation was not necessary. 

I believe they used the word that it was unnecessary. I asked if they 

spoke for the State Department and the administration, and they 

said they did.

I sincerely hope we will get this out of committee. I hope when 

the time comes that we get it through the Senate and the House, 

you will use all your influence at the White House to get this bill 

signed. I feel very strongly about it. I would hate to see it get 

throu gh the two Houses and not be signed, although I would rather 

see it go through and be vetoed than to take no action at all, which 

would indicate clearly how we feel about it, at least for our own 

responsibility. But I would hope th is could be signed into law. In 

spite of what the State Department said the other day, I do hope 

that the President would see fit to sign it, for whatever it is worth.
54 TRADE W IT H CUBA

I hope the gentleman will use his influence, whatever he may have,, 

tha t that be clone.

Mr. Edmondson. I doubt if it amounts to very much, but it will 

certainly be on the line alongside that of the gentleman from Illinois 

in this cause when the time comes. I feel strongly if there is an 

overwhelming endorsement of this measure by both the House and 

the Senate, we will have a Presidential signature. That is based 

entirely on my own personal opinion and views as to the responsiveness of the Presieclent of the United States to the feelings of the 

people and to the feelings of the Members of Congress.

Mr. Springer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. R ogers of Florida. I just want to commend the gentleman for 

a very fine statement. Also, I think it is indicative of the widespread 

interest in the United States. The gentleman represents the State 

of Oklahoma, and he is here expressing strong views which I think 

are held throughout the U nited States. We in Florida are of course 

particula rly interested because we are so close to the problem, but 

I am impressed by the fact th at the gentleman from the middle of the 

United States is coming in and giving views just as strong as those 

We hold in Florida. I thank the gentleman.

The Chairman. Do you know why this problem has been so long 

developing and there is so much urgency for it now rather than 6 

months or a year ago ?

Mr. Edmondson. I will tell the gentleman frankly that my own 

awareness of the availability of this route is recent in origin. Conversations with the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Rogers, about his 

intentions to push this measure first aroused me to the availability 

of this avenue.

The Chairman. Anything tha t should be done could be done 

at any time, regardless of whether it is now or a year ago or 6 months 

ago. But if it is something th at needed to be done and is im portant, 

it should have been done a t the outset as well as now. Is that not 

true?

Mr. Edmondson. Mr. Chairman, I wish I could have stood here 

before you and read a letter tha t I wrote last Jan uar y advocating 

this, which the Senator from Florida did. I am not the expert on 

foreign policy and foreign trade that members of this committee undoubtedly are and the distinguished Senator from Florida is. I believe that I know a good thing when I see it, in terms of influencing 

the opinion of people. In this instance I think we are fighting for 

the opinion of the people of Latin America and the world. I think 

we need to lead in this regard and to take affirmative actions. This 

is a route tha t is affirmative, that registers strongly the feeling of the 

people of this country. There could even be some advantages in 

having it done as a congressional act concurred in by the President, 

rather than initiated by the executive arm of the Government. In 

those terms, a t least it would have more impact upon Latin America 

in particular than if it came simply as an exercise of executive power.

The Chairman. Thank you very much. I th ink we probably should 

hear from the Department of Commerce.

Mr. Edmondson. I thank the gentleman and the committee.

The Chairman. We are glad to have your statement and your contribution.

Mr. Rowland Burnstan, Assistant Secretary for Internationa l 

Affairs, Department of Commerce.
TRAD E W IT H CUBA 55

STATEMENT OF ROWLAND BURNSTAN, ASSISTANT SECRETARY

FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE;

ACCOMPANIED BY JACK N. BEHRMAN, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTE RNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Mr. Burnstan. May I present my colleague, Dr. Behrman, who is 

the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for International 

Affairs.

The Chairman. We are glad to have you both. You may proceed 

with your statement.

Mr. Burnstan. Mr. Chairman, in attending the meeting on Tuesday, during the testimony we observed there were some questions 

of procedure and statistical accuracy tha t we felt should be clarified 

today. It is our purpose to clarify these, if we can, with a brief statement, and of course to answer such questions as members of the committee may wish to put to us.

The Department of Commerce is responsible, by delegation of 

authority from the President, to administer the Export Control Act. 

Under this law we are authorized to prohibit or curtail any and all 

exports to any country as may be necessary for reasons of national 

security, short supply in this country, or to achieve foreign policy 

objectives. While the Secretary of Commerce is the administering 

official, major policy decisions are made in consultation with the other 

agencies concerned, and particularly with the State and Defense Departm ents on all matters of security and foreign policy significance.

Such necessary and desirable consultation is specifically provided 

for in the Export Control Act.

Since October of last year, on account of the deterioration of relations between Cuba and the United States, the Department of Commerce placed under strict licensing control all exports to Cuba, with 

the exception of certain foodstuffs, medicines, and medical supplies. 

In March of this year, these exceptions were furth er tightened so as 

to permit exports only of food for direct human consumption. These 

exceptions were made, of course, fo r humanitarian reasons in the interest of the Cuban people.

U.S. exports to Cuba used to average between $40 and $50 million 

per month. Based on the latest data available, our total exports to 

Cuba for the full year 1961 will not exceed $15 million. This is the 

total for the year.

In the first 6 months of 1961, our exports to Cuba totaled $12,600,- 

000, but were declining sharply as the period progressed until in 

Jun e the total was $474,000. Official data for July and August are 

not. available, but data on exports to Cuba in these months are expected to show even a further decline because of two factors—the 

discontinuance of bulk lard shipments to Cuba, and the closing of 

operations by the car ferry from West Palm Beach to Cuba on 

August 9. The car ferry was the last major transportation service 

operating regularly between the United States and Cuba.

Of total U.S. exports to Cuba during the first 6 months of 1961, 

amounting to $12.6 million, $9.3 million was foodstuffs, of which $4.8 

million was la rd ; $2 million of the 6 months’ total were in medicinal 

and pharmaecutical preparations, and the remaining $1.3 million was 

distributed among a wide variety of items in various small quantities.
56 TRADE W IT H CUBA

Trade on the import side has likewise substantially declined, although it is not now subject to regulation. Total imports for consumption into the United States from Cuba during the Janu ary - 

June 1961 period totaled $18,900,000, but general imports—by this 

we mean actual arrivals—were only $16.9 million.

I think I might interpose a remark here, Mr. Chairman, if I may. 

There was some confusion on this point and a tendency to suggest 

that the total was the sum of these two items. Actually, this is a 

statistical term tha t is a bit confusing. Under general imports, we 

have goods th at come in and may be in warehouses as long as 2 or 3 

years, but they do not show up statistically in “ imports for consumption” until they are released from that bonded warehouse and go into 

the market. What we call imports for consumption are the actual 

arrivals going directly into use plus those withdrawn from warehouses.

Of the $18.9 million total, $11.7 million was in unmanufactured 

tobacco, largely for the Tampa cigar manufacturing industry; $1.7 

million was molasses, almost all during the first quarter of the year. 

Fru its and preparations, chiefly prepared pineapples, accounted for 

$1.3 million of the total. The remaining $4.2 million was distributed 

among vegetables and preparations, lobsters, cigars, and miscellaneous items.

Tn June, total imports for consumption were $2.7 million, of which 

$2 million was in unmanufactured tobacco. Imports of fruits and 

vegetables comprised most of the remainder.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. Does th at conclude your statement?

Mr. B urnstan. Tha t concludes our statement, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. Any questions?

Mr. R ogers of Florida. Fir st of all, I wish to compliment the Departm ent on the very fine work they have done in trying to get these 

figures together for the committee. It is an excellent job done in a 

very short time. I want to commend the Department for its very 

fine work.

Is there any way to tell from your records what inventories of tobacco 

on hand would lie ?

Mr. B urnstan. We do not have that. There is a representative of 

the tobacco industry here, I understand. Perhaps he can supply that. 

We do not keep an official record of that.

Mr. R ogers of Florida. When was it tha t you decided there would 

be no more lard shipped into Cuba from the United States?

Mr. Burnstan. I am not sure tha t the matter was decided, Mr. 

Rogers, in just that way. You see, the transportation disappeared. 

This went over in tremendous tanks th at were carried over on the car 

ferries. When the means of transportation was eliminated because 

the volume of traffic fell to such a low extent tha t the man could not 

afford to run the service any longer, it automatically eliminated the 

product.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Then as far as the Department is concerned, there is no prohibition against the shipment of la rd into Cuba.

Air. Burnstan. No, there is not.

Air. Roger of Florida. I wonder i f the Department is aware tha t 

when a Miami advertising man levied on about 29 carloads of lard, the 

next day Castro rationed lard in Cuba.
TRADE WITH CUBA 57

Mr. Burnstan. Personally, I was not aware of it. I recall the case 

to which you refer. I read it in the press. I did not know of this 

effect.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. You had no idea of the effect cutting off 

lard would bring about in Cuba ?

Mr. Burnstan. No, I did not.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Let me ask you about the figures on imports. Actually, Ju ne and August would not reflect a true picture of 

vegetables and fruits coming in from Cuba, since the harvest period 

is in the fall and winter months, or has th at been the pattern?

Mr. B urnstan. That would be indicated in the figures through the 

years.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. The real impact of vegetables and fruits 

is during the early winter months and the fall.

Mr. B urnstan. That is correct.

Mr. R ogers of Florida. I wanted to ask you about one item here. 

I notice in figures we got from the Bureau of Customs, $154 worth 

of lead ingots were exported to Cuba in the period July 1 to August 19. 

I wonder if you could give us a quick statement about that.

Mr. Burnstan. I do not know what was involved there, Mr. Rogers. 

The figure is correct. That is all I can say.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Could you let us know what that is?

Mr. Burnstan. Yes. I will supply a statement to the committee 

on that.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. And also the electronic parts and machine 

par ts that were shipped to Cuba in rather small amounts. I think it 

would be interesting for the committee to know that.

(The information requested follows:)

T h e Ass is ta nt Secretary of Commer ce,

Washington, D.C., September 6, 1961.

Hon. Oren Harris,

Chairman, Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee,

House of Representatives, Washington, D C.

Dear Mr. Chairman : This lette r supplements my oral statem ent to the committee last week and relate s to figures on shipments to Cuba dur ing the period 

July 1 to A ugust 19, 1961, contained in a letter dated August 28, 3961, from the 

Acting Commissioner of Customs to Congressman Paul G. Rogers.

During the hearing the committee expressed intere st in more detailed information concerning three item s in the Acting Commissioner’s letter. This information is supplied below,

ITEM ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

$121 worth of electronic tubes shipped This shipment consisted of tubes for use 

from New York. in medical X-ray machines in hospitals, clinics, and doctors’ offices. The 

shipment moved und er a validated export license issued on Mar. 21,1961.

$3,226 worth of machine pa rts shipped This shipment consisted of miscelfrom New York. laneous pa rts for medical X-ray machines. The shipment moved under 

general license GCTJ.

$154 worth of lead ingots shipped from This was a shipment of foreign origin 

New Orleans. which was withdr awn from the New

Orleans foreign tra de zone for export 

to Cuba.

Should you requ ire furth er inform atio n on the above subject, please let us 

know.

Sincerely yours,

J ack M. Be h r m a n , 

Acting International Affairs.
58 TRADE W IT H CUBA

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Are you aware tha t some ships are going 

into Tampa with goods from Cuba ?

Mr. Burnstan. Yes, sir.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. So there are methods of transportation.

Mr. B urnstan. Th at is right. It is irregular, what is called tram p 

steamers and loads of that sort. There is no longer any regular 

service.

Air. Rogers of Florida. The ferry service from West Palm Beach is 

no longer in existence?

Mr. Burnstan. That is correct.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. But ships are coming in.

Thank you. I believe that is all, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Springer. Mr. B urnstan, in reading the letter which has been 

sent down by the Under Secretary of Commerce, with which you are 

familiar, I take it, do I properly p ut this if I say th at the Department 

of Commerce is not sympathetic to this legislation ?

Mr. Burnstan. Tha t is correct. We have taken the official position that we are supporting the State D epartm ent in their contention 

tha t they desire flexibility for certain purposes of negotiation.

Mr. Springer. The other day when Mr. Woodward was here, I 

believe, if I quote him correctly, his statement was th at this legislation was unnecessary.

Mr. Burnstan. I believe th at was the statement tha t I heard him 

make.

Mr. Springer. Tha t would be the position of the Department of 

Commerce on this legislation ?

Air. Burnstan. Yes, sir.

Air. Springer. Before Castro, our trade with Cuba was between 

$480 million and $600 million per year. Is tha t about right?

Air. Burnstan. That is correct.

Air. Springer. Does tha t include our trade going both ways, or is 

tha t what we shipped to them?

Air. Burnstan. I think the particular figure tha t you quoted was 

the shipments of Cuba into this country. It ran around $50 million 

a month imports from Cuba.

Air. Springer. What would our exports to Cuba be, roughly, at tha t 

time?

Air. Behrman. Before Castro, the exports ran annually $547 million in 1958, over $600 million in 1957, over $440 million in 1959.

Air. Springer. Before Castro we nearly always had a favorable 

balance of trade with Cuba, did we not?

Air. Burnstan. It was almost in balance.

Air. Stringer. They exported to us approximately $500 million or 

$600 million annually in those years. Where are those exports going 

now?

Air. Burnstan. It was mostly sugar. That was the major item. 

We understand much of this has been picked up by Russia or Soviet 

bloc countries.

Air. Springer. What are they in turn sending to Cuba ?

Afr. Burnstan. Here again, we do not have accurate data.

Air. Springer. Arms is one, it it not ?
TRADE WITH CUBA 59

Mr. Burnstan. Arms. I am just quoting from general sources of 

information. Much of i t is arms—aircraft, tanks, and things of tha t 

sort.

Mr. Springer. Also oil?

Mr. Burnstan. Oil, yes, sir. Considerable foodstuffs are being 

shipped in.

Mr. Springer. In 1956, I went with a trade mission to Cuba, since 

my district was one of the three or four in the country with the largest 

exports to Cuba, chiefly in oil soybeans. What is being substituted 

now in the way of foods for what we supplied then, and who is supplying that?

Mr. Burnstan. Who is supplying the foodstuffs now?

Mr. Springer. Yes.

Mr. Burnstan. A grea t deal is coming from the Soviet bloc. I 

am not sure, but I suspect that they make purchases from certain other 

Latin American countries, also.

Mr. Springer. Where they can purchase the same items they could 

have purchased from us?

Mr. B urnstan. The same or substitute items.

Mr. Springer. Have you any estimate of what has happened to 

the standard of living since Castro, as a result of the shift in the 

balance of trade?

Mr. B urnstan. We do not have any accurate information on that.

Mr. Springer. Have you any estimates?

Mr. Burnstan. Nothing made within the Department.

Mr. Springer. That is all, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. Mr. Younger.

Mr. Younger. I have jus t one question. In tha t letter and I think 

in your own testimony, Mr. Burnstan, you verify tha t you do have 

the au thority to limit or ban trade already.

Mr. Burnstan. Yes, sir; tha t is correct.

Mr. Younger. Why have you not taken action?

Mr. Burnstan. I should make clear, Mr. Younger, tha t we have 

control only over export trade. We have no control over imports.

Mr. Younger. Let me read your statement :

Un der exist ing law the ad m in istrat io n has discretio na ry au th or ity to lim it or 

ban trad e with Cuba.

Tha t is signed by the Under Secretary of Commerce.

Mr. Burnstan. No, the administration has the power but the Commerce I )epartment only has the power over exports.

Mr. Younger. You are acting for the administration?

Mr. B urnstan. On exports only; that, is correct.

Mr. Younger. I will ask the question in a different way: Do you 

know why you have not taken action ?

Mr. Burnstan. On the export side?

Mr. Younger. No. I will read the statement to you again:

Un der ex ist ing law the ad m in istrat io n ha s dis cretiona ry au th or ity to lim it 

or ban trad e with Cuba.

Do you have any knowledge why this ban or limit of trade has not 

been exercised ?

Mr. Burnstan. We have exercised considerable on the export side, 

but on the import side this authority rests with (he President and he
60 TRADE W IT H CUBA

has not delegated it to the Secretary of Commerce or this committee 

as he has on exports.

Mr. Y ’oungbr. In other words, yon wish the committee to understand, then, that the administration is at fault in not prohibiting or 

banning the imports?

Mr. Burnstan. I don’t know whether they are at fault but tha t is 

the case, that they have not limited imports.

Mr. Y ounger. They have the authority to limit imports?

Mr. Burnstan. The President has that authority, yes.

Mr. Y ounger. And they have not limited it?

Mr. Burnstan. Not to my knowledge.

Mr. Younger. So we want the record clear on that point. Whoever has the authority, whether it is the President or whether it has 

been delegated to the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Commerce, the fact remains tha t nothing has been done. Is that not 

true?

Mr. Burnstan. The fact remains that there have been no limitations 

placed on imports.

Mr. Y ounger. That is right, and dollars for all of the imports are 

still going into Castro’s coders, is that not true?

Mr. Burnstan. Yes. Tha t is true.

Mr. Younger. That, is all I want the record to show. Thank you.

Mr. II arris. Mr. Thomson?

Mr. T homson. Mr. Chairman, I think the witness should be given 

the opportunity to elaborate on the statement. I think the record 

does show that the Government has limited imports. They have 

completely cut off the importation of Cuban sugar, have they not?

Mr. Burnstan. Yes. This was a special case. Thank you for 

bringing that to my attention. There is the subsidized price on sugar 

and we participated in the sugar agreement tha t permitted us to 

take action there by simply calling off the agreement, which was used 

to buy at the artificially higher price than the market price. There 

was tha t one fact in behalf of limiting imports.

Mr. T homson. The Commerce Department has substantially reduced or limited the exports to Cuba?

Mr. Burnstan. Yes, sir; down to a very, very small and infinitesimal amount compared to the yearly averages before 1961.

Mr. T homas. Presumably the reason that you have not completely 

stopped exports is tha t the State Department has not permitted it. 

Would that be a fair assumption?

Mr. Burnstan. In conference with State and Defense it is decided 

what type of strategic or political significance might be involved in 

these various items and then the group acts on the basis of the evidence brought in by each Department.

Mr. T homson. Is it true that the Cubans are using the lard th at is 

shipped there, not only for food but for the manufacture of nitroglycerin ?

Mr. Burnstan. I have no knowledge of this, Mr. Thomson. We 

do not have any official information as to how nitroglycerin is made 

or whether it is made at all.

Mr. T homson. That is all.

The Chairman. Mr. Dominick?

Mr. Dominick. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
TRADE W IT H CUBA 61

Mr. Bu rnsta n, how often do rep resentati ve s of the Commerce De ­

pa rtm en t meet with representatives o f th e St ate and Defense D ep ar tments concer nin g requests fo r licen ses fo r expo rts to Cuba ?

Mr. Burnstan. At th e wo rking level we are in tou ch wi th the m 

each week, sometimes daily.

Mr. Dom inick. Do you have a set m eet ing d aily ?

Mr. B urnstan. We have set con ferences weekly.

Mr. Dom inick. Are you rec eiv ing appli catio ns fo r ex po rt licenses 

daily ?

Mr. Burnstan. Oh, yes, in gr ea t num ber s. Do you mean to Cuba 

or g enera lly ?

Mr. Dom inick. T o C uba.

Mr. B urnstan. No. We have very few to Cuba.

Mr. D om inick . 1 noticed in the figu res which you were kind enough 

to s up ply me before the he ar in g th at du ring th e first 4 m onths o f this 

ye ar $400,000 wo rth of in du stria l ma chine ry was exporte d to Cuba . 

Do you have any i dea o ffhand as to w ha t was in cluded in th at? We re 

the se m ach ine tools?

Mr. B eiirm an. In the fir st 3 m onths of t he year ?

Mr. D om inick. Yes.

Mr. Beiirm an. I do no t have th at license rec ord with me. I can 

check on th at . I th in k it might be in teresting to answer to you on 

the licenses which have been issued fo r th e p as t 7 o r 8 weeks, to indicate 

wha t h as been coming be fore th e com mittee.

Mr. Dom inick. On Ju ly 19 y ou issued a licen se fo r $24,000 worth 

of aircr af t t ire s a nd par ts fo r sh ipm en t to Cuba. W hy ?

Mr. Beiirm an. T hat was a re tu rn shipm en t into Cu ba of par ts 

which the y ha d left here fo r re pa ir b efo re the ex po rt control was p ut 

on in October of 1960, which was retu rn ed to them. I t was item s 

which wer e in the Un ite d State s pre vio usly un de r th ei r owner ship 

bu t w hich still requ ired a lice nse to go across custom s.

Mr. Dom inick . Bu t you ha d to give a spe cial license fo r it?

Mr. Beiirm an. T o go across customs it sti ll had to be licensed 

un de r p roc edu res at t h at time.

Mr. Dom inick. Did you feel you did not hav e powe r to stop th at?

Mr. Beiirm an . Th ere might hav e been pow er to stop it ; yes, sir. 

Th ere is control pow er to stop it, bu t being owned by them an d not 

wi shing to attach the assets at the tim e we pe rm itted the m to reg ain 

wh at wa s a lre ady the irs.

Mr. Dom inick . Are t he im ports th at are brou gh t int o this country 

fro m Cu ba p aid fo r in Ame rican dollar s?

Mr. Burnstan. Yes. Th ey come in in the re gu la r marke t and are 

pa id for in the reg ular way.

Mr. Dom inick. Are the ex po rts th at we ship to Cuba pa id for in 

Am erican dollars?

Mr. Burn stan. Yes, sir.

Mr. Dom inick. You do n ot hap pe n to kno w wh at the rel ati ve s itu atio n is in Cuba with respec t to ow nersh ip of Am erican do lla rs at this 

po int, d o you ?

Mr. Burnstan. I do not.

Mr. Dom inick. A t the policy level, how o ften do you m eet with the 

St ate Dep artm en t on licenses fo r Cuba ?
62 TRADE W IT H CUBA

Mr. Burnstan. I will ask Dr. Behrman to explain the structure 

of that so you will get it clear, Mr. Dominick.

Mr. Behrman. We have in our export control procedure an operating committee at the staff level which meets generally weekly to review all license applications which are under control on the positive 

list and tha t we feel we have to consult on. This is a staff level 

operation and its decisions are reviewed by policy level; that is, the 

Assistant Secretary. Eventually the Secretary himself reviews them. 

If there are matters at the operating committee level which cannot be 

decided unanimously among the various departments then these disagreements are referred to a higher level body known as the Advisory 

Committee on Export Policy, which is at the Assistant Secretary 

level and there, again, the several departments are represented. If 

there is unanimity of the treatment of the license, be it denial or 

approval, the matter is settled there and then the license is finally 

approved by the Secretary of Commerce, or denied, after his assessment of the recommendation of this Assistant Secretary level conference. That group has had to meet, in the past only about 9 to 1(> 

times a year. It will wait until sufficient work is before it, but it has 

had to meet only on the order of approximately once a month. If at 

this level there is still disagreement as to wliat should be done the 

matter is referred to what has now been created as an Export Control 

Review Board which is composed of the Secretaries themselves. That 

would normally probably not meet more than two or three times a 

year but because of the exigencies of the present international situation, it has met several times in the past few months to set guidelines. 

We would not at any of these levels meet specially on Cuba, so I do 

not know how many times a Cuban item has come up to the policy 

level.

My guess in the matter would be that only a few of those licenses 

which are recorded in the document before you in July or August 

would have come up at the policy level.

Mr. Dominick. Would it be correct to say that if the operatingstaff are in agreement tha t the licenses more or less automatically are 

issued ?

Mr. Behrman. As long as you emphasize the “more or less,” yes, 

they are still reviewed. If you would look at the record of the 

licenses for the past 8 weeks you would see why only certain ones of 

them would come up.

Mr. Dominick. 1 respectfully dissent from that. It seems to me 

that there should have been none issued and this is the purpose of the 

legislation, but th at is just my opinion.

In reviewing the figures which you were kind enough to supply me, 

I notice tha t several of the shipments tha t were made were to friendly 

embassies.

Mr. Beiirman. Yes, sir.

Mr. Dominick. Would you suggest that we should have an amendment to this bill in order to provide permission for this or would 

they be considered as other friendly territory by virtue of an embassy 

being more or less a sanctuary ?

Mr. Burnstan. That would be considered other friendly ter ritory. It involves file cabinets and things of that sort that they did.
TRADE WIT H CUBA 63

not want to bring from perhaps Jap an or India or someplace else so 

we permit them to be imported from here.

Mr. Dominick. It would not be included in this bill?

Mr. Beiirman. Total embargo would likely cut it olf.

Mr. Dominick. Are you disagreeing?

Mr. Burnstan. No. I think we are saying the same thing. You 

asked if it was necessary for amendment and I said yes. Dr. Behrman 

said a total embargo would probably cut them off. We are answering 

the same way, but one positive approach, the other negative.

Mr. Dominick. That is all, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Younger. I have just one question.

The Chairman. Mr. Younger.

Mr. Younger. When Mr. Woodward was before the committee he 

testified to this effect when I asked him was there doubt in their mind 

about public op inion:

Yes, there has been a little doubt. In the first place, the tra de was considered 

to be rela tive ly minor and some very highly respected, at least one highly respected opinion has been expressed by a Member of Congress indicating reluctance to see the tra de stop.

Was there any expression of opinion to you or to the Department 

of Commerce by any Member of Congress to the effect that the trade 

ought to be continued ?

Mr. Burnstan. None that I have seen, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Younger. Tha t is all, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. Burnstan, for your 

appearance here and the information given to the committee.

Mr. John S. Mears, American Legion.

STATEMENT OF JOHN S. MEARS, LEGISLATIVE REPR ESEN TATIVE,

NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION, THE AMERICAN LEGION

Mr. Mears. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am here 

today to convey to you the American Legion’s support of H.R. 8465, 

a bill to prohibit commercial trade between the United States and 

Cuba for as long as Communists control tha t country.

While present trade with Cuba may not be in great volume or 

dollar value, it cannot be seriously questioned th at, whatever the extent, it is beneficial to its present government. It follows th at such 

activity, in the light of existing circumstances, is not only without 

logic but is prejudicial to the best interests of our country, as well as 

to freedom-loving people in Cuba. Being mindful that the people 

of Cuba have been our friends for many years, we also fail them by 

contributing to the dictatorship that seeks to destroy them.

You distinguished Members of Congress have complete information as to the record of the Castro regime. Any attempt by us to recite 

such details would be a waste of your valuable time. We are all 

cognizant of Castro’s theft of American p rope rty; his perpetration of 

indignities and terrorism against U.S. citizens—I might say one of the 

citizens executed was a member of the American Legion and a commander of a post located there—his threats to our base at Guantanamo 

Bay; his continuous insults directed at our Nation and our people, 

and his apparent plan to solidify his Communist stronghold as a base 

from which to spread communism into other countries of the Western
64 TRADE WITH CUBA

Hemisphere. That this stronghold is more than political is brought 

out in a recent Miami news story (August 24) relating tha t a Cuban 

refugee, a former shipowner, said he say with his own eyes, a complete 

airbase on Cayo Largo, an estimated 25 miles otf the Cuban mainland. He said the airfield could support 200 Russian-made Mig jets 

and that the planes were there too. There have also been reports of 

missile site construction.

There can be no doubt tha t Castro has established a Communist 

state and in so doing has committed himself to the objectives of the 

international Communist conspiracy. We are at war with the adherents of communism and the day-to-day fluctuation in its temperature does not a lter the basic characteristics of th is conflict.

If we agree th at we are in a bitter struggle with the forces of communism and that our freedom, and perhaps our very lives, are a t stake, 

then the utter foolishness of assisting our adversary, in even the slightest way, seems most obvious to us.

The American Legion’s fight against communism and its early counterp art, such as the Industrial Workers of the World, dates from 

1919 and is well known. We opposed diplomatic recognition of Russia; we oppose the admission of Red China to the United Nations, and 

we have consistently opposed U.S. trade with Russia and its satellites.

At the 1960 National Convention in Miami Beach, the American 

Legion adopted a resolution which stated in p art:

* * * th at the U.S. Congress and the app ropriate officials t ake all necessary 

action immediately to impose all necessary economic sanc tions again st Cuba 

which would make effective a total boycott on all imports and expo rts between 

the United States and Cuba

Again, in May of this year, the National Executive Committee of 

the American Legion adopted a similar resolution urging all appropriate officials of our Government to take firm and unhesitating steps 

to implement such a boycott. A copy of that, resolution is attached.

If I may, I would like to have it included in the record.

The Chairman. It will be included in the record.

(The resolution follows:)

N ati onal E xec ut iv e Co m m it tee M ee ti ng of t h e A m er ic an Leg io n, H eld

May 3-4 , 1961

RESOLUTION NO. 4

Committee: Foreign Relations Commission.

Su bjec t: Cuba.

Wherea s at the 41st Annual Convention in Miami Reach, Fla., October 18, 19, 

and 20, the American Legion adopted a resolution (No. 361, Washington State, 

amended and consolidated) vigorously condemning the dictatorial Communist 

Castro regime, its illegal hostile inhuman acts, its betray al of the people of 

Cuba and of the Western Hemisphere. The resolution calls upon our Government to institute and forcefully prosecute a positive policy of economic sanctions and, if necessary, a tota l boycott on all imports and exports between the 

United States and Cuba, and such oth er actions as may be required, including 

un ila ter al military action, to enable the people of Cuba to establish the ir own 

non-Communist governm ent; and

Whereas the American Legion notes with grave concern the lack of progress made by our Government in effecting the recommendations of this resolution ; Now, therefore, be it
TRADE WITH CUBA 65

Reso lved by the National Execu tive Committee of the American Legion,

Th at the October 39(50 convention resolution, referred to above, together with 

this resolution, be placed in the hands of the Secretary of Sta te and all other 

app rop riate officers of our Gov ernment; and that firm and unh esitatin g steps 

be taken by our Government to implement the recommendations of the Miami 

Beach 1960 National Convention resolution.

Mr. Mears. William R. Burke, National Commander of the American Legion, has given voice to our position regarding Cuba at many 

points across our land. That our membership supports such a boycott as proposed in the insta nt bill is evidenced in the texts of numerous resolutions emanating from many State Legion departments 

which are now reaching our headquarters for consideration at our 

national convention next month.

We believe the vast majority of our citizens are looking to Congress for positive action toward the Cuban Government and th at they 

will applaud the course outlined in H.R. 8465. Even so, there may 

be some who would place the dollar above principle and continue 

trade activities, thus aiding our enemy, unless there are punitive provisions.

We believe H.R. 8465, as amended, is a proper and justified course 

of action and urge tha t you report it favorably.

We appreciate this opportunity to appear before you on behalf of 

this legislation and thank you for your courtesy.

The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Mears, for your statement.

Are there any questions?

Mr. Rogers of Florida. I just want to say, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate this very fine statement and the strong support of the American 

Legion. I am very hopeful tha t this endorsement wfill be continued 

so that the American Legion will advise other Members of Congress 

of their support. Than k you, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. Mr. Dominick ?

Mr. Dominick. I ju st want to say on behalf of Colorado we welcome 

the National Convention to Denver this month. I hope to be there, 

(if w’e are out of session. I have had some talks about this with Mr. 

Burke, and I hope to get there.

The Chairman. Mr. Thomson, do you have any questions?

Mr. T homson. Not for the record.

(Discussion off the record.)

The Chairman. Thank you very much. We are very glad to have 

your statement and w ant to compliment you for it.

Mr. Norman Brown, Cigar Manufacturers Association of Tampa, 

Fla.

STATEMENT OF NORMAN S. BROWN, ATTORNEY, ON BEHALF OF 

THE CIGAR MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION OF TAMPA

Mr. Brown. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, I am Norman Brown, from Tampa, Fla. I am a lawyer. I represent the cigar 

manufacturers in Tampa. We certainly do appreciate your courtesy 

and thoughtfulness in letting a little industry like us appear before 

you to present our problems tha t would most certainly arise under 

Mr. Paul Rogers’ bill.

I am a great admirer of Mr. Rogers. I have been for many, many 

years. I have known him a long time and everything that I know
66 TRADE W IT H CUBA

about him is honorable and it is favorable but at this point we have 

a little small disagreement.

With the permission of the chairman, and the committee, and in 

the interest of conserving the time of the committee, because I am 

observing the hour here and I know that you have other things to do, 

I would like to file a statement which I have for the record. I would 

also like to tile the August 1961 letter of the Florida State Employment Service pertaining to the Tampa area, and in view of the fact 

that I am no statistician and no economist, but tha t there have been 

a lot of figures discussed here I would also like to file for the record 

three statistical documents, all of which were prepared by the Commerce Department perta ining to the trade with Cuba over the past 

few years. If I may do th at when I complete my testimony it will 

be appreciated.

The Chairman. Let your statement be filed for the record.

(The statement follows:!

Stat ement of Norma n S. Brow n, Atto rne y, Cigar Manufacturers

Asso ciatio n of T am pa

Mr. Cha irm an and m em be rs of th e co mm itt ee , I appre cia te th e op por tu ni ty 

whi ch you ha ve affo rd ed us to appear be fo re yo u to day and to ex pl ai n to yo u 

th e eff ect winch an em ba rg o on th e im por ta tion of Cub an toba co into th e U nite d 

S ta te s wo uld ha ve up on th e “a ll -H avana” ci gar in dust ry in Tam pa .

The segm en t of th e ci gar in dust ry which is her e invo lved is ve ry sm all. 

T he co mpa nies are sm all ; all are ov er 50 years old ; all are fa m ily ow ned . 

Th ey are bu t a sm all se gm en t of th e ci gar in dust ry . The y m anufa ctu re ci gar s 

whi ch to al l pra ct ic al pu rp os es are com posed entire ly of toba cc o im po rted fr om 

th e is la nd of Cu ba. A ll- H av an a cig ar s is al l th a t th ey ha ve ev er made. I t is 

th e o nly type o f ci gar th a t th ey a re e qu ippe d fo r and kn ow how to h an dle.

The se so-ca lled al l- H av an a ci gar fa cto ri es m an u fa ctu re less th an 5 perc ent 

of th e ci ga rs m an ufa ct ure d in th e U ni te d Sta te s.

The tob acco us ed by th es e fa ct ori es ca n be obt ai ne d on ly from th e is la nd of 

Cu ba . It has bee n grow n .only in th e is la nd of Cu ba. The un iq ue fla vor, te xtu re , 

ar om a, an d ta st e of th e all -H av an a ci gar m ak es it dis tinguis hab le from do mes tic 

an d oth er tob accos. Ther e is no su bst it ute fo r th is all -I Ia vana tob acco. W ere 

th er e a su bst itute , we wou ld not be he re toda y.

We as su me th a t th is co mmitt ee , in ex er ci sing it s le gis la tive ju dg m en t in th is 

m at te r, will do so by ap pl yi ng th e cri te ri on of w hat is in th e be st n ati onal 

in te re st of th e U ni te d Sta te s. In so do ing we su gg es t th a t th er e m us t be co nside re d th e effect up on th e U.S. in dust ry and th e econ om ic eff ect up on th e 

Re pu bli c of Cu ba, as we ll as th e effect up on ou r al lied si st er nati ons to th e 

so ut h.

In mak ing th is st ate m ent an d ap pl yi ng th is cri te ri on , I w an t to m ak e it 

ex pl ic itly cl ea r to th is com m ittee th a t I am q uite aw ar e of th e fa ct th a t I am in 

a so m ew ha t an om al ou s po sitio n. Thi s is so be ca us e I sp ea k fo r men and fo r 

fa m ilie s an d fo r fa m ily bu sine sses th a t ha ve lon g been kn ow n fo r th eir de di ca ­

tion to th is N at io n an d in so sp ea ki ng , di sp el an y po ss ible in fe re nc e th a t th ey 

a re attem pt in g to ac co mplish m att ers which are not in th e be st in te re st of our 

Nati on .

The people wh om I re pre se nt an d of wh om I am one a re al l American s.

Eve ry one of ou r Spa ni sh fa cto ri es has had eit her so ns or ow ne rs, or bo th, 

se rv e in W orld W ar II or in th e K or ea n w ar . We ha ve no ap olog ies to mak e 

to a ny on e f or se rv ic e to ou r c ou ntry .

The y ha ve ne ve r co m m itte d or do ne one ac t in th e ir bu ying of H av an a 

tob acco th a t w as not in ac co rd an ce w ith th e polic y of th e G ov er nm en t of our 

Nation. T h at sh all c on tinue t o be th eir co ur se o f co nd uc t.

Ho we ver, I do no t be lie ve t h a t th e mem be rs o f th is re sp on sibl e co mm itt ee h av e 

been pr es en te d w ith all of th e fa cts inv olved in th is co mp lex si tu at io n.

I pra y th a t th is co m m ittee sh al l ha ve th e st re n g th of pu rp os e to weigh 

in to a cc ou nt al l th e m aj or f acto rs t h a t a re invo lve d.
TRAD E W IT H CUBA 67

My pe op le cert ain ly a re co mplete ly w illing t o ab ide by th e c on side re d ju dgm en t 

o f w hat is in “t he be st in te re st of th e U ni ted Sta te s. ” The y ha ve ne ve r ha d a 

po sitio n oth er th an th at. W hy sh ou ld th ey ha ve a di ff er en t po sitio n?

The se are al l fa m ily co mpa ni es of which I spea k. Th e fo unde rs of th es e com ­

pa ni es ca m e to th e U ni ted S ta te s an d buil t from no th in g th a t which ex is ts 

to da y. The sons of gr an dso ns are g ra te fu l to th eir N at io n fo r th e op por tu ni ties 

give n to th em an d th ey sh al l ab id e by w hat is in th e be st in te re st of th is 

Nation.

Thi s co m m ittee has be fo re it fo r co ns id er at io n H.R 8465, which wou ld de man d 

u n il ate ra l em ba rg o ac tion by th e U ni ted S ta te s again st th e Rep ub lic of Cu ba. 

App lying th e ob jective cr it eri on which I ha ve s ug ge sted to th is co mmitt ee , I as k 

fo r co ns id er at io n of t he fol lowing m a tte rs :

The pr op os al be fo re th is co m m itt ee will ha ve but sm al l eco nomic im pa ct up on 

Cu ba , yet it m ay we ll re su lt in des tr oyi ng th e lo ng -e stab lish ed sm all al l- II av an a 

in dust ry in Tam pa . Su ch u n il ate ra l U.S. ac tion wi ll g ra n t to Pre nsa L ati na 

th e go lden op por tu ni ty of pre ac hi ng th a t th e U ni ted S ta te s “e ats it s yo un g” 

w hile it pled ge s to he lp th e ca m pe sino s of L ati n America.

Gen tle men , do no t fo rg et w h at I ha ve sa id : T h at sh al l m os t ce rt ain ly occur.

EF FE CT OF AN EM BARGO ON CUB A

C urr ent tr ad e w ith Cu ba. C urr ent tr a d e be tw ee n th e U ni te d S ta te s an d 

Cu ba is a pp ro ac hi ng th e poin t of de minim is. E xport s— U nited S ta te s to Cub a— 

fo r th e fi rs t 6 mon th s o f 1961 to ta le d .$12.7 million. Im port s fo r th is sa m e pe riod 

to ta le d $16.8 million. E xport s fo r Ju ne to ta le d on e-ha lf mill io n do llar s. Tod ay 

ex port s a re p ra ct ic al ly n on ex is te nt .

W e es tim at e th a t th e im por ta tion of Cub an toba cc o fo r 1961 will ap pr ox im at e 

$27 to $30 million. Of th is , ap pro xim at el y GO i>ercent come s to Tam pa .

In t er m s of inte rn ati onal tr ad e th is is ins igni fic an t.

Mos t im port an tly, an em ba rg o ac tion w ill ha ve no effect on Cu ba as is sho wn 

la te r.

EF FE CT OF AN EM BA RGO ON TA M PA

T am pa al l- H avana m anufa ctu re rs h av e an av er ag e in ve nt or y of 7 to 8 mon th s 

su pp ly of Cub an tob acco . You r toba cc o is ba sed upon th e sh ort est in ve nt or y 

yo u ho ld of w ra ppe r, bind er , or fil ler—fo r w ra pper s ca nnot be us ed fo r filler 

or fille rs fo r w ra pp er s.

Unles s th es e m anufa ctu re rs ca n m ain ta in th eir so urce of su pp lie s th en whe n 

th eir inve nt or y is exh au st ed t he y a re o ut of bu sin ess.

On ce th eir lo ng -e stab lis he d bra nds of fine all-H av an a ci ga rs a re off th e 

m ark et fo r an y co ns id er ab le pe riod of tim e, it is un like ly th a t th ey will ev er 

be ab le to agai n comm ence bu sine ss. H is to rica lly, in th e cig ar in dust ry , once a 

bra nd is off th e m ar ket it i s gone fo re ve r. In oth er words , an ex te nd ed e mba rg o 

ac tion m ea ns extinc tion of th is old , sm al l in du st ry .

Lo ss of th is in dust ry to Tam pa will be a se ve re blow.

T her e a re 4,200 i>ersons dir ec tly em ploy ed in ci gar m anufa ctu ri ng in Tam pa , 

an d 1,800 em ploy ed in re la te d ente rp ri se s de pe nd en t up on th e m anufa ctu re of 

ciga rs . The se em ploy ees are pre do m in an tly of L at in ex tr acti on, i.e., from 

Spa in or Cu ba, an d th ey an d th eir fo re bears ha ve be en as so ci at ed w ith th e in ­

dust ry f or ge ne ra tion s. (T he c ig ar indust ry w as in du ce d to m ig ra te from H av an a 

to Ke y W es t an d Tam pa ab out 1900 by fa vora ble tr eatm en t ac co rded to it by the 

U ni ted Sta te s. )

An em ba rg o of Cub an toba cc o ov er an y ex te nde d pe riod of tim e wou ld th ro w 

th es e peop le ou t of em ploy men t. The y hav e been fo un d pec uliar ly un fitted fo r 

an y oth er ty pe o f work, p art ic u la rl y so b y th e fa c t of th eir hig h av er ag e age.

Ther e a re a t pr es en t 11,600 p er so ns u ne mploy ed i n T am pa , If the se a dditio nal 

6,000 sh ou ld become un em ploy ed , m ak in g a to ta l of ap pro xi m at el y 17,600 persons un em ploy ed , or a to ta l of 12% per ce nt of th e work force, it wo uld mak e 

Tam pa a m ajo r d is tr ess a re a.

Ge ntlem en , if yo u are go ing to des tr oy our Tam pa al l- H av an a in dust ry in th e 

in te re st of our N atio n, we sh al l ab id e by your de cis ion fo r de st ru ct io n. How ­

ev er, I w an t to ur ge yo u to co ns id er th es e follo wing m a tt e rs:

Cu ba re m ai ns free , by th is u n il ate ra l ac tion of th e U ni ted Sta te s, to tr ad e 

fr ee ly w ithi n th e do llar blo c al l ov er th e wor ld, in cl ud in g th e nati ons in th is 

he m isph er e, ex ce pt th e U ni ted S ta te s; it re m ai ns fr ee to tr a d e w ith th e ster ling - 

blo c nat io ns in all th e w o rl d ; it re m ai ns fr ee to tr ad e w ith th e Re d-b loc na tion s.

Cub an toba cc o h as a w or ld m ark et an d if we do no t bu y it in Tam pa , it wi ll
68 TRADE W IT H CUBA

be sold elsewhere. I am sure that this committee has not been awa re of that 

fact. I have stated, and I reaffirm, that my j>eople shall abide by the decision 

of our country as to w hat is in its best interest. However, others in this Nation 

and other natio ns will not pursue that course of conduct. It is certain Havana 

tobacco will be sold in other places, even to our neighbors immediately adjo ining 

us on the north, and immediately adjoining us on the south. So you, gentlemen, 

by the projx>se<l action could destroy us and yet th at Cuban tobacco will go to 

the north and to the south of us and shall be manufac tured into cigars. And 

for what purpose [ You have accomplished nothing except a “showcase action” 

of no substance. You have destroyed my people. You have hu rt my community, and yet there shall be no lack of “All-Havana” ciga rs—and, you have not 

taken a positive and effective economic action that has affected Cuba.

Mr. Chairman, I request that you and your committee consider one fact. 

You a re holding this hearing believing sincerely and deeply that by imposing a 

unilate ral embargo by the United States, you will be asserting leadership by 

the United States. Yet, as I have shown, there is no trade of any significance 

between the United States and Cuba today.

This is a complex problem and, with tota l respect to this committee, I believe 

that it is one that should be left within the province of the executive depar tment. After all, this is a republican form of government and you, gentlemen, 

control the purse strings. I believe that the unilatera l action undertaken by th e 

legislative branch of our Government would be most destructive of the responsibility and of the respect which our Nation should enjoy in Middle and South 

America. But tha t, gentlemen, is your decision. It is not mine.

In parting, I leave with you one thought. I cann ot conceive of responsible 

men who have provided for aid on a long-range basis to natio ns and peoples all 

over this world, destroying the ir own industries, family-owned industries of p ersons within a comuninty in this United States and wiping it off, saying, “this 

is one of the a ttributes of your American citizenship.” Perhaps it is necessary to 

be a citizen of another natio n before you are entitled to receive such considera ­

tion.

We appreciate your courtesy In affording us the opportunity to explain to you 

the effect of the proposed embargo legislation upon us and our workers.

(The letter referred to follows:)

F lorida I ndust rial Com mission—Labor Market Trends, F lorida State E mplo yment Service

em plo yment decreases

Nonfarm employment decreased 0.7 percent to an estimated tota l of 111,000 

at mid-July. Temporary and seasonal layoffs reduced employment in the 

normal pattern for the period. Most layoffs were in manufacturing, which 

dropped off 1,000 during the month. Citrus canning ended its season and other 

canning also laid off workers. These reductions lowered food and kindred 

products manufac turing 500. Temporary inventory layoffs in cigar m anufa cturing sent tobacco man ufactures down 200. Slight cutba cks in chemicals, stone, 

clay and glass, and in “other manufacturing” also decreased total manuf acturing employment. Summer layoffs of nonprofessional school workers caused most 

of the decline in government employment. Contract construction went up 200, 

trade increased 200, while other industries showed litt le change from the previous month.

YEARLY GAIN

July 1961 employment was 0.4 i>ercent above Jul y 1900. Manufacturing, trade 

and transportation, communications and public utilities were under yea r ago 

estim ates while construction, finance, and government showed gains.

UNEMPLOYMENT RISES

With increased seasonal layoffs, unemployment rose slightly. Unemployment 

increased 300 over Ju ne to reach an estim ated tota l of 11,600 a t mid-July. Most 

cigar workers on temporary layoff are now back at work. July 1961 unemployment comprised 7.5 percent of the tota l civilian labor force. Jun e unemployment 

comprised 7.2 i>ercent of the labor force, while revised July 1900 unemployment 

was 5.4 percent of the labor force.
TRADE WIT H CUBA 69

LABOR TURNOVER IN MANUFACTURING

Sep arat ions in all ma nuf act uri ng in Jun e in the Tamp a-St. Peters bur g are a 

were 7.1 per 100 workers. The sep ara tions rat e was high er tha n the accession 

ra te of 5.4. A sh arp ri se in sep ara tions ra te in food and kind red products man ufac tur ing resu lted from seasonal layoffs in canning. The June sep aration s ra te 

in all ma nuf acturing incr ease d from 4.8 in May and 5.9 in June 1900. Quits 

a t 1.7 were slightly hig her tha n in May when the ra te was 1.5. In Ju ne 1900 

qui ts were 2.7 per 100 workers.

The accession ra te incr ease d from 3.8 in May to 5.4 in Jun e. A yea r ago 

accessions were 5.1. Accessions increase d most in stone, clay and glass products, fab ricate d metal prod ucts, and in elec trica l machinery.

HOURS ANU EARNINGS

Averag e weekly earnings in all ma nuf acturing in Hillsb orough County were 

$79.80 in June . Ear nin gs were up $4.91 from May and 50 cent s above Jun e 

1900. Averag e weekly hou rs increase d from 40.7 in May to 42 in June . The 

workw eek was shor ter, thoug h, than Ju ne 1900 when ave rage weekly hours 

were 43.1. Average hou rly earnin gs were $1.90 in Jun e, going up 6 cents from 

the previo us m onth and th e s ame a y ea r ago.

Average hours and earnings in selected manufacturing industries,1 Hillsborough

County

In dust ry

Avera ge wee kly ear ning s Averag e w eekly hou rs Average h ou rly earnin gs

Ju ne

1961

M ay

1961

Ju ne

1960

Ju ne

1961

M ay

1961

Ju ne

1960

Ju ne

1961

M ay

1961

Ju ne

1960

All m anu fa ct uring. ........ $79.80 $74.89 $79.30 42.0 40.7 43.1 $1.90 $1.84 $1.84

Fo od an d ki nd re d pr od uc ts. 69.17 68.59 72.08 42.7 42.6 46.5 1.62 1.61 1.55

To ba cc o m an uf ac tu re s... .. 55.63 53.77 55.73 38.9 37.6 38.7 1.43 1.43 1.44

Pri nting an d p u b li sh in g .. .. 

Che mica ls an d allied prod104.50 105.56 110.70 38.0 37.7 37.4 2. 75 2.80 2.96

ucts ................ ....................... 82.20 78.61 84.17 41.1 39.7 44.3 2.00 1.98 1.90

1

 Estim at es are for all fu ll-tim e an d pa rt- tim e prod uc tio n an d related workers wh o are e mp loy ed du rin g 

th e pa y period en ding n ea rest the 15th of th e m onth . Th ese ave rage ea rnings figu res a re co mpu ted on a 

“ gro ss” basis an d reflec t cha nge s in pr em iu m pay for ov ertim e an d late sh ift wo rk as well as change s in 

ba sic ho ur ly an d ince ntive rates.

BUILDING PERMITS

Building permits issued in the Tam pa are a in July tota led $0,711,337, down 

16 perc ent from June . Perm its issued to date in 1961 ar e 5 perc ent und er the 

sam e period in 1960.

Building permits, July 1961

N um be r of 

pe rm its

Value

T am p a.. __________________ ______ ______________ ________________ 1 066 $3,467, 543

C ounty z oning _____________ _____ ____________ ________ _______________ 415 3,168,529

Te mple Terrace ____ ___ ______ ____ _____ _____________ ______ 11 75,265

T ota l...................... ........................................................................ 1,492 6,711,337
70 TRADE W IT H CUBA

Gasoline ta x ' collections

J u ly 1961 J u n e 1961 J u ly 1960

P e rc e n t c h a n g e 

to J u ly 1961 

fro m —

J u n e

1961

J u ly

1960

H il ls b o ro u g h C o u n ty - $931 ,22 4 $945, 587 $881 098 —1. 5 + 5 7 S ta te o f F lo r id a ____'. . .............. .............................. .. 10,39 5^65 2 10, 5 43 ,598 10 ,0 98 ,3 68 - 1 . 4 + 2 .9

1

 R e m it te d in d e s ig n a te d m o n th fo r p re c e d in g m o n th . 

S o u rc e: S ta te C o m p tr o ll e r’s O ff ic e.

Estimated employment in nonagricultural establishments, Hillsborough County,

Fla., Ju ly and Jun e 1961 and July 1960

(P re p a re d in c o o p e ra ti o n w ith th e U .S . B u r e a u o f L a b o r S ta ti sti c s]

M a jo r i n d u s tr ie s 1

E s tim a te d e m p lo y m e n t a s o f—

J u ly 1961 J u n e 1961 J u ly 1960

T o t a l _______ _______________ ___ ____________ 11 1,00 0 11 1,8 00 110,50 0

M a n u fa c tu r in g ______ . . . _____ _____ _______ _ 22 .700

5. 60 0

3. 60 0 

800

1.40 0 

2,10 0 

2,00 0 

2,80 0

4. 40 0

23 ,700

6,10 0

3.80 0 

800

1,40 0

2,20 0

2,10 0

2.80 0 

4,50 0

22 ,9 00

5.8 00

3.8 00 

850

1,35 0

2, 10 0

1,90 0

2. 800 

4. 30 0

F o o d a n d k in d re d p r o d u c ts ___ __ . . . . __________________

T o b a c c o m a n u fa c tu re s ........... ....... ........................................ _

L u m b e r a n d w ood p r o d u c t s ... . . _ .............................

P r in tin g a n d p u b lis h in g . . ___ . .........................................

C h e m ic a ls a n d a ll ie d p r o d u c ts ____ . __ ____________

S to n e , c la y , a n d g la ss p r o d u c ts ____ . . . . . ....................

F a b ric a te d m e ta l p r o d u c t s ........... ............ ........ .... . . .................

O th e r m a n u fa c tu rin g . . . ______________ . _ . ...............

C o n tr a c t c o n s tr u c ti o n ___ __________ _________ ___ ____ 10 ,800

10 ,200

2,00 0

1,80 0

1,00 0

10 ,600 

10 ,100 

2,00 0 

1,80 0 

900

10 ,10 0 

10 ,4 00 

2, 20 0 

2, 00 0 

80 0

T r a n s p o r ta tio n , c o m m u n ic a ti o n s a n d p u b lic u t i l i t i e s . .. ........... ..

R a il ro a d tra n s p o rta tio n ____________________ ____ __ ________

M o to r f re ig h t tr a n s p o rta tio n ____ _________ _______________

W a te r tr a n s p o r ta tio n __ . . . . . . . . . .

T r a d e . . ____________ _ ______ . ................................. 33, 200 

11 ,700 

21 ,500 

1,40 0

4. 10 0 

3, 70 0 

4,00 0 

1,20 0 

1,00 0 

4, 00 0

2.10 0

33 ,000 

11 ,700 

21 ,300 

1,40 0 

4,00 0 

3,80 0 

3,90 0 

1,20 0 

1,00 0 

3,90 0 

2,10 0

33 ,8 00

11 ,300

22 ,5 00

1,60 0

4.6 00

3.6 00 

4, 00 0 

1,30 0 

1,10 0 

4,1 00 

2, 20 0

W h o le sale tr a d e . _________ ____ . . . ............. ..

R e ta il t r a d e .. ______ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

B u il d in g m a te ria ls , h a rd w a re a n d fa rm e q u ip m e n t___

G e n e ra l m e rc h a n d is e _______ _______ . ___________

F o o d . . __________ ____ ____ . . ___ . . . .

A u to m o b il e d e a le rs a n d g aso li n e fi ll in g s ta tio n s _______

A p p a re l a n d accesso ri es. ____ . ____ . ____ __ . .

F u r n itu r e , h o m e fu rn is h in g s, a n d e q u ip m e n t_________

E a tin g a n d d r in k in g p la c e s___________ _____ _ _ _____

M is c e ll a n e o u s re ta il tr a d e ____________________ ________

F in a n c e , in su ra n c e , a n d rea l e s ta te __________________ __________

S e rv ic e a n d m is c e ll a n eo u s____ . _________________ ____

5, 70 0

14 ,100 

900 

2, 300

5,70 0

14 ,000

1,00 0

2,30 0

5, 50 0

14, 200

1,00 0

2.3 00

H o te ls ____ ______ . _______ ______ ___ . .

P e rso n a l se rv ic e s____ . . ______ . __________ . ____

G o v e r n m e n t___ _____ _ _____ . . . ...................... 14, 3<X» 

2, 30 0

14 ,700 

2,30 0

13, 600 

2, 400 F e d e ra l_________________ __________ _ . ______________ . . .

1

 A ll i n d u s trie s a re cla ssif ie d a c c o rd in g t o t h e S ta n d a r d I n d u s tr ia l C la ssif ic a ti o n M a n u a l, 1957. E m p lo y ­

m e n t e s ti m a te s h a v e b een a d ju s te d to 1st q u a rte r 1960 b e n c h m a rk le v els .
In dust ry

To ta l, m an uf ac tu rin g-----

Food an d ki nd re d pr odu ct s___Tobacco m an uf ac tu re s...............Pri nt in g and pu bl ishi ng ............ Ch em ica ls an d allied p ro du ct s. 

Sto ne, cla y, an d glass p rod ucts. Fa br ic at ed metal p ro du ct s........ El ectrica l m ac hine ry _________

Labor turnover in manufacturin g (per 100 workers') Tamp a-S t. Petersburg metropolitan area

Accessions Se parat ion s

Tot al New hi res Tot al Qu its Lay offs

Ju ne M ay Ju ne Ju ne M ay Ju ne Ju ne M ay Ju ne Ju ne M ay Ju ne Ju ne M ay Ju ne 1961 1961 1960 1961 1961 1960 1961 1961 1960 1961 1961 1960 1961 1961 1960

5.4 3.8 5.1 3.7 2.4 3.8 7.1 4.8 5.9 1.7 1.5 2.7 4.8 2.9 2.7

4.7 6.6 7.8 4.2 4.8 6.0 15.6 8.3 9.3 3.9 3.0 6.1 11.0 5.0 2.6

3.0 2 0 2 5 1 0 7 2 1 3 6 1. 3 2.1 .6 1.0 2.0 2.2 . 1

1.9 1.6 2.9 1.6 1.5 2.5 1.2 2.7 1.6 1.1 1.8 1.0 .1 .7 .4

2.8 2.5 4.3 2.4 2.4 3.8 2.4 4.6 2.2 .6 .6 1.0 1.6 2.9 .3

9.8 2. 5 6. 6 5 8 1 8 3 8 8 7 1. 2 7.0 .8 .8 2.1 7.4 4.3

5.6 1.7 6.3 2.3 1.1 4.5 8.5 11.3 8.2 .2 .4 1.0 7.5 10.6 7.1

7.1 3.5 4.2 4.3 1.0 3.1 1.6 1.0 1.5 1.2 .5 .9 .5

TRADE W IT H CUBA
72 TRADE W IT H CUBA

Mr. Brown. I would like to sort of place things in their own perspective, if I might.

I know that, so far as this committee is concerned and that so far 

as the Congress is concerned, that the judgment which you will exercise will be a judgment based upon what is in the best total national 

interest of the United States and I may assure you of one fact: 

Tha t, so far as our little industry is concerned, we will abide by tha t 

judgment. Aft er all, we are Americans, just as you gentlemen are. 

However, it is worth while, I think, considering what the effect of this 

bill will be in determining what is in the best national interest of the 

United States.

I might just interject this for a moment. I have been going to 

Cuba since I was 10 years old. I do not know how many times I 

have been there. I have been going to Central and South America 

for over 15 years, where my brother was in the lumber business until 

his recent death. I have clients in many of the countries there; so 

I am in this unfortunate position. When we speak of Cuba, we are 

not ju st speaking of our businesses. After all, our businesses in Cuba 

have already been taken. That, you gentlemen may not be aware of, 

but we also have friends, associates, relatives, tha t are still in Cuba, 

and anything th at I say, because I am not particularly persona grata 

there, could have a disadvantageous effect on certain people; so I am 

somewhat limited in what I can say, but what has really occurred is 

th is: The trade with Cuba has been reduced to a mere trickle.

The exports to Cuba now amount to nothing. I would imagine 

tha t they are running under a half million dollars a month at the 

present time. Imports into the United States—and again I am speaking as of the present time—have been largely tobacco. There won’t 

be much of that for the next 2 or 3 months because the wrapper crop 

came in early this year and the filler crop, which is the next one 

tha t will be in, won't be ready even for processing fo r another 60 or 

90 days.

The people whom I represent make all-Havana cigars. We think 

w’e make the finest cigars in the world. That is all they have ever 

made. That is all we know how to make. There is no substitute 

for Havana tobacco and, were there a substitute, I would not be here 

today.

Our workers have only this one source of supply. We have an 

inventory tha t would run somewhere between 7 and 8 months at the 

normal rate of production. In prior years we did a great deal of 

our warehousing in Cuba. In the past 18 months tha t situation 

has been completely changed so tha t we warehouse in the United 

States now. When our tobacco is exhausted, my people are out of 

business.

These are all small companies. They are all family-owned companies. They all run 50 to 75 years in age.

We have directly and indirectly involved just in my town about 

6,000 people that would be affected by this action if an embargo continued for any length of time. We have at the present time in Tampa 

approximately 12,000 people tha t are unemployed, which is around 

71/2 percent of our total labor force. If you add to that these 6,000 that 

are largely of Latin extraction—and by tha t I mean they came from 

Spain or Cuba, but they are principally of Latin extraction—you
TRADE W IT H CUBA 73

have caused a tremendous problem with no apparent solution to it 

except to say to us, “Stand still and hurt.” Well, I am somewhat 

amused by the fact that with all the advance planning and all of the 

money that has been appropriated by the Congress for aid to peoples 

and to nations all over the world, you would take an action th at would 

say, “That is ju st too bad. You will have to sutler because you are 

an American.” Yet, gentlemen, tha t is exactly what is being proposed 

here. I say that is an unfortu nate result and one that I do not believe 

you intend to do.

I also think of some other things that I believe should be considered 

by the committee. What is proposed here is a unilateral action by the 

United States. I can certainly say this : That I feel more strongly 

about Cuba than does our most distinguished Representative, Mr. 

Rogers, from our State, or Senator Smathers or our distinguished 

Representative, Congressman Fascell, and I have reason to because we 

have been more deeply involved personally than they have been, but 

gentlemen, when you take a unilateral action under this situation I 

can tell you th at you have hurt the a uthority and the dignity and the 

effectiveness of our executive department in its dealings in Latin 

America and a t a period of time when if ever that department needed 

support it is now.

Prensa L atina is an effective propaganda weapon; there is no question about it, and you are going to give Prensa Latina a tremendous 

propaganda device and that is that you will destroy a little industry, 

composed of people of Latin extraction in the guise of taking action 

against Cuba and this action will not be effective against Cuba. If 

ever, the United States was going to do one thing, the one th ing it 

should do is in the next action that it takes against Cuba, it should be 

positive, it should be effective, and it should be known to be effective. 

This is a showcase action. It is going to do nothing except hurt my 

people, hurt my town. Why ? It is very easy to see why. The amount 

of trade th at is involved now is a mere trickle. It amounts to nothing. 

Yet by the unilateral action of our Nation Cuba remains free to trade 

in the dollar bloc with nations all over this world and all over this 

hemisphere except with the United States and tha t amounts to nothing. 

Cuba will remain free to trade within the sterling bloc with nations 

all over the world, and it will, and Cuba will remain free to trade 

within the Soviet bloc, which it is, so what have you done by this? 

You have not taken a positive effective action against Cuba. You 

have given a propaganda weapon to Prensa Latina, you have destroyed my people and you have not done one thing to Castro.

I am also impressed by some of the statements that have been made 

tha t this action would lead other Latin American nations to follow. 

1 would certainly say that that old adage applies here, “The proof of 

the pudding is in the eating.” Th at was not accomplished at San 

Jose. It was not accomplished at Pun ta del Esta, and vet it was a 

matter that was sought hard by this Nation to be accomplished and I 

cannot conceive of an ineffective action, which this is, of an ineffective 

action being an assertion of leadership within this hemisphere.

This is a complex problem. It is a problem that as an American I 

believe should be left in the hands of the executive department. I 

am just a country lawyer but as I understand it this is the wav the 

thin g would actually work. The President, under the Executive order
74 TRADE W IT H CUBA

proclaiming the national emergency under the Korean situation is 

still in effect and tha t tha t could be employed again here and extended to Cuba were that desired. That would be under implication 

of the Trading W ith the Enemy Act, under the Second War Powers 

Act or a second action could be taken where a new proclamation would 

be issued but in either event it would not automatically trigger off a 

required action by OAS under the terms of the Rio Treaty. There 

is a relationship between the two, but it would not have the effect of 

automatically triggering off automatic action which the United States 

would have to bring under OAS under the Rio Treaty. That would 

require a m ajority or two-thirds vote. It simply is not going to be 

obtained at this time.

The Big Four nations of Middle and South America have taken a 

strong and positive stand insofar as the economic action by the United 

States against Cuba is concerned. I do not believe that this ineffective 

action would do anything other than aggravate the total situation. 

Yet, when we end up with it you have destroyed this little old industry, 

you have hurt badly a community of this country and you have not 

accomplished the purpose that all of us want.

God knows we do, but you have not accomplished that.

Than k you, sir.

The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Brown.

Mr. Rogers?

Mr. Rogers of Florida. I have just a question or two, Mr. Chairman.

I have known Norman Brown for a long time. He is a very fine 

friend of mine. I respect his position and understand his reason for 

his position and certainly the committee is cognizant of the problem 

he has there.

I do wonder if the gentleman disapproves of the unilateral action 

of our Government in cutting off exports to Cuba ?

Mr. Brown. I would say this: That the United States is considered 

the greatest and most humanitarian nation tha t has ever existed in the 

history of mankind and when you cut off foodstuffs and cut off medicines you have established a precedent that plays righ t into the hands 

of the people th at we are trying to defeat—not just in Cuba, but in 

other nations.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. I do not think the gentleman quite gets 

the point. The action which we have already taken which is a unilateral action in cutting off exports to Cuba, do you oppose that ?

Air. Brown. Certainly.

Mr. R ogers of Florida. You agree with the unilateral action, then, 

in cutting off exports?

Air. Brown. Let me express it this w ay: The action which we took 

was essentially directed at sugar.

Air. Rogers of Florida. No. I am talking about exports, not imports.

Air. Brown. I agree with that. Of course, we are in a somewhat 

difficult position because we are insisting upon full compliance with 

the Guantanamo Convention and the United States has been pointed 

out in other nations and in the press there ; Prensa Latina has done 

a very effective job on th at. The United States does not want to stop 

exports to get money. Certainly they do not.

Air. Rogers of Florida. You do not agree with our policy in cutting off exports?
TRADE W IT H CUBA 75

Mr. Brown. 1 said I do agree with it. I said we are in a difficult 

position when we do that. If tha t policy were true, you would say 

what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Tha t is the 

propaganda tha t has been employed against us in our opinion. I 

thi nk it is right, but you do have that one inconsistency that does exist.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Then you do agree that it is a good idea 

to cut off exports.

Mr. Brown. Yes.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. But you do not agree to take unilateral 

action on imports?

Mr. Brown. It has gotten now down to the point tha t w hat has to 

be determined is what is in the best interests of the United States. I 

say when you balance those two things you have to weigh the existing 

facts that we have now today, and I say that so far as my people are 

concerned, that in the balancing of those interests you will do more 

harm than you will good because it will not be an effective, positive 

action. After what occurred at Cochinas Bay, the next thing we do 

had better be positive and effective.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Do you think the banning of the embargo on 

exports was effective ?

Mr. Brown. Yes, and as a matter of fact, Mr. Rogers, I will be 

happy to show you a letter tha t I submitted long before anyone else 

did stating that I thought it should have been about 18 months before 

it was done.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. You want to ban exports but not imports? 

That is your position ?

Mr. Brown. Xo. That is not correct. I say you have to examine 

the question very closely all the way down. Let’s take sugar. The 

action on sugar placed Cuba in a highly favored position. We were 

criticized in every nation.

Mr. R ogers of Florida. Actually, we were paying more fo r Cuban 

sugar, were we not, than other sugar?

Mr. Brown. Approximately a penny and a half above the world 

price.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Are we paying more for tobacco than other 

countries in the world ?

Mr. Brown. Not for the quality of tobacco. Let me explain this. 

A cigar is composed of three-----

The Chairman. The Chair would like to interject.

(Discussion off the record.)

Mr. Rogers of Florida. I have one more question and I will wind 

up, sir. It is my information tha t we are now paying more for 

tobacco than any other nation in the world. I would like to submit 

for the record on I hat point and would like the gentleman to have the 

opportunity to also submit a written statement on that point.

Mr. Brown. I will be happy to do that.

Mr. Rogers of Florida. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Brown. The record will show tha t we have always paid the 

highest price for tobacco of any country in the world; why, because 

we buy the very finest Vegas and have for 50 to 75 years in various 

ways. The price we are paying now is completely in line with what 

we have been paying for the past 10 years. I will be happy to get those 

records up.
76 TRADE W IT H CUBA

Mr. Rogers of Florida. It lias jumped up considerably; lias it not?

Mr. Brown. It has not.

The Chairman. Are there further questions?

Mr. Brown. It has gone up perhaps 10 percent hut th at is due to the 

increase in labor cost down there.

The Chairman. Are there further questions of Mr. Brown ?

We are glad to have your testimony.

The committee will adjourn. This closes the record on this proposed 

legislation.

(The following letter was later received for the record from Mr. 

Brown:)

Brown & Brown,

Attorneys at Law, 

Tampa, Fla., S eptember H, 1961.

Hon. Oren D. Harris,

Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee,

New House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

Dear Congressman Harris : At the hearing on the Rogers hill, H.R. 8465, held 

on Friday , September 1, 1961, I was asked to supply info rma tion on the prices 

being paid for Cuban tobacco by T ampa manufacturers.

The following information is supplied herew ith. I discussed this ma tter with 

Congressman Pau l Rogers, of Florida, yesterday.

The figures which I am supplying the committee would relat e solely to the 

ciga r manufac turers in Tampa.

The Tampa all-H avan a cigar ma nufac tur ers have historically bought only the 

choicest of the very finest Vegas.

The buying of these fine Cuban tobaccos is an art in itself. The sta tistics 

furn ished herew ith are based uixm the records of a principa l all-H avan a manufacturer ; however, they would hold tru e for the oth er Tam pa all-Hav ana m anufacturers. These are the average prices paid for the periods of time mentioned. 

This does not take into account fac tors such as yield, differences in grading, et 

cetera.

1. ALL-HAVAN A WRAPPER PRICES

Tampa manufacturers buy approximately 90 percen t Pa rtido wra ppe r (i.e. 

from the province of Havan a) and 10 pe rcen t Vuelta Abajo (Pinar del Rio ). 

The grade of tobacco purcha sed is “resago”, classes 13 to 17, inclusive. Wrap per 

tobacco is bought by the bale, which consists of 80 m ana jos of 200 leaves each. 

The average prices paid for t his wrapper, f.o.b. H ava na, are as follows :

Per bale

1953___________________________________________________________ $295. 72

1957___________________________________________________________ 319. 80

Jan . 1 to Sept. 1, 1961___________________________________________ 360. 25

In other words, between 1957 and the first 8 months of 1961, the re has been an 

increase of 15.3 perc ent in the average prices of unstem med Havana wrapper, 

f.o.b. Havana. These are not the prices which the far me r receives for the 

tobacco. These are the prices paid to the individuals and concerns from whom 

the tobacco is purchased.

Prices of U.S. domestic tobacco f or comparable periods of time for Cigar-wrapper tobacco, as shown in “The Tobacco Situation,” published by the U.S. Departm ent of Agriculture, are as follows: (I t should be noted th at these are the 

prices which the farme rs who grow the tobacco received and not the prices 

which are paid by the cigar manufacturers who purchase the same.)

Per

pound

Connecticut wrapp er_______________________________________ 1957 $2. 95

Do__________________________________________________ 1969 2.25

(An increase of ap prox imately 19 percen t )

Georgia-Florida wrapper___________________________________ 1957 1. 99

Do__________________________________________________ 1960 2.00

(An increase of ap proximately 5 percent )

2. UN STEM MED HAVANA FILLER TOBACCO

These prices are per hundred weight (cwt) f.o.b. Havana. Tampa manufac tur ers use “Vuelta Abajo” type filler. The re is also a type of filler known
TRADE W IT H CUBA 77

a s “R em ed ios” which is gr ow n in Si in ta C la ra Pr ov in ce . T his ty pe of filler 

is to ta ll y unsu itab le fo r th e m anufa ctu re of al l- H avana ci ga rs , m an ufa ct ure d 

in Tam pa . It is pri nci pal ly us ed by m anufa ctu re rs of ci ga rs com posed of a 

do mes tic fil ler and bi nder an d is blen de d w ith do mes tic filler. The pr ic es her e 

qu oted are fo r ea ch y ear’s crop . F o r ex am ple, th e cr op of a p art ic u la r year is 

bought, in th e w in te r in which it is har ves te d an d pr oc es se d an d th e bu ying will 

conti nue th ro ugh t he spri ng of th e fo llow in g y e a r:

Per

hundredweight

1953 cr op _____________________________________________________________ $8 3.7 4

1957 cr op _____________________________________________________________ 84. 75

1960 cro p_____________________________________________________________ 98. 00

In oth er words , fr om 1957 to 1960, th ere has been an in cr ea se in pr ic e of 15.3 

pe rc en t. (T he 1961 cr op h as not yet been co m m itt ed or pur ch as ed —for th is re a ­

son th ere is a sh ort ag e of fille r a s co m pa re d to w ra pper. ) Price s of U.S. do mestic 

fille r toba cc o fo r co m pa ra bl e pe riod s of tim e, as ta ken fr om “T he To ba cc o S it uation, ” a re a s fo ll ow s: ,

Per

pound

Pen ns yl va ni a, 1957 fille r cro p__________________________________________ $0. 21

Pen ns yl va nia , 1960 fille r cr op__________________________________________ . 28

(A n in cr ea se of 33.3 per ce nt.)

Cents

per

pound

Ohio, 1957 filler cr op ___________________________________________________ 22. 8

Ohio, 15X50 filler cr op _______________ *.__________________________________ 28. 1

(A n in cr ea se o f 23.2 per ce nt.)

3 . HAVANA BIND ER

I t lias be en diffi cu lt to obt ai n th es e st ati st ic s as re ques te d by th e co mm itt ee 

fo r th e r ea so n th a t it h as be en ne ce ss ar y to go b ac k an d get av ai la ble p rice s from 

th e fa cto ry re co rd s m ain ta in ed fo r th e T re asu ry D ep ar tm en t. The re is a t 

pre se nt a sh if ti ng o ve r to “tob ac co s heets ” f o r bin der s ra th e r th an n a tu ra l bi nd er, 

and it is f o r th is re as on th a t re liab le s ta ti st ic s a re n ot a va ilab le .

4. HA VAN A SHOR T FIL LER (I .E . SCR AP AN D CU TT IN GS )

Pri ce s pai d fo r sc ra p f.o.b . H av ana ca n be st be ob ta in ed f ro m th e U.S. Cus toms 

Se rvice in W as hi ng ton. So nearl y a s can be de te rm in ed fr om th e pr ic es her e in 

Tam pa , th e 1957 an d Ja n u a ry 1 to Se ptem be r 1, 15X51, a re a s fo llow s: 1957, ab out 

69 to 70 ce nts pe r p o u n d ; 15X51, about 60 to 70 ce nts per poun d.

The co ur te sy which yo u ex te nd ed us a t th e hear in gs he ld by you r co mm itt ee 

on A ug us t 29 an d Se pt em be r 1, 15X51, is ap pr ec ia te d by th e m anufa ctu re rs in 

Tam pa .

Ve ry tr uly yo ur s,

Norman S. Brown,

Attorney for Cigar Manufacturers Association of Tampa.

(The following letters were received for the record :)

T am pa, F la., A ugust 30, 1961.

H ouse Comm erce Com mittee,

House of Representatives,

Washington, D.C.

(A tten tion C hair m an).

Dear Sir : I ju st re ad in th e T am pa T ribun e th a t Mr . N or m an Brown of th e 

T am pa cig ar in dust ry te st if ie d be fo re your co m m itt ee again st a pr op os ed em ­

ba rg o of Cu ba n im po rts whi ch wou ld affe ct th e ci gar in dust ry in Tam pa .

I w ish to ad d my op inion to thos e giv en.

F ir st of all, sin ce th e qu es tion of em ba rg oe s be ing p u t in to fo rc e has ac tu ally 

be en in th e j uri sd ic ti on of th e S ta te D ep ar tm en t, a s th ey se e fit in our re la tions 

w ith anoth er co un try, an y pr op os ed ac tion fr om anoth er so ur ce wou ld wea ke n 

a se gm en t of o ur Gov ernm en t. As I see it, th is pr op os al wou ld be inf lex ible, an d 

a da ng er ou s pr ec ed en t to se t fo r our re la tions w ith oth er co un trie s. It s pro ­

po sa l see ms mor e to me a piece of de mag og ic le gis la tu re to ou t-d em ag og ue anoth er ra th e r th an anyth in g co ns truc tive .
78 TRADE W IT H CUBA

R eg ar dl ess o f th e ty pe of g ov er nm en t i n Cu ba to da y, it is a ba d ti m e to su gg es t 

an em ba rg o. We ha ve n ot co nv ince d th e L ati n A m er ic an co un tr ie s th a t w e a re 

de ep ly co nc er ne d w ith th e ir w el fa re , de sp ite th e al li an ce fo r pr ogre ss m ee tin g, 

w hi ch ca n on ly ha ve m ea ni ng w ith ac tio n. An y u n il a te ra l ac tio n, as em ba rg oe s 

ag a in st Cu ba , wi ll on ly sh ow th os e co untr ie s th a t if yo u do n’t fol low th e wish es 

of ou r G ov er nm en t, you m ay ex pe ct econ om ic re pri sa l. T he fa r- re ach in g eff ec ts 

of an em ba rg o bel on g m or e to th e dis cr et io n of ou r S ta te D ep ar tm en t, an d 

F re si d en t, ra th e r th an th e H ou se Co mm erc e Co mm itt ee . C er ta in ly , anyth in g 

to th e d etr im en t of tr a d e sh ou ld be oppos ed, un le ss in te rn a ti o n a l af fa ir s de ­

m an d d ra st ic ac tio n. I t is in co ng ru ou s to th in k of su ch ac tion w ith Cu ba w hi le 

we do no t on ly tr ad e w ith ac kn ow led ge d sa te ll it es of Com m un ist R us si a, b u t al so 

R us si a. We also ha ve m ad e lo an s to th os e co un tr ie s. U nl es s we ha ve u lt eri o r 

pu rp os es in su ch an em ba rg o, w ith qu es tion ab le re su lts, ag ain su ch ac ti on wo uld 

lo w er o u r pr es tige in fo re ig n af fa ir s, a ve ry co stly it em of our bu dg et.

Sin ce th is pro po se d ac tio n is ba se d on th e pr em ise th a t it w ou ld af fe ct th e 

ec on om ics of Cu ba, a li tt le in ves ti gat io n fr om so ur ce s w ith fi rs t- ha nd kn ow led ge 

w ou ld sh ow th a t it w ou ld ha ve no effe ct so fa r as pen al iz in g th e p re se nt gov ­

ern m en t of Cu ba . The tr a d e in tob ac co to da y w ith Cu ba is m or e fr om a lo ng ­

st an d in g fr ie ndsh ip an d re la ti o n s w it h th e A m er ic an to ba cc o in te re st s. Any 

alt e ra ti o n s in th a t st an din g wo uld on ly th ro w Cub an ex port s to fo re ig n so ur ce s, 

an d re su lt in hi gh er pri ce s th ro ugh re sh ip m en t to o u r to ba cc o us er s. T hi s is 

no t goo d econo mi es. Als o, si nc e A m er ic an d oll ar s is a co m m od ity in th e w or ld 

mo ney m ar ke t, Cu ba h as no diffi cu lty get ti ng d o ll ars fo r h e r pu rp os es . W e 

wo uld be h u rt in g ou rs el ve s ec on om ic all y, an d di pl om at ic al ly , not on ly fo r th e 

pr es en t, bu t th e fu tu re . W e ne ed th e fr ie n d sh ip of th e Cu ba n peop le, if w e 

do n’t a cc ep t th a t of it s go ve rn m en t.

Y ou rs sinc er el y,

L o u is F rit ze.

T h e Nati onal F ed er at ion of

B u s in e s s and P rofe ss io nal Wo m en’s Clu bs, I nc.,

Washington, D.C, Aug ust 23, 196J.

Ho n. Oren H arris,

Chairman, Inters tate and. Foreign Commerce Committee,

U.8. House of Representatives, W ashington, D.C.

D ea r Con gr es sm an H ar ris : T h is co m m un ic at io n is go in g fo rw ar d to yo u an d 

yo ur c om m itte e on beh al f of C on gr es sm an R og er ’s H.R . 84 65 , to pro hi bi t th e sh ip ­

m en t in in te rs ta te o r fo re ig n co mm erc e of art ic le s im po rted in to th e U ni te d 

S ta te s fr om Cuba, an d fo r oth er pu rp os es .

U nd er th e le gi sl at iv e pla tf orm , th e N at io na l F eder at io n of Bus in es s an d 

P ro fe ss io nal W om en ’s Cl ub s, In c., co m pr ise d of ab ou t 17 5,00 0 wo me n in al l 

th e 50 Sta te s, D is tr ic t of Co lum bia, P u ert o Ric o, an d V irg in Is la n d s is com ­

m it te d to as su ri ng in te rn a l an d ex te rn al n at io nal se cu ri ty fo r th e U ni te d S ta te s 

a s wel l as to sa fe guar d th e se cu ri ty of th e U ni te d S ta te s an d th e n at io ns of th e 

fr ee w or ld th ro ug h im pr ov in g m u tu al se cu ri ty pr og ra m s, te ch nic al as si st an ce , 

m il it ary ai d, an d m utu al tr a d e ess en tial to th e nat io nal econ om y an d to th e 

m ai nte nan ce of pe ac e, th ro ugh usi ng all ps yc ho lo gica l m ea ns to se cu re an d 

m ain ta in fre ed om .

By re so lu tion a t th e re ce nt n ati o n al co nv en tio n th e fe der at io n m ad e a st ro n g 

st a te m e n t to do ev er yth in g po ss ib le to co m ba t co mm un ism

I t se em s on ly lo gi ca l th a t th e U ni te d S ta te s sh ou ld h a lt all tr a d e w ith Cu ba 

a s lo ng a s a Com m un ist re gi m e ex is ts . W ith th e pre cari o u s wor ld si tu at io n, it 

se em s on ly se ns ib le th a t we fo llo w a re ali st ic an d co ns is te nt p a tt e rn of ac tion to 

sa fe g u ard ou r ow n bes t in te re st s. A ct ua lly we ca nn ot af fo rd to do ot he rw is e.

We, th en , as co nc er ne d wo me n ur ge th a t yo ur co m m itt ee re co mme nd th is bill 

fo r pr om pt fa vora ble ac tion . A lth ou gh ac tu all y we ca nn ot sp ea k fo r o th ers 

th a n o ur or ga ni za tion , off icia lly, yet un do ub te dl y we re fle ct th e w ishe s of m an y, 

m an y o th ers as we ll. W e sh all w at ch w ith keen in te re st th e pr og re ss of H.R . 

84 65 .

Ver y tr u ly yo ur s,

Agn es S. Mer ritt, 

Rational Legislation Chairman.

(Whereupon, at 12:10 p.m., the committee adjourned.)

o

— —