 And we'll, of course, we'll, we'll take questions at some point. First, some updates. I think you've probably all heard the news that Biden withdrew near Tannen's name. As a director of office of management and budget after Joe Manchin said he would not vote for her. They could not get 51 votes. So hopefully they will consult with Bernie Sanders, the chair of the budget committee on the next choice, right? Because what I read indicated that they did not consult with him. So that is something that we look forward to seeing another choice and somebody who will work cooperatively with him. And, and with us with progressives. That's my update. Well, we launched the lift to sanctions campaign this past week. We're very excited about it. We decided that we are going to stay off of Yemen for now, because we do understand that the numbers that are being reported in terms of the number of people who are impacted by COVID there are not accurate. And that there are no sanctions from the US directly on people from Yemen. And the, the, the sanctions are directly from the Saudi government on who the forces so we have, we're waiting on that for now we're working on a petition at the moment, which will be circulating shortly. Very excited about that. And we'll have some updates on that shortly. Thank you. Yes, I will do some quick updates. There was a donor conference on Yemen, where the UN said that there was needed $3.85 billion, but the donors only pledged 1.7 billion so less than half and unfortunately from the US side. And the Blinken was there and said that he they would add 191 million to what the US had already pledged for fiscal year 2021, but it only comes up to 350 million. Whereas Oxfam and other progressives were calling for over a billion dollars should come from the US that we're still pushing for more money for Yemen humanitarian aid. On the front, you probably saw that the intelligence report that showed that Mohammed bin Salman was responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi came out. But there has been a lot of disappointment because the Biden administration has not sanctioned the Saudi crown prince MBS directly. Democrats and Republicans who have come out and said that he hasn't taken sufficient actions that MBS should be directly sanctioned. And that there should be a freeze on all the weapons to Saudi Arabia, not just called defensive weapons. On the Iran front, we have Wendy Sherman who will be going for her confirmation hearing tomorrow at 10am at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Mary if you could put in the chat the link to that. Any of you who can watch it I think it will be very interesting, and we would love to have you do some live tweeting if you are tweeters. I think Wendy prepared that she will probably say some things we will not be too happy again about, but she wants to get confirmed. And then on the Cuba front, Congressman Governor and I know you were a sign on this but the Bobby Rush letter calling for normalization of relations with Cuba was just closed today with 80 members of Congress and that was pushed by this new lobby group called as a setting. And that is it for my updates. No I wanted to add one thank you media I want to add one more item and that is the bombing of Syria I'm sure we were all horrified to learn of that recently. I sent something out over our Google group if you're not in the Google group and you want to be very can post that link and you can just request to be in it that's, it's just an avenue or vehicle to send out comments from mind send action alerts. So, we are in the process of sending a letter but I, you know I certainly was on Twitter I'm very active on Twitter, encouraging and thanking those members of Congress who were demanding some accountability for this and under what organization did they have to bomb Syria and I know that Senator Murphy spoke out Barbara Lee and Ro Khanna, Tim Cain, and perhaps represent the government will talk to talk about that too I just really encourage all of us to remind members of Congress that Congress, not the executive branch is the is the branch that is empowered to declare war or authorize acts of war. Thank you, are you with us. I am with you, yes. I think Paki's gonna. She's a long time supporter activists with code pink, and Paki was able to reach out to represent in the government to bite him tonight we're very appreciative of that. So Paki take it away. Thank you Paki of all of you because I have the most amazing Congress person, and he is not only accessible, but, but he's so responsive. So it's my pleasure. You know we talk a lot about building bridges instead of walls. And I think Congressman Jim McGovern is the quintessential bridge, especially tonight you'll be talking about Cuba, and you have been the bridge of the US and Cuba for many years, and, and you can continue to be a conscience in the Congress. And so all my friends who are jealous, you'll get books. And get to work on electing someone in your district who's just like my congressman Jim McGovern. Take it away. Well, thank you Paki and thank you Marci and thank you Medea and everybody on the call and I'm really happy to be here to talk about an issue that I care deeply about and that is the normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba. You know I've been traveling to Cuba for decades. I first visited Cuba when I was in college in the late 1970s. And I've been to Cuba during good times and I've been to Cuba during bad times through economic boom and through economic hardship. And I've been in Cuba. You know when cab drivers were reluctant to tell you what was on their mind and I've been to Cuba now when cab drivers tell you everything that's on their mind about what they want for the future. I've met with President Fidel Castro, I've met with President Raul Castro, I've met with President Miguel Diaz-Canal. And so I feel I'm on pretty solid ground when I say that never had I seen so much activity, so much optimism and excitement, so much creativity and innovation and so much space open up for the Cuban people. Then during the last two years when President Obama and Raul Castro normalized relations and restored sanity and some humanity and how we dealt with one another. Many of you can take credit for that sweeping change. You invested years here at home kind of plowing the ground so that President Obama felt compelled to finally do what we wanted to do a long time earlier. And there are many people who took advantage of those changes, building stronger partnerships, carrying out joint research and studies, you know, understanding that Cuba has this incredible medical research and biotechnology industry. People reached out to support small businesses and collaborate with artists strengthening local farmers and encouraging the US private sector and nonprofits and ordinary Americans to explore opportunities and the beauty of Cuba and the Cuban people. There was so much to learn and there was so much to do. The possibilities seemed endless. We thought we turned the page and we were writing a new chapter about where the future would take both our countries. Then we found out we were wrong and exactly how wrong we were, that it could all be undone, that the US could go backwards, decades in time, back to a failed Cold War ideology that we thought we had left behind forever. And now scarcely one month into a new presidential administration, we have another chance. We have to, and I emphasize this, we, because this isn't just about, you know, the United States, it's about Cuba and the Cuban people, and they must also be willing to seize this opportunity and take a chance to create a better future for both our countries. So that's one of the reasons why when, you know, as soon as Obama became president, I wrote to him and expressed my concern about the grave harm that had been done to the Cuban people under the Trump administration. And I urged him to, you know, to go back immediately to where we were at the end of the Obama administration. I urged him not to him and ha, not to move slowly bit by incremental bit, but to stand up our embassy and consulate services in Havana right now to reverse Trump's executive orders right now to get to get travel financial services remittances to agriculture, education, scientific and cultural exchanges and commercial and technology services up and going again right now, and to get Cuba off the damn terrorist list again, and to do it right now. I urge him to put us back on a path that moves us forward to the future, not one that leads to the darkest corners of our past to act with passion and purpose so we can finally embrace a new chapter and US Cuban relations. This Biden can do a lot right now and to be honest with you, I've been pushing and pushing and I'm a little bit frustrated that we haven't already done what I think is so simple to do. And that is to go back to the policies we had during the last year of the Obama administration. So we're going to, so probably one is we got a administration act. I mean, there are there are stuff they can do without Congress, and they ought to do it right now. Then we need to get Congress to do its part as well. We're reestablishing the bipartisan Cuba working group, and hopefully it'll be up and running next month. I'm going to be reintroducing my bill to end all restrictions on travel. I got a Republican co-sponsor to join with me, Tom Emmer. We're going to work hard to get it across the finish line and sign it to law. I expect to see initiatives on remittances, technology and agriculture also be introduced. At the beginning of February, Senator Wyden, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee introduced the U.S. Cuba Trade Act of 2021 to end the U.S. embargo or the blockade, as we refer to it, and to establish normal trade relations. Senator Leahy and Senator Durbin and Senator Merkley have joined with him. And I'm confident the Bobby Rush will again lead the effort here in the House. It was mentioned about the letter that he sent, so that was a good thing. That's been sent. But look, none of this is going to be easy. I mean, Democrats hold the House by the slimmest margins and same in the Senate. We have some Democrats who have problems on this issue as well. So we have a lot of work to do, but let me kind of end with this. We are in a position where the stars are somewhat aligned. We have a Democrat in the White House. We have a Democratic majority in the Senate and in the House. And I hope we have that. I hope we built on that, you know, over the next hundred years. But the one thing I've learned as someone who's been in the majority of the minority, the majority of the minority is we've got two years. We don't have a lot of time to drag our feet on this. And one of the mistakes that we made during the Obama years is when, you know, we began to turn the page, we were all cautious about building these bridges and establishing these relations. And it was not just us in the United States. The Cubans were too. But as a result, it became less difficult for Trump to undo everything. So we can't make that mistake again. And, you know, we have two years to restore and expand relations and partnerships with Cuba, two years to get as far down that road as possible as quickly as possible to find ways that it can be easily undone. And we all play a role in this. We all need to be impatient. We also need to be strategic. And by that, I mean, we need to be impatient and demanding that, you know, that we start that we move that this become a priority issue, strategic in that we want to make sure that whatever we do that is pushing the ball forward. And so as we talk about legislative initiatives to bring up, let's make sure we know where we start working now in anticipation of what might come up so we know we have the votes or we're close to it. What we don't want to do is put all this pressure on the Biden administration and then show that we were somehow weaker here in the House. So we're going to have to talk our way through all this. But nonetheless, the fact is that we cannot have truly normal relations with Cuba. And I mean that in terms of lifting the blockade, unless Congress ultimately acts because all of this was codified in the Helms-Burton law. So the administration can do only so much through its executive orders. And we have to push them to go to the extent possible, but understand that in the long run, in order to have truly normal relations, Congress has to undo the damage it did when it enacted the Helms-Burton law. So, look, I'm going to do my part. I feel very strongly about this. I think our policy toward Cuba is an embarrassment. I think it is a throwback and a relic from the Cold War. I think it's stupid. I think it makes us look ridiculous in the eyes of the world community. And for those who have concerns about what's happening on the island of Cuba, let me just say this. You know, you are in a better position. We are all in a better position to raise those concerns in a constructive way when we treat each other with respect. Then right now, we sit and just shout at each other. And so the final, final thing is, there are lots of Cuban Americans who want this change as well. They have families in Cuba. They want to reunite with them. They want to visit them. They want them to be able to come here to weddings. Because of the Trump restrictions, Cubans on the island, it's almost impossible for them to come to the United States right now. So people are missing funerals and weddings and birthdays. You know, it is a cruel, cruel policy. But we have an opportunity right now to change it, and I'm hoping that we will. And I'm all in on this. And I appreciate the fact that so many of you are as well. So I yield back. Thank you so much, Representative McGovern. And I wanted to assure you that once you introduce your legislation, we're going to get the word out. And Alan Minsky is on the call with us to be as chair of Progressive Democrats of America, as you know. And we really want to mobilize behind you and do let us know about the weak links or certainly Democrats and possibly Republicans who can be reached on this issue so that we can focus on them as well. I want to turn to our next guest and we will be taking questions. After we hear from our next speaker, provided that Danny Lover doesn't pop in, of course, we would love them to. But at some point we will take questions. So our next guest is Jose Pertieva. He is a Cuban American immigration attorney, also a specialist in international human rights. He is on the steering committee of a survey, which lobbies for normalization and the lifting of the embargo. He has taken on some high profile cases. You may remember Eileen Gonzalez, the boy from Cuba. Well, Jose won Eileen's father's custody of the boy. He also hosts a national syndicated radio show, the Envenidos America, and his quote, famous quote is it's always good to be on the side of the poor. Welcome Jose Pertieva. If you could unmute yourself. Yes, we hear you now. Been following Jim since he was with Joe Mowkley, a wonderful career. Thank you Congressman. Thank you. You know, I, I came to this country and I was a little boy. My mother came fleeing not communism but her mother-in-law. She was afraid that the mother-in-law would show up in Miami so back then there was a program in the United States had paid a one way ticket out of Miami as long as you promised not to stay in Miami. The US government would pay for that ticket give us rent subsidies pay medical expenses and food stamps. So we ended up thankfully in Los Angeles so I didn't grow up in Miami. My wife and daughter live in Cuba and it's been hard. It's been hard, especially during the Bush administration to be able to go back. You could only go back once every three years unless you were engaged in business of some kind. But, you know, we struggle we look for a way to get around all these regulations. And the purpose of the blockade has always been I think the congressman would agree that with the legislative history of the blockade. It's been to strangle the Cuban economy and encourage its citizens to rebel and overthrow the government. It's a violation of international law to use hunger as a foreign policy tool. It's a violation of international law to use hunger as a foreign policy tool. It's also a violation of the moral law we all have within. But aside from all that, I think we can all agree Cuba doesn't belong to the US. You would think that the United States would have enough problems to deal with rather than posing its will on another sovereign nation. We're very glad that Trump is out. I think a lot of people in this country are thrilled and a lot of people around the world are thrilled. And we're hopeful that President Biden can begin to scale back some of these heartless policies and do executive orders and do what he needs to do and that Congress will lift the embargo, the blockade. We have to get rid of Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terrorism. But aside from all that, I don't agree with the Biden administration's line that the best ambassadors of US values are Cuban Americans. The best ambassadors of US values are Americans. Cuban Americans in Miami don't have a stellar reputation in the history of the United States. First of all, there was a lot of Trumpian values that were banded around in Miami. There was a lot of support for the big lie about the election in Miami. The leader of the proud boys in Florida is a Cuban American. Many Cuban Americans in Miami make the three percenters look like choir boys. And if you look at the history of terrorism in this country, domestic terrorism, Cuban Americans got their hands bloody. They are responsible for assassinations, including in this city, the assassination of Orlando Letelier. They were involved with Watergate and Ron Contra. So I think it's a mistake to look to Miami and to look to Miami public opinion as a means of changing Cuba policy. Miami is sort of like the tail of the dog. It's not the head. As Washington goes, so goes Miami. You remember when Obama changed things, he didn't consult with Miami. He made an executive decision and Miami Cubans followed. And that's what I think needs to happen. This whole business of consulting with Miami before US changes as policy is terrible. And the other thing I want to point out is something that very few people in the progressive community concentrate on when they talk about change in US policy. And that is section 109 of the Helms Burton, the regime change section. They call it democracy promoting projects. Do you know that it's a program that is assigned over $250 million in the last 20 years to covert sub subversion operations against Cuba. George W. Bush love those regime change projects. I guess now after Trump, people think George W. Bush is Lincoln. But I mean he he was one of the key architects of this business of regime change. There was a man named Fulton there is a man named Fulton Armstrong, who for a number of years was a national intelligence officer for Latin America and later became a senior advisor on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said that in an article he wrote for the Miami Herald he said the Cuban programs designed to identify, organize, train and mobilize Cubans to demand political change, have an especially problematic heritage, including embezzlement, mismanagement and systematic politicization. Those millions of dollars have created what he called in that article entrepreneurial dissidents eager for cash disbursements in Cuba and Miami as well there's an entire industry of Cuba bashing with inflated salaries cushy offices and 15 minutes of fame on Miami Radio television and social media. Some of the money earmark for regime change in Cuba stays in Miami. Some of the money makes it to Cuba. You know that money buys it buys journalists on the payroll of regime regime change projects, artists and performers, one who took the Facebook live that defecate before the cameras with a Cuban flag draped on his shoulder and instantly became a cost sale on social media as a great artists. Young people to march and protest. All of that for the purpose of putting pressure on the Cuban government in order to topple it. They asked the US intersection and even past years, according to the head of the intersection himself Jonathan for air to pay salaries and they presented him with a budget to cover their office and everything. This is not real dissidents, I mean this is this is created dissidents. And most of all there's no accountability to Congress for the millions of dollars that are being spent on these regime change programs. Some in Congress would have you believe that the president has no discretion and how to spend those millions of dollars. But I think the congressman knows that it's the office of management and budget that decides how to use those funds and can reprogram them. For example, he can use them to stimulate Central American economies and dissuade potential immigrants from coming to this country. So when Trump use money that was not assigned for the wall he reprogrammed it so he could build his wall. Well, the president can reprogram that money that's been earmarked by Congress, and instead of paying dissidents in Cuba, they can use those funds or something useful. They could even try doing something about vaccine distribution in this country, there's a pandemic here. I would like to know if there's a presidential finding on some of these covert activities that the, that the executive is doing against Cuba. And I just want to finish, you know, when, when we talk to Congress people and we talk to policymakers and when we talk to NGOs, ask them a series of questions. Has Congress been properly briefed by the White House in the past 20 years about the regime change projects against Cuba, both clandestine as well as the covert ones. The executive have been operating them under a presidential finding, as the law requires, whether the expenditure of over $250 million in an attempt to overthrow the government of Cuba has yielded any results. As taxpayers, many of whom are struggling economically should be forced to foot the bill for the millions of dollars that are being spent to support these programs and these fake dissidents in Cuba. Whether the US would tolerate such a move by a foreign government against the United States, and what sanctions with the US impose. Take for the office of management and budget to reprogram those funds to worthy worthy and legitimate purposes in this hemisphere. What danger does Cuba really pose to the US. I don't think Cuba has tried to storm the capital. I don't think Cuba has tried to kidnap the governor in Michigan. I don't think Cuba has spread lies about a presidential election here. I think Cuba has encouraged American citizens not to wear masks in the middle of a pandemic that has killed over a half a million Americans. Those are the kinds of questions that I wish a lot of us would ask. Thank you for your time. Wow. That was amazing. Thank you so much Jose and maybe we should start out by giving the congressman a chance to maybe respond to some of what Jose brought up. Well, Jose is a friend and I've long admired his his work and so I mean I I'm in agreement on virtually everything he has said. Very very eloquently. Look, you know, I've always thought that for a lot of policymakers and American politicians, one of the reasons why it's been so difficult to get them to change our policy in Cuba is because for decades and decades and decades we have spent all this money. We have used all this effort. We have used our best and our best and brightest in our intelligence services to try to try to overthrow the Cuban government and it didn't work. And so I think there's some people that are kind of pissed that, you know, the United States is being gigantic country, you know, has tried to to change everything about Cuba. It's possible to change including the government and in Cuba is still standing. And the bottom line is this, you know, when people talk about Cuba being in our front yard or backyard. I really irritates me because Cuba is not in our yard at all. And the deal is, is that there's a lot of things that we can do together working with the Cubans everything from drug into the introduction to dealing with issues of the climate crisis. You know, to having more fruitful discussions on immigration and family reunification and a whole bunch of other stuff. I do agree with Jose about the fact this policy should not be written by human Americans in Miami. You know, and for too long, our Cuba policy has been a domestic US policy and not a foreign US policy. And that has to change. Again, our policy has, no matter how you look at it has been a miserable failure. And it's embarrassing. And it diminishes the United States, I think in the eyes of the world, the whole world has a very different policy. But here's the final thing I'm going to say. And it's not just with regard to Cuba. Quite frankly, there are other countries that, you know, we need to also at some point talk about this policy of blanket sanctions or blockades is cruel. You know, no one's asking people to like a particular government. But, you know, when you impose blanket sanctions, you're not hurting the government, you're hurting people. And so we have to move away from these wholesale sanctions on any country for that matter. And the final thing I want to say is, look, as I said, I've been traveling Cuba for a long, long time. So I have some very dear friends that I've, friendships that I've established over the years Cuba is a fascinating, complicated place. And the one thing that I have concluded, and I feel very strongly about this is that there's absolutely no reason at all why we can't have normal diplomatic and economic relations. And in fact, we ought to have a relationship based on mutual respect because it's not only helpful for the Cubans, it's in our interest too. And we can learn a lot from the Cubans. And so that's why focusing on this issue is important because we need to move and we need to move quickly. I hope we have hundreds of years of building up progressive majorities, you know, in the House and Senate and getting the White House to come our way. But we don't have the luxury of a lot of time and we got to move quickly. And so pressuring the Biden administration and figuring out a legislative strategy has to be front and center. Well, thank you so much. We have our other special guest here with us now. And like the two of you, Congressman McGovern and Jose Pettiera, he is somebody who has a very special and long standing relationship with Cuba. And I remember being with him when the Cuban intersection in Washington DC became an embassy and the beaming face that our next speaker had is something that I will not forget. So, Danny Glover, thank you so much for being with us. How are you today? Thank you for allowing me to be here. Certainly the conversation that has been being discussed at this moment in terms of normalizing relationships. It seems the immediacy of just getting back to where we were with the during the Obama administration is but it has to go further than that. For all of us who follow the Cuba virtually most of my life, you know, and and and certainly champion the remarkable ways in which they've been, they've, they've had some a relationship, a relationship with with other countries, the relationship they have with other countries they extraordinary goodwill that they bring to the to the world in the service of other countries. And we've, and we witnessed that, and we would hope that this moment right here this this moment provides us as Congressman McGovern says an opportunity to do what we need to do right now. We don't know what the term is. We don't know what the the other dynamics may be, but we have to do whatever we can to work to place this relationship with within the context of the American people decided is the American people have already said said that they they would want a normalization with relationships with Cuba. They've said that over and over and again, we can only know what Cuba is by engaging them. If we understand the way in which they see themselves, and the proud way in which they see themselves, you know, if you know that history those are things that we have to be be able to embrace that history of Cuba, this Cuba and the relations that have taken place in Cuba over his over the top period of time. We know that this is this this has always been this country has always been the United States, we know it's been a country that was always in the making of becoming an empire from the from Monroe doctrine on it saw himself in a particular point in time. At the same time, at the same time, we have to respect people's own ideas of how they see themselves and their own history and the relationship that they have have to to to a larger picture than than us right here. And I don't know if I'm saying that but Jose and and all those who were there, you media and all those who've been pushing for this. I've had a chance to meet with the president and talk with the president. Like, the chance I had to it was not official meeting, he shows up to a space for an artist of Cuban artists is doing his work and showing his is work and unexpectedly meeting him. But I think we have, we have to move past this thing about the cast rules, and the cast rules is in the cast rules is to deal with the issue of this new leadership, people who weren't even born before the victory of the Revolution, and to deal with them in the terms of who they are and how they see themselves. It doesn't come out of just, there's a history beyond 1959. There's a history of sovereignty of achieving their own sovereignty and being expressive in their own political ways. That was one of the things that we're going to have to honor, not only in this hemisphere, not only for Cuba, but in other places in the world as well. Thank you so much Danny for your words for your actions for the love you have for the Cuban people and Cuban culture and all of the kind of exchanges that you have been promoting with Cuba for all these years and we're really honored to have you on with us and to share your thoughts. We're going to move to some questions now. And we asked Danny what his t-shirt says. Oh yeah. Danny what's your t-shirt saying. Oh, it is, it is, it says, it says, for the set for the love of our children, stop the violence. It's a wonderful group that I'm involved with in Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos, and it's always about peace and building peace and building relationships through peace. Thank you Danny. Wonderful. So Congressman McGovern, for anybody who doesn't know is not only a fantastic congressperson but he's also now the chair of the roles committee, which puts you in a very, very special place so we got these questions. Two questions here. One is that Congresswoman Barbara Lee used to do votes to defund the travel ban on the financial services spending bill. There have been other amendments as well over the years. How can we work with you in your capacity as rules chair to get amendments in on these issues, and this one is very closely related it says we were disappointed that we weren't able to get votes last year on amendments to restore remittances. How can we work with you this year to hold high profile votes bring attention to the issue of Cuba, and put friendly but firm pressure on the Biden administration. Well, one is I'm hoping that some of this stuff the Biden administration will do on its own and that's we have to pressure them to ease up on the remittances. Part of this and and and go at a minimum go back to where we were at the end of the Obama administration. Beyond that I mean what one of the things that happened last time was that we really weren't prepared for vote. And and I think that was one of the concerns was that if we had a vote and lost big, then we would go in the wrong direction. I mean we have to work this issue. I mean there there there are people who really haven't focused on Cuba there are a lot of new members. So I mean, we have to. So, so here's my deal. I mean, let's let's let's figure out what our legislative strategy is going to be. And then we will work with you to try to make them an order but I don't want to bring. I mean to be honest with you I think strategically, you know it's a mistake to bring something to the floor that we get blown out of the water on if we haven't worked it. And we and before we didn't know on the you know there's also an appropriation strategy as well. So some of these things can be taken care of in committee as these bills are being marked up we could try to take care of some of them in committee as well. But look at I you know if we can have a good chance at 218 votes on anything. I'm happy to work with you. I just want to make sure when we're moving forward and by the way what's different to is Trump is no longer president. The last time we had this discussion Trump was president. And we had the Republicans in control of the Senate, we're in a different position right now so hopefully there'll be more possibilities, but we will we should talk and work and work together and I look at I want to get this done. I want to win. And so we will approach this with that spirit. So, the next question is about the possibility of working with Republicans now you were going to get congressman on the travel lifting the travel restrictions bill. Can he bring other Republicans on board and then for Jose Pertierra. There's a question about Bob Menendez and because he is so strong right now on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. What can we do about him and who are our strongest allies in the Senate and is there any chance of this widening bill getting anywhere. So let me briefly. So one is I hope that Congressman Emmer yeah I think he can bring some Republicans and as I said before we're going to reestablish the Cuba working group which was a bipartisan group aimed at trying to move the ball forward on Cuba. So hopefully that that could help build consensus. We also have some Democrats by the way in the House who have similar views as Bob Menendez in the Senate. So what you know we're going to need some Republicans in order to be able to push some of these things over the finish line but I'm hopeful that Congressman Emmer can can help us with that. Maria, I think that Senator Menendez is a very powerful senator always has been. Can you speak up a little bit. He's got a great deal of seniority. And, and he's tough. I think President Biden has to decide who's going to run his Latin America policy. Is it going to be Marco Rubio and Bob Menendez, or is it going to be the White House. You're not going to change about Menendez is mine is mine on Cuba was made up many years ago by his family background and also by his funders. He's going to fund him in New Jersey, right wing Cubans. We've known that for years and years. He's not going to change. It's up to, it's up to President Biden to see if he can work his way around them. Menendez may try to scuttle some of President Biden's other projects, because he's not getting what he wants with Cuba and you know I just don't know how the White House is going to handle that maybe. Congressman McGovern can can shed some light on that but it's a tough, tough question. Well there's some other powerful people as well. And I'm not I'm not going to to my horn but I'm the chairman of the rules committee so that that's a pretty policy position in the house. And I think the speaker of the house is sympathetic to what we're doing obviously. And I'm and you know and again I mean I, I mean I think if you know I would like to think that if things had gotten off to a smoother start this year. And we didn't have an insurrection and the whole bunch of other stuff that maybe we might be a little bit farther along in terms of getting administration to define its policy to Cuba. But look, I just say one thing, when the Obama changed this policy I mean, you know, Biden called me and told me about the change. And, and he was very excited about the change and talk to me back then about this was just the beginning. So I think his heart is in this we just got to get him to act and we're going to end up quickly so we can get the ball moving. But, but I, you know, I, you know, but I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that we have a lot of work to do between now and even the time the appropriations bills come up. And so, you know, if we're all doing our work. I'm confident that we can start looking at a whiplist and see that we actually have the votes on some of these things and we might be able to take some action that could help move the ball forward. And to my knowledge of President Obama never consulted with Senator Menendez when he changed people policy correct. Not to my knowledge. So we have another question about the business community and was the business community really key in during the Obama years in the decisions to move towards normalization. And can we get that same community involved at this time and what sectors of the business community are the most important for us to reach out to. So I, and Jose may have some, some of the ideas, look, I think the business community, you know, is interested in, you know, potential opportunities in Cuba. I think we want to be a little bit careful in the sense that, you know, the whole point of this is not for us to invade Cuba with our business community and our business, you know, values necessarily and change the whole character of the place. You know, I think as I pointed out my opening remarks, I think one of the mistakes we made, even in the business community and in the medical science community was that we were kind of slow to try to establish these, you know, relations, these relationships. And so some stepped up and made some positive moves, but it wasn't enough to dissuade Trump, you know, from feeling that if he changed all of this that there would be a political price to pay. The airlines are another major, you know, industry that, you know, I think invested a lot of money in trying to, you know, establish direct flights back and forth. They've lost a lot of money as a result of the of the Trump policies. But yeah, the business community can be very helpful and we want them on board. They certainly help a lot of our Republicans. But at the end of the day, I think one of the most persuasive reasons to do this is the right thing to do. And, you know, for a whole bunch of reasons. And, and so, so if we can get the word out and we can lobby this and and launch a meaningful campaign, I think we could we will be in good shape. So, maybe we have time for two more questions. Is that okay. Yep. So one is about remittances. And for anybody who doesn't know the Trump administration put restrictions on remittances that people could send to their loved ones in Cuba. A, on $1,000. I'll say is it per month. No, no heaven. I think it's per quarter. I'm not sure per quarter. Right. I think. So, a given that people want to be able to support their loved ones in Cuba, especially during this pandemic where the economic situation is very dire. Isn't that the easiest thing to lift to begin with. Yeah, it's an amount that in if you have children in Cuba, and you're trying to support them on what Trump says is the maximum amount you can send, you would be laughed out of family court as a deadbeat father, if that's all you, you sent to support your kid. It's really terrible. The US government should not be telling people in the United States what they can, it cannot send to their relatives in Cuba. That's right. Nor should the US government be telling US citizens that you're restricted to traveling to Cuba. I mean, it's ridiculous. And in addition, by the way, to the business community, the agricultural community is also very supportive of trying to improve relations between our two countries. But we shouldn't be tough. People should be able to send whatever they want to their families. And the government should not be involved in that at all. So another question is about the vaccines that Cuba is close to getting this vaccine ready for not only distributing to the Cuban population but to distributing to many countries overseas. There's even talk about tourists coming to Cuba to get vaccines. Don't you think that with the necessity to deal with the global pandemic, this is another reason to quickly reestablish relations with Cuba and how can we use this health issue to do that? Yes. I mean, absolutely. And I think one of the things that the average American doesn't understand is just how advanced Cuba is in terms of medical research and medical science and biotech. I mean, I brought down a group of medical researchers from Massachusetts to meet some of their counterparts in Cuba and they were incredibly impressed at how advanced so much of the research in medical science is there. And they wanted to talk about joint trials together and joint ventures together. Unfortunately, it was right when Trump became president and then everything became very difficult. But the bottom line is yes. You know, I mean, Cuba developing its own vaccine is a wonderful thing. It will help the people of Cuba and to the extent that it can help other people in the world. That's a great thing. And so we got to we got to acknowledge that and hopefully that's yet another thing that we have in common that can bring us together. And it's extraordinary media that a country blockaded for so many years and underdeveloped country has been able to develop its own vaccine and a number of other advances in biotechnology. Cuba also has a vaccine for food diabetes. Right. In the United States, there are a lot of diabetics in this country that needed, you know, and what the United States should be doing is opening its arms so that Cuba and the United States can exchange these vaccines and medicines to help people in this country and help people in Cuba. But instead, we're dealing with a with a blockade and and and regime change programs to try to topple the government. It's really ridiculous. And you know, putting a country like Cuba on the list of countries that are sponsors of terrorism is a disgrace. I mean, if any Cubans are terrorists, who are supporting worldwide terrorism. It's been Cubans in Miami. Right. They were the claws of Operation Condor in South America. I mean, the Cubans who carried out many of the kidnappings and assassinations there were Cubans from Miami. And they did the same thing in Central America. Luis Posada Carriles was the was the special operations chief for what a moment death squads under the presidency of an issue said that so whatever he was a guy who was in the pay of the CIA for years. I mean, it really boggles the mind that they would call Cuba a sponsor of terrorism and think that Cuban Americans in Miami could be ambassadors of good will to Cuba. I don't understand. Definitely, and also just to recognize that under the Trump years they spent so much energy sabotaging the international medical missions that have been going around the world saving lives and especially during this pandemic. So we hope that one thing will change during this time of Biden is that they won't be trying to sabotage that program. We want people to stick around because we're the next part of this call is to make a calls to our senators for the widened bill and to write to the White House to ask them to move quickly to lift the embargo and normalize relations. Before we turn to that part of our program, we'd like you to unmute yourself so you can give it a shout out to both the Congressman and Jose, I think we've lost Danny but we want to thank him as well. So let's do that collectively. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you for the work. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Well, you're welcome. Thank you. And with us, we're going to marry is going to post the actual or I think you can share the same area also made the post in the chat. I think you can share the screen Mary also maybe post in the chat. I'm sorry. Okay, we're going to be asking all of you to phone your senators to support not just support but to co-sponsor the the widen bill and and then we'll be emailing the White House and we can email the senators to saying you know whatever you've heard that resonated with you tonight as well as what we've got in our in our action. I believe Mary isn't posting that any minute now. And people have asked if we recorded the call. Yes, the call is recorded. Good.