Cuba and it is true that you cant travel to cuba without some revenue going to government. That is certain. The notion that every dollar spent ends up in the hands of the cuban military simply is not the case. You have burgeoned a notch premiership in cuba that is a testimony to the fact that some money does flow to ordinary cuban people. And that has been particularly the case with the travel of cubanamericans over the past couple of years. I should mention what the policy was announced a couple years ago they cubanamericans should travel not once every few years but often as they like and remittance levels were increased. There is talk in congress about reversing. We cant have that. Its not good for the cuban people. Its not good for america there is no serious talk today about reversing a because when americans get more freedom, we enjoy that and we tend to want more. I would suggest that a year from now the notion that we would reverse this policy that is a lot more americans to travel to cuba and to help cuban people have access Similar Technology more capital more values come the more contact with americans will seem as absurd as releasing the changes made with cubanamerican travel a couple years ago. I applaud you for what you are doing and look forward to working with the administration as the policy and holes. Thank you, senator menendez. When they cubanamerican visits to relatives in cuba and give them a little money the only place to buy something as the dollar store. Isnt that true . If you want to get something. I believe theres more in those stores to buy. By the way who owns the Dollar Stores . They are state run. The government. If i want to send revisions to my relative in cuba come in the cuban takes lights . They do but your relatives on their part of that anyway. The cuban government gets a slice. Lets not deny the cuban government is greatly enriched by this resources, which is why its been its number one Foreign Policy object disappeared but talk about what full diplomatic relations are appearing youll be having this discussion tomorrow as i understand. What senator markets normalize relations are. The Washington Post ran a story suggesting that talks to restore diplomatic relations were hung up because the castro regime or unwilling to grant unrestricted travel, unwilling to send secure shipments to a future embassy unwilling to let us have a number of staff necessary to operate a future embassy in unwilling to remove the military presence around a future embassy. So let me ask you. With the state department actually agreed to establish an embassy in havana if all of our diplomats arent able to travel freely throughout cuba . Senator, what i can tell you is we have to have an embassy where diplomats can get out and travel and see the country and talk to people. We have restrictions on the way our Embassy Personnel travel in terms of notification to governments in many countries around the world to range from 24 hours to 10 days. So we are going to do Everything Possible to make sure we have the least restrictions possible. We will accept restrictions that all of our diplomats at an embassy with Reality Travel throughout the country. We will make sure that the embassy is on our with the way we operate in other places that are restrict their environments. Would you agree to conditions under which we can send secure subscriptions without the machine rifling through them . Senator i will not necessarily lay out all of the negotiations. Why not . Wait a minute. Is there a secret or do we not have the United States congress have the right to understand how you try to establish diplomatic relations. Under what conditions are we going to have or not have relationships. Are you going to allow the cubans to rifle through with impunity or are you going to send anything to the embassy as we do in other places of the world. We absolutely believe in the diplomatic pouch. We also believe its critical to resupply a future embassy as we believe it is important to supply the building now that has maintenance and upkeep issues. That is a critical part. Will you accept conditions less than that . We wont accept conditions in which we cant securely supplier facility. Would you agree to open an embassy if you are granted the number of staff to operate efficiently . Not if we can cut the number of staff we need. Are you willing to open an embassy if the castro regime doesnt remove around the building which basically is a way to intimidate from approaching facility . We will not open an embassy unless we believe security outside the embassy is appropriate to protect our installation. But we will also make sure that it is welcoming the cubans into the installation as an embassy the way we do around the world. Me ask you. You agreed with me ultimately at the castro regime statement as it relates that they have never supported any act of International Terrorism is not true. So if you agree the statements by the castro regime are categorically false how can you explain to the committee why you think you can believe any assurances about the regimes current or future conduct if a bold faced lied in the first place. What i would say senator, what we were looking at is not necessarily whether or not their assertions on behalf of all recorded history for the cuban government we agree with every statement of the past. But we have to look at is what the requirements are under the law which talk about rejection of International Terrorism which they have made and the lack of any supporter any evidence for support. They can partially lie to you, but not fully live. They do not believe they have ever supported a single letter in the state department quoted dissection which is incredible to believe that section of the letter you buy into. Let me ask you this. The red cross on the president s december 17th announcement was to have access to cuban jails. We did not say the red cross would have access. I understand it was access to cuban jails. What do they have access to . I dont believe we said the cubans agree to that. We were hoping International Organizations would renew their discussions with the cuban government about those issues including the red cross and the u. N. Has the red cross been able to get in freely . Not that i know of. Last question. A lot has been discussed here about the period in late february the first Vice President who senator boxer referred to as looking like the next air in an election. First of all, there is no election in 2018. It is a selection. There is no election. Can we agree im not . We can agree with the cuban government calls an election is not what we believe meet standards. Is the cuban communist party. I dont want anyone think they were working on an election in 2018. He gave a lot of rambling speech secondhighest official about the internet in cuba. One of the most revealing statements was the affirmation the regime internet strategy would be led by the communist party. Given the communist partys halfcentury long effort to the pride of the cuban people of the most minimal standards of freedom of the press and information which you have the committee believed the communist party wont make every possible effort to block access to all content it deems undesirable similar to what weve seen another close societies around the world . Senator when more people have access to the internet even if governments try to prevent them seen things they dont want them to comment they are remarkably inventive in finding ways to do that. So let me ask you this. Can we have your assurances that the state department in the United States government will take all possible steps to ensure that the cuban people have access to circumnavigation technologies that would be able to get around regime censorship . If we say we want u. S. Companies to go and develop the infrastructure in cuba, surely we can of circumvention technologies of the cuban people are truly free to go see any site they want. Not only that what the regime wants them to say. Certainly i hope the majority in the vast majority or all of the cuban people will have complete access to the internet. Hope is not a policy achievement. I am asking you if we are going to license companies to go ahead and put infrastructure in cuba, can we make a condition of the license that they have circumnavigation technologies so senator flake and senator udall and everyone who wants access for the cuban people actually can get access to the internet . What is so difficult about Circumvention Technology . I . I dont know that we can do that. Any condition if they want as a condition of sale. I wrote that section of the law when i was in the house of representatives. I know what he says and you can put conditions on it. I hope to hear back from you whether you will insist on not as an ability to have u. S. Companies. Everyone access for the cuban people to have access to the internet, which i do. I do as well senator, but i want the deals to go through and make it the most effective way that more on the island a deal without full access to the internet is an end without access to the critical information we think and hope to grade the cuban people. Thank you mr. Chairman. Thank you. Any other questions . I want to thank the committee again. Theres a lot of diversity is that the proposed new policy. A policy has been implemented and i want to thank the witnesses for being here. The record will be opened without objection until the close of business thursday. If you has to promptly be depreciated. Thank you for your service to our country. With that, we are adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] yesterday in the senate, senator ray and paul spoke for over 10 hours about his opposition to the patriot act and the nsa collection of phone records. The senate is expected to vote on the renewal of the patriot act later this week. Here is the first 45 minutes of senator pauls remarks. There comes a time there comes a time in the history of nations when fear and complacency allow power to accumulate in liberty and privacy to suffer. That time is now. And i will not let the patriot act, the most unpatriotic of acts go unchallenged. At the very least, we should debate. Should debate whether or not we can relinquish our rights or whether or not we are going to have a fall enable debate over whether or not we can live within the constitution or whether or not we have to go around the constitution. The full collection of all americans own records all of the time is a direct violation of the Fourth Amendment. The Second Appeals Court has ruled it illegal. The president began this program by executive order. He should have immediately ended the executive order. For over a year now he has said the program is illegal and yet he does nothing. He says congress can get rid of the pastry back. Congress can get rid of the collection and yet he has the power to do it at his fingertips. He began this illegal program. The court has informed him the program is illegal. He has every power to stop it and yet the president does nothing. Justice brandeis wrote that the right to be left alone is the most cherished of rights. Most prized among civilized men. The amendment incorporates this right to privacy. The Fourth Amendment incorporates the right to be left alone. When we think about the full collection of records, you might ask well maybe im willing to give up my freedom for security. Maybe if i give up a little freedom of the more safe. Most of the information that comes on whether youre safer to comes to people who have secret information that you are not allowed to look at. You have to trust the people. You have to trust the Intelligence Community that they are being honest with you, that when they tell you how important the programs are and you must give up freedoms. You must get at the amendment when they tell you guys. You have to trust them. The problem is we are having a great deal of difficulty trusting these people. When James Clapper the head of the Intelligence Agency director of National Intelligence was asked pointblank, are you collecting the phone records of americans involved, he said no. It turns out that was dishonest and yet president obama set inplace. So when they say how important these programs are how they keep them safe from terrorists we have to trust someone who lied to a Congressional Committee. It is a felony to lie to a Congressional Committee and nothing has been done about this. A year ago we began having the debate. Here is a warrant for all of the phone records from verizon. Can you say well, maybe they have evidence for doing something wrong. There is no evidence. They want everyones phone records. I dont have a problem with going after terrorists and getting their records. You should call a judge. You should say the name of the terrorist and get their records, as much as you want. If im a judge and they asked me for the boston bomber, the russians have investigated them. They went back to chechnya and no one asked to look at this stuff. And then we had the disaster of the boston marathon. I would make the argument that we spend so much time getting the haystack bigger and bigger and bigger that we cant find the needle. We keep making it bigger and bigger in taking resources away from the human analysts who should be looking at dean wins tomorrow travels outside our country. We recently had another terrorist travel from phoenix to texas. We had arrested him previously. My guess is there was sufficient cause, probable cause for a real warrant to look at his activities and we should. But i dont think were any safer safer looking at americans records. When this came up the government said weve captured 52 terrorists because of this. But when the president on Privacy Commission looked at all 52 there was a debate about whether one had been aided by not found by these records. It would have been found by other records. We have to decide if the country whether we value our bill of rights, whether we value our privacy or whether we are willing to give that up to feel safer. Im not sure you can argue we are safer, but people will argue they feel safer. But think about it. Is the standard if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear, but that everything should be exposed to the government, that all of your records can be collected. Some will say these are boring old Business Records. Why would you care if they could find out who called and how long he spoke on the phone. Two stanford students did a study of this. They got an up and they put the app on the phone voluntarily for 500 people. These people made phone calls and all they looked at was how long they spoke, metadata in who they spoke to the phone number they were connected to you. But they found was about any other information can be a defect of some of the time they could tell of their religion was. 70 of the time they get out of their doctor was what medications they took, what diseases they had. The government shouldnt have the ability to get that information unless they have a suspicion, unless they have probable cause that you committed a crime. The Appeals Court when they looked at this was flabbergasted that the government would make the argument that this was somehow relevant to an investigation. That is what the standard is. The standard is probable cause, which means there is some evidence for a suspicion that youve done something illegal. The standard now is relevant which means that the relevant to an investigation but of course id even the looser standard of relevance they said that completely destroyed any meaning of any word if we say every americans phone records and the whole country somehow relevant to investigation. But it gets worse. They dont have to prove it. They say the court. There is no debate. But lisa was until this court ruling was appealed. We had the Second Appeals Court that said the collection is illegal. There are many different programs going on. This is the only one we know about that our government is collect records and the only reason we know about it is not because the government was honest with you. The government was dishonest. The director of National Intelligence try to basically lied to the American People and say it didnt exist. So we know about this one. What other programs are out there . Theres something called executive order 12333. Some believe this is just the tip of the iceberg. Theres an enormous amount of data being collected on people through the other program. One question is theres no Fourth Amendment protection to your records. Are they collecting your credit card bills . I dont know the truth of that. I would sure like to know. I dont know whether to trust their answer if i asked them, if theyll be honest about collecting credit card records. People might say credit card records are boring old Business Records. Why would you care . Think about it. If the government has to be said though that can tell whether you drink whether you smoke what restaurants to go to, what magazines or books you read, what doctors to see, medicines you back do you gamble. All of these things determined. Not only can they determine directly from your phone bill in visa bill, they now have the ability to merge all of this information. Apparently they have the ability to collect your contact list in a way that is somewhat nefarious. We are supposed to be spying on foreigners. Foreigners that might attack us i am all for that. What happens is a lot of data that goes in and out of the country. Sometimes an email from the two colorado might go through a server in brazil. Once he gets to a server in brazil, they cannot only look at your map the data how long in who you talk to the content is now available. It has all been analyzed. They are doing a social network of who you friends are. Some have said this could potentially have a Chilling Effect on the first amendment. There was