Norton Says Removing Cuba from List of State Sponsors of Terrorism is Essential to Normalization

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today released the following statement regarding the U.S. State Department's action to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Today marked the competition of the 45-day review period since the State Department informed Congress of its intention to remove Cuba from the state sponsors of terrorism list.

"Today's removal of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism marks a pivotal moment in the normalization process of bringing U.S.-Cuba relations into the realities of the 21st century," Norton said. "The United States cannot ‘normalize' relations with a sponsor of terrorism. Cuba is still an undemocratic nation, but it does not belong in the same category as Syria and Iran, true sponsors of terrorism. After 50 years of a failed isolation policy, President Obama and his administration have recognized that encouraging open channels of information and contact between our two countries can best encourage the growth of democracy in keeping with the desire of the Cuban people for freedom. I hope that we will soon see the opening of an American embassy in Havana and a Cuban embassy right here in the District of Columbia. It is my faith in American democracy as a model for the world that leads me to believe that opening the doors to diplomatic relations and allowing the Cuban people to deal directly with the American people cannot fail to inspire democracy even in Cuba."