{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://kaygranger.house.gov/ted-cruz-and-other-gop-texans-slam-obama%E2%80%99s-cuba-shift", "Ted Cruz and other GOP Texans slam Obamas Cuba shift", "2014-12-17", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Kay Granger", "G000377", "kaygranger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Sen. Ted Cruz has joined the chorus of Republicans blasting the president\u2019s shift in policy toward Cuba, a country from which the senator\u2019s father fled as a teenager.\n\t\u201cFidel and Raul Castro have just received both international legitimacy and a badly-needed economic lifeline from President Obama,\u201d Cruz said in a prepared statement issued 4 hours after the president\u2019s announcement at the White House. \u201cBut they remain in control of a totalitarian police state modeled on their old state sponsor, the Soviet Union.\u201d\n\t\u201cThis is one more very, very bad deal brokered by the Obama administration,\u201d said Cruz.\n\tLike other critics weighing in this afternoon, the senator lauded the release of Alan Gross, the American aid worker imprisoned by Cuba for five years. But, he said, the deal Obama has struck won\u2019t stop indefinite detention of others without legal process, \u201cas the many political prisoners still languishing in the Castros\u2019 prisons can attest.\u201d\n\tCruz echoed comments from Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, another Cuban American Republican eyeing a 2016 presidential bid.\n\tHe called it a mistake to ease tensions with a nation that retains ties with Russia, Iran, North Korea and Venezuela, and which supports terrorists groups \u2013 he cited FARC, Hezbollah and Hamas. Making nice with Cuba, Russia and Iran, he said, leaves American \u201cinfluence diminished and our enemies emboldened. Now they are revisiting this same disastrous policy with the Castros, blind to the fact that they are being played by brutal dictators whose only goal is maintaining power.\u201d\n\tRep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, who chairs a subcommittee that controls billions in foreign aid, also criticized the moves, which include normalizing diplomatic relations, and easing restrictions on travel, banking and trade. These are \u201cdeeply concerning,\u201d she said.\n\t\u201cThe Cuban people remain under the iron grip of a regime that has for decades repressed their freedoms. The Cuban regime should not be rewarded until the Cuban people are given the freedoms they are seeking. The regime has had a sordid history of human rights abuses in addition to working with some of America\u2019s worst enemies around the world,\u201d Granger said. \u201cThese actions cannot be erased overnight or forgotten as the Administration seeks to shift the U.S. relationship with the government of Cuba.\n\thttps://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/12/ted-cruz-and-other-gop-texans-slam-obamas-cuba-shift.html/", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://kaygranger.house.gov/ted-cruz-and-other-gop-texans-slam-obama%E2%80%99s-cuba-shift"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.78840702958405, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}