WASHINGTON -- An Arkansan urged federal lawmakers to remove barriers to trade with Cuba, saying farmers have been waiting a long time for the market to be reopened.
Mark Isbell is a fourth-generation rice farmer, and his extended family grows 3,000 acres of rice in Lonoke County.
He testified this week before the House Agriculture Committee on behalf of the USA Rice Federation, expressing support for legislation that would ease the restrictions.
"My grandfather started our rice farm in Arkansas soon after returning from World War II. In those days, Cuba was a major importer of U.S. rice. He was only 38 -- three years older than I am now -- when the Cuban embargo began, and though he always hoped to see it, he never again saw any significant amount of U.S. rice making its way back to the island before his death at age 90," Isbell said.
Cuba currently imports $300 million a year in rice from Vietnam, he said, business that could be going to Americans instead, Isbell said.
"The question is not if Cuba will buy American rice, or even how they will buy American rice. The question is when our country will let them," he said.
Isbell spoke for five minutes and then fielded questions.
After Isbell's opening statement, a committee member from Arkansas expressed frustration with the current restrictions.
U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, a Republican from Jonesboro, has introduced HR3687, the Cuba Agricultural Exports Act, legislation that would allow American businesses to extend credit to rice purchasers, iincluding the Cuban government and entities controlled by the Cuban government,* in Cuba. Currently, only cash sales are permitted.
Cash sales to the Cuban government or any government entity would still be p̶r̶o̶h̶i̶b̶i̶t̶e̶d̶ allowed*.
The bill, which has 46 co-sponsors, stalled after facing stiff opposition from members of the Cuban-American community.
"My goodness, [why do] we have to look at this thing over and over again through the lens of the Cold War that's been over 20 years," he said. "I just think it's time that we revisited this in a more productive light."
Crawford, who represents the nation's top rice-growing area, said he has no sympathy for the Castro regime.
"I know that these are not good people that are calling the shots in Cuba. I know that," he said.
But he noted that the U.S. did substantial trade with the Soviet Union during the Cold War and that it has deep ties to the government in China today.
"I think it's reasonable to think we should provide opportunity for farmers," he told the committee.
In an interview Friday, Isbell said the trade embargo has "not moved us any further forward to bettering the lives of the Cuban people. Meanwhile, it's very much inflicted damages on farm economies and farm communities around our country."
Isbell lobbied lawmakers on Tuesday, testified on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning and was back on the farm by Thursday morning.
Sitting on a tractor in a rice field, Isbell said his trip to Washington was "a great experience."
"It was an honor to have the opportunity to speak on behalf of the rice federation and the rice industry and talk about what an important issue this is to our industry," he said.
Business on 09/17/2016
*CORRECTION: Under legislation proposed by U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., Americans would be allowed to sell rice, on credit, to any Cuban purchaser, including the Cuban government and entities controlled by the Cuban government. Currently, those sales are allowed, but only for cash. This story incorrectly stated the effect of the legislation.