EMERSON CRITICIZES HOUSE LEADERSHIP ON SANCTIONS

Republican House leaders are playing politics in opposing lifting trade sanctions against Cuba, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson said Friday.

The Cape Girardeau Republican said congressional negotiations over an agriculture spending bill had stalled because House leaders oppose a proposal by Sen. John Ashcroft of Missouri to partially lift trade sanctions against Cuba.

Ashcroft's proposal would allow for the sale of food and medicine to Cuba and other "terrorist" countries such as Iran, Iraq and North Korea.

Senate negotiators in a House-Senate conference committee favor the idea.

But the House leadership wants to keep the trade sanctions on Cuba. That position has put the Republican House leaders at odds with Republican colleagues on the conference committee, including Emerson.

"At this point in time, the stalemate is over the fact our leadership is trying to protect our two Cuban members of Congress," she said.

Republican Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, both from Florida, oppose lifting any trade sanctions against the Castro regime.

But Emerson said the American Cuban community is divided over the issue of easing trade restrictions. She said both Diaz-Balart and Ros-Lehtinen handily won their congressional seats in the last election. Those districts would appear to be solidly Republican, she said.

House leaders don't need to politically protect the two lawmakers, Emerson said.

Emerson wants the trade sanctions lifted because it would help boost farm exports.

"You shouldn't use food for foreign policy purposes," she said. "It only ends up hurting us and our farmers."

Ashcroft said he isn't pushing to lift all trade restrictions on Cuba. "We are talking about food and medicine," Ashcroft told reporters in a telephone conference call Friday.

"When people like Castro spend money on food and medicine and not weapons to destabilize Central and South America, everyone is better off," he said.

Both the Cuban people and the U.S. economy would benefit from the move, said Ashcroft.

If the U.S. doesn't ease trade restrictions, Castro can starve his people and blame the United States, the senator said.

Emerson and the other House negotiators met with the House leaders Friday. Emerson said she and the other House conference committee members pushed to lift sanctions against Cuba. "We stuck to our guns," she said.

Said Emerson, "What matters to me is we not cave into politics."

Emerson said House leaders, including Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, aren't respecting the will of the committee.

"I will not have Tom DeLay dictate agriculture policy," she said. "He doesn't believe farmers should have a safety net. He doesn't believe in any kind of financial assistance gong into the hands of farmers whatsoever."

Emerson said senators are solidly behind lifting the sanctions. "The fact of the matter is, the Senate isn't going to back off of this."

Emerson said she hopes House leaders drop their opposition to easing trade sanctions.

House leaders, she said, may be looking for a way out of the standoff.

"I think they are scrambling," said Emerson. "I think they know we aren't going to budge."