At the request of President Obama, the outgoing heads of various federal government departments and agencies have submitted “exit memos” to review progress over the last eight years of his administration and to provide roadmaps to the future. A previous post reviewed the comments about Cuba in the exit memo by Secretary of State John Kerry.
Here are the comments about Cuba in the exit memos from U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Jacob J. Lew. [1]
Secretary of Commerce
“The Department has taken a lead role to fundamentally change U.S. policy toward Cuba. We launched the U.S.-Cuba Regulatory Dialogue and, in coordination with the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Department has published six sets of regulatory changes aimed at empowering the Cuban people through increased economic engagement. From January 2015 through September 2016, we issued 738 licenses for proposed exports and re-exports to Cuba valued at $9.4 billion. In addition, we worked with the private sector to identify the most effective ways to increase economic engagement and ultimately benefit the Cuban people.”
Secretary of Treasury
“And, as we chart new courses with other countries, such as Cuba, we should be mindful of how we can use our economic tools to create the conditions for a changed relationship.”
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[1] White House, Exit Memo, Department of Commerce (Jan. 5, 2017); White House, Exit Memo, Department of The Treasury (Jan. 5, 2017).
