WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott released the below statement following his vote against the confirmation of Tom Vilsack to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Senator Rick Scott said, “While I appreciate Tom Vilsack’s commitment to supporting Florida’s growers and agriculture industry, I cannot support any nominee that encouraged Obama-era appeasement and open-trade policies with Cuba. We’ve made significant progress to hold the Cuban regime accountable over the past four years and deny them sources of revenue. Under no circumstances can the United States go back to supporting this murderous regime. We know appeasement policies and open-trade do nothing to help the Cuban people in their fight for freedom and democracy and that any revenue to the Cuban regime goes to enrich corrupt communist oppressors. Cuba is the root of the evil we see in Latin America and we must continue to fight until we see a new day of freedom in our hemisphere.”

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