Schepisi pushes back at Star Ledger over legislative Cuba trip

Schepisi

By The Staff | The Save Jersey Blog

The Star Ledger called it an “unauthorized trip to Cuba,” Save Jerseyans, but Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi (R-39) took issue with the daily’s characterization of her journey – along with nine other legislators – to the communist country last week.

“I was one of the legislators on the trip and notwithstanding the ridiculous headline in the Star Ledger the trip was approved by the Senate prior to us attending. The sole difference is who paid for it (and for the record we generally personally pay for trips). This was not a trip where we sat on beaches and drank daiquiris,” Asw. Schepisi explained to supporters via Facebook. “We met with almost every major governmental agency and did discuss the return of Joanne Chesimard, amongst other things, as well as consistently reiterated the well founded concerns of Cuban Americans in “normalizing” relations. I specifically asked in each meeting “what does the U.S. get in return?” “What does the Cuba government intend on doing to restore relations with the Cuban Americans who had to leave your country with the shirts on their backs?”

Cuba, known for his long-standing human rights abuses and support for international terrorism, provides sanctuary to the aforementioned fugitive, Joanne Chesimard, who fled the U.S. after murdering a New Jersey State Trooper.

HOLLY SCHEPISIThe U.S. nevertheless loosened its Cuban travel restrictions last year; SL went on to explain that the legislators’ Cuban trip was not officially sanctioned by the legislature but not prohibited either (just not “official” in the sense that it was official New Jersey business). Schepisi was the sole Republican on the trip whose unofficial delegation included Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer) Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen), Tim Eustace (D-Bergen), Paul Moriarity (D-Gloucester), and John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester) as well as Assemblywomen Cleopatra Tucker (D-Essex) and Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) in addition to state Sens. Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) and Nia Gill (D-Essex).

The delegation’s primary cited critic in the SL piece is a NJ GOP familiar face – Carlos Rendo – mayor of Woodcliff Lake, Rubio-backer and a rising star in his own right in LD39, who is calling on New Jerseyans to condemn the trip.

Schepisi sees value that her fellow LD39’er does not. “Why were we there? Well NJ has the second largest population of Cubans outside of Cuba. Whether our residents agree or disagree the President has chipped away at much of the teeth of the embargo,” she continued. “The problem with our society in general is if someone disagrees, rather than learn firsthand about a situation we are expected to bury our heads in the sand and totally ignore what is going on.” 

“That approach has obviously not worked for our State. I personally have studied and worked around the world and have seen oppressive regimes firsthand. I wanted to understand the complexities of an understandably emotional relationship for many,” Schepisi concluded. “Indeed, two of the attendees on the trip were Cuban Americans, one of whom left Cuba at the age of 9 with only the shirt on his back and did not see his father for the next 20 years. This trip was his first time back in over 40 years. There is always more to a story than a headline in a paper.”

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