WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is hailing the move to restore diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba.

Baldwin calls President Barack Obama's announcement that the U.S. is re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba "a historic and positive step forward."

The Wisconsin Democrat says more than a half-century of U.S. policy to isolate Cuba "has not achieved our national security objectives," but has "created hardship" for the Cuban people and "failed to weaken the Cuban regime."