Senate Panel Takes Small Step Toward Easing Travel Restrictions With Cuba
Source: New York Times
Congress took its first bipartisan step Thursday toward endorsing the opening with Cuba that President Obama announced last year, as a key Senate panel voted to ease travel and trade restrictions that have been in place for decades.
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted to scrap a travel ban that currently bars Americans from visiting Cuba unless they are of Cuban descent, a government official or qualify for a special Treasury Department license. Four Republicans joined 14 Democrats in backing the measure.
Republicans and Democrats also agreed by voice vote to allow Americans to provide credit for the sale of agricultural commodities to Cuba. And they approved a measure to lift shipping restrictions that ban ships that have docked in Cuba for trade purposes from loading or unloading any freight at a United States port for 180 days.
All three provisions were added to the annual spending bill that funds financial services and general government. The move falls far short of the lifting of the embargo that Mr. Obama has urged, nor does it guarantee that the restrictions will be relaxed. For that to happen, the language would have to survive votes by the full Senate and a conference to resolve differences between the Senate and House, where lawmakers have included measures in other spending bills that seek to block the opening with Cuba.
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