HOUSE BILL PROMOTES LIFTING CUBA TRAVEL BAN FOR U.S. BUSINESSES

HOUSE BILL PROMOTES LIFTING CUBA TRAVEL BAN FOR U.S. BUSINESSES    The House Cuba Working Group, headed by Reps. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and William Delahunt, D-Mass., introduced a bill that would promote lifting the travel ban to Cuba for U.S. businesses.
   The Export Freedom to Cuba Act, H.R. 2071, which has bipartisan support, would remove penalties against U.S. citizens for normal travel to Cuba. Currently, U.S. citizens are only allowed to travel to Cuba for educational, humanitarian or religious purposes.
   “This legislation is an important step in working to reform U.S.-Cuba policy through economic and cultural engagement,” said Rep. Calvin Dooley, D-Calif., a proponent of H.R. 2071.
   Last year, a number of farmers from Dooley’s district, including representatives from Sun-Maid Growers of Kingsburg, Calif., traveled to Cuba to participate in an agriculture exposition that resulted in cash sales of Valley agricultural goods to the Cuban government.
   In 2002, it’s estimated that U.S. agricultural sales to Cuba were more than $230 million, making Cuba one of the top 50 export markets for U.S. agricultural commodities.
   H.R. 2071 is the companion legislation to the Senate’s Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act (S. 950), introduced by Sens. Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., and Max Baucus, D- Mont., on April 30, 2002.
   These bills may run into increasing opposition, however, as Congress and the Bush administration continue to evaluate Cuba’s alleged human rights abuses and opposition to the war in Iraq.