[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 927 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 927

To seek international sanctions against the Castro government in Cuba, 
      to plan for support of a transition government leading to a 
   democratically elected government in Cuba, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 14, 1995

Mr. Burton of Indiana (for himself, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, 
 Mr. Torricelli, Mr. Menendez, Mr. DeLay, Mr. Ballenger, Mr. Solomon, 
 Mr. Goss, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. King, Mr. Ewing, Mr. Gallegly, 
  Mr. Deutsch, Mr. Hansen, Mr. Barton of Texas, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. 
Funderburk, Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas, Mrs. Vucanovich, Mr. Petri, Mrs. 
  Meek of Florida, and Mr. Gilchrest) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in 
   addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, the Judiciary, and 
    Banking and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

                             April 18, 1995

Additional sponsors: Mr. Engel, Mr. Knollenberg, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Foley, 
                      and Mr. Bartlett of Maryland

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To seek international sanctions against the Castro government in Cuba, 
      to plan for support of a transition government leading to a 
   democratically elected government in Cuba, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Cuban Liberty and 
Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1995''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Purposes.
Sec. 4. Definitions.
        TITLE I--SEEKING SANCTIONS AGAINST THE CASTRO GOVERNMENT

Sec. 101. Statement of policy.
Sec. 102. Enforcement of the economic embargo of Cuba.
Sec. 103. Prohibition against indirect financing of the Castro 
                            dictatorship.
Sec. 104. United States opposition to Cuban membership in international 
                            financial institutions.
Sec. 105. Assistance by the independent states of the former Soviet 
                            Union of the Government of Cuba.
Sec. 106. Television broadcasting to Cuba.
Sec. 107. Reports on assistance and commerce received by Cuba from 
                            other foreign countries.
Sec. 108. Importation sanction against certain Cuban trading partners.
          TITLE II--ASSISTANCE TO A FREE AND INDEPENDENT CUBA

Sec. 201. Policy toward a transition government and a democratically 
                            elected government in Cuba.
Sec. 202. Authorization of assistance for the Cuban people.
Sec. 203. Coordination of assistance program; implementation and 
                            reports to Congress; reprogramming.
Sec. 204. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 205. Termination of the economic embargo of Cuba.
Sec. 206. Requirements for a transition government.
Sec. 207. Requirements for a democratically elected government.
        TITLE III--PROTECTION OF AMERICAN PROPERTY RIGHTS ABROAD

Sec. 301. Exclusion from the United States of aliens who have 
                            confiscated property of United States 
                            nationals.
Sec. 302. Liability for trafficking in property confiscated from United 
                            States nationals.
Sec. 303. Claims to confiscated property.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The economy of Cuba has experienced a decline of at 
        least 60 percent in the last 5 years as a result of--
                    (A) the end of its subsidization by the former 
                Soviet Union of between 5 billion and 6 billion dollars 
                annually;
                    (B) 36 years of Communist tyranny and economic 
                mismanagement by the Castro government;
                    (C) the extreme decline in trade between Cuba and 
                the countries of the former Soviet bloc; and
                    (D) the policy of the Russian Government and the 
                countries of the former Soviet bloc to conduct economic 
                relations with Cuba on strictly commercial terms.
            (2) At the same time, the welfare and health of the Cuban 
        people have substantially deteriorated as a result of this 
        economic decline and the refusal of the Castro regime to permit 
        free and fair democratic elections in Cuba.
            (3) The Castro regime has made it abundantly clear that it 
        will not engage in any substantive political reforms that would 
        lead to democracy, a market economy, or an economic recovery.
            (4) The repression of the Cuban people, including a ban on 
        free and fair democratic elections, and continuing violation of 
        fundamental human rights has isolated the Cuban regime as the 
        only completely nondemocratic government in the Western 
        Hemisphere.
            (5) As long as free elections are not held in Cuba, the 
        economic condition of the country and the welfare of the Cuban 
        people will not improve in any significant way.
            (6) The totalitarian nature of the Castro regime has 
        deprived the Cuban people of any peaceful means to improve 
        their condition and has led thousands of Cuban citizens to risk 
        or lose their lives in dangerous attempts to escape from Cuba 
        to freedom.
            (7) Radio Marti and Television Marti have both been 
        effective vehicles for providing the people of Cuba with news 
        and information and have helped to bolster the morale of the 
        people of Cuba living under tyranny.
            (8) The consistent policy of the United States towards Cuba 
        since the beginning of the Castro regime, carried out by both 
        Democratic and Republican administrations, has sought to keep 
        faith with the people of Cuba, and has been effective in 
        sanctioning the totalitarian Castro regime.
            (9) The United States has shown a deep commitment, and 
        considers it a moral obligation, to promote and protect human 
        rights and fundamental freedoms as expressed in the Charter of 
        the United Nations and in the Universal Declaration of Human 
        Rights.
            (10) The Congress has historically and consistently 
        manifested its solidarity and the solidarity of the American 
        people with the democratic aspirations of the Cuban people.
            (11) The Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 calls upon the 
        President to encourage the governments of countries that 
        conduct trade with Cuba to restrict their trade and credit 
        relations with Cuba in a manner consistent with the purposes of 
        that Act.
            (12) The 1992 FREEDOM Support Act requires that the 
        President, in providing economic assistance to Russia and the 
        emerging Eurasian democracies, take into account the extent to 
        which they are acting to ``terminate support for the communist 
        regime in Cuba, including removal of troops, closing military 
        facilities, and ceasing trade subsidies and economic, nuclear, 
        and other assistance''.
            (13) The Government of Cuba engages in the illegal 
        international narcotics trade and harbors fugitives from 
        justice in the United States.
            (14) The Castro government threatens international peace 
        and security by engaging in acts of armed subversion and 
        terrorism such as the training and supplying of groups 
        dedicated to international violence.
            (15) The Castro government has utilized from its inception 
        and continues to utilize torture in various forms (including by 
        psychiatry), as well as execution, exile, confiscation, 
        political imprisonment, and other forms of terror and 
        repression, as means of retaining power.
            (16) Fidel Castro has defined democratic pluralism as 
        ``pluralistic garbage'' and continues to make clear that he has 
        no intention of tolerating the democratization of Cuban 
        society.
            (17) The Castro government holds innocent Cubans hostage in 
        Cuba by no fault of the hostages themselves solely because 
        relatives have escaped the country.
            (18) Although a signatory state to the 1928 Inter-American 
        Convention on Asylum and the International Covenant on Civil 
        and Political Rights (which protects the right to leave one's 
        own country), Cuba nevertheless surrounds embassies in its 
        capital by armed forces to thwart the right of its citizens to 
        seek asylum and systematically denies that right to the Cuban 
        people, punishing them by imprisonment for seeking to leave the 
        country and killing them for attempting to do so (as 
        demonstrated in the case of the confirmed murder of over 40 
        men, women, and children who were seeking to leave Cuba on July 
        13, 1994).
            (19) The Castro government continues to utilize blackmail, 
        such as the immigration crisis with which it threatened the 
        United States in the summer of 1994, and other unacceptable and 
        illegal forms of conduct to influence the actions of sovereign 
        states in the Western Hemisphere in violation of the Charter of 
        the Organization of American States and other international 
        agreements and international law.
            (20) The United Nations Commission on Human Rights has 
        repeatedly reported on the unacceptable human rights situation 
        in Cuba and has taken the extraordinary step of appointing a 
        Special Rapporteur.
            (21) The Government of Cuba has consistently refused access 
        to the Special Rapporteur and formally expressed its decision 
        not to ``implement so much as one comma'' of the United Nations 
        Resolutions appointing the Rapporteur.
            (22) The United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 
        1992/70 on December 4, 1992, Resolution 1993/48/142 on December 
        20, 1993, and Resolution 1994/49/544 on October 19, 1994, 
        referencing the Special Rapporteur's reports to the United 
        Nations and condemning ``violations of human rights and 
        fundamental freedoms'' in Cuba.
            (23) Article 39 of Chapter VII of the United Nations 
        Charter provides that the United Nations Security Council 
        ``shall determine the existence of any threat to the peace, 
        breach of the peace, or act of aggression and shall make 
        recommendations, or decide what measures shall be taken . . . , 
        to maintain or restore international peace and security.''.
            (24) The United Nations has determined that massive and 
        systematic violations of human rights may constitute a ``threat 
        to peace'' under Article 39 and has imposed sanctions due to 
        such violations of human rights in the cases of Rhodesia, South 
        Africa, Iraq, and the former Yugoslavia.
            (25) In the case of Haiti, a neighbor of Cuba not as close 
        to the United States as Cuba, the United States led an effort 
        to obtain and did obtain a United Nations Security Council 
        embargo and blockade against that country due to the existence 
        of a military dictatorship in power less than 3 years.
            (26) United Nations Security Council Resolution 940 of July 
        31, 1994, subsequently authorized the use of ``all necessary 
        means'' to restore the ``democratically elected government of 
        Haiti'', and the democratically elected government of Haiti was 
        restored to power on October 15, 1994.
            (27) The Cuban people deserve to be assisted in a decisive 
        manner to end the tyranny that has oppressed them for 36 years 
        and the continued failure to do so constitutes ethically 
        improper conduct by the international community.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are as follows:
            (1) To seek international sanctions against the Castro 
        government in Cuba.
            (2) To encourage the holding of free and fair, democratic 
        elections in Cuba, conducted under the supervision of 
        internationally recognized observers.
            (3) To develop a plan for furnishing assistance to a 
        transition government and, subsequently, to a democratically 
        elected government when such governments meet the eligibility 
        requirements of this Act.
            (4) To protect property rights abroad of United States 
        nationals.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act, the following terms have the following 
meanings:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
        International Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of 
        the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 
        Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.
            (2) Confiscated.--The term ``confiscated'' refers to the 
        nationalization, expropriation, or other seizure of ownership 
        or control of property by governmental authority--
                    (A) without adequate and effective compensation or 
                otherwise in violation of the law of the place where 
                the property was situated when the confiscation 
                occurred; and
                    (B) without the claim to the property having been 
                settled pursuant to an international claims settlement 
                agreement.
            (3) Cuban government.--The term ``Cuban government'' 
        includes the government of any political subdivision, agency, 
        or instrumentality of the Government of Cuba.
            (4) Democratically elected government in cuba.--The term 
        ``democratically elected government in Cuba'' means a 
        government described in section 207.
            (5) Economic embargo of cuba.--The term ``economic embargo 
        of Cuba'' refers to the economic embargo imposed against Cuba 
        pursuant to section 620(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
        1961 (22 U.S.C. 2370(a)), section 5(b) of the Trading With the 
        Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. App. 5(b)), the International Emergency 
        Economic Powers Act, and the Export Administration Act of 1979.
            (6) Property.--The term ``property'' means--
                    (A) any property, right, or interest, including any 
                leasehold interest,
                    (B) debts owed by the Cuban government or by any 
                enterprise which has been confiscated by the Cuban 
                government; and
                    (C) debts which are a charge on property 
                confiscated by the Cuban government.
            (7) Traffics.--The term ``traffics'' means to sell, 
        transfer, distribute, dispense, or otherwise dispose of 
        property, or to purchase, receive, possess, obtain control of, 
        manage, or use property.
            (8) Transition government in cuba.--The term ``transition 
        government in Cuba'' means a government described in section 
        206.
            (9) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' means (A) any United States citizen, and (B) any 
        corporation, trust, partnership, or other juridical entity 50 
        percent or more beneficially owned by United States citizens.

        TITLE I--SEEKING SANCTIONS AGAINST THE CASTRO GOVERNMENT

SEC. 101. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) the acts of the Castro government, including its 
        massive, systematic, and extraordinary violations of human 
        rights, are a threat to international peace;
            (2) the President should advocate, and should instruct the 
        United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations to 
        propose and seek, within the Security Council, a mandatory 
        international embargo against the totalitarian government of 
        Cuba pursuant to chapter VII of the Charter of the United 
        Nations, which is similar to measures taken by United States 
        representatives with respect to Haiti; and
            (3) any resumption or commencement of efforts by any state 
        to make operational the nuclear facility at Cienfuegos, Cuba, 
        will have a detrimental impact on United States assistance to 
        and relations with such state.

SEC. 102. ENFORCEMENT OF THE ECONOMIC EMBARGO OF CUBA.

    (a) Policy.--(1) The Congress hereby reaffirms section 1704(a) of 
the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 that states the President should 
encourage foreign countries to restrict trade and credit relations with 
Cuba.
    (2) The Congress further urges the President to take immediate 
steps to apply the sanctions described in section 1704(b) of such Act 
against countries assisting Cuba.
    (b) Diplomatic Efforts.--The Secretary of State shall ensure that 
United States diplomatic personnel abroad understand and, in their 
contacts with foreign officials are--
            (1) communicating the reasons for the United States 
        economic embargo of Cuba; and
            (2) urging foreign governments to cooperate more 
        effectively with the embargo.
    (c) Existing Regulations.--The President should instruct the 
Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney General to enforce fully the 
Cuban Assets Control Regulations in part 515 of title 31, Code of 
Federal Regulations.
    (d) Violations of Restrictions on Travel to Cuba.--The penalties 
provided for in section 16 of the Trading with the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. 
App. 16) shall apply to all violations of the Cuban Assets Control 
Regulations (part 515 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations) 
involving transactions incident to travel to and within Cuba, 
notwithstanding section 16(b)(2) (the first place it appears) and 
section 16(b)(3) and (4) of such Act.

SEC. 103. PROHIBITION AGAINST INDIRECT FINANCING OF THE CASTRO 
              DICTATORSHIP.

    (a) Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no 
loan, credit, or other financing may be extended by a United States 
person or by a United States agency to a foreign person that traffics 
in any property confiscated by the Cuban government the claim to which 
is owned by a United States person as of the date of enactment of this 
Act.
    (b) Termination of Sanction.--The sanction of subsection (a) shall 
cease to apply on the date of termination of the economic embargo of 
Cuba.
    (c) Penalties.--Violations of subsection (a) shall be punishable by 
the same penalties as are applicable to similar violations of the Cuban 
Assets Control Regulations in part 515 of title 31, Code of Federal 
Regulations.
    (d) Definitions.--As used in this section--
            (1) the term ``foreign person'' means (A) an alien, and (B) 
        any corporation, trust, partnership, or other juridical entity 
        that is not 50 percent or more beneficially owned by United 
        States citizens; and
            (2) the term ``United States agency'' has the same meaning 
        given to the term ``agency'' in section 551(1) of title 5, 
        United States Code.

SEC. 104. UNITED STATES OPPOSITION TO CUBAN MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL 
              FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.

    (a) Continued Opposition to Cuban Membership in International 
Financial Institutions.--(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States executive 
director to each international financial institution to use the voice 
and vote of the United States to oppose the admission of Cuba as a 
member of such institution until Cuba holds free and fair, democratic 
elections, conducted under the supervision of internationally 
recognized observers.
    (2) During the period that a transition government is in power in 
Cuba, the President shall take steps to support the processing of 
Cuba's application for membership in any international financial 
institution subject to the membership taking effect after a 
democratically elected government is in power in Cuba.
    (b) Reduction in United States Payments to International Financial 
Institutions.--If any international financial institution approves a 
loan or other assistance to Cuba over the opposition of the United 
States, then the Secretary of the Treasury shall withhold from payment 
to such institution an amount equal to the amount of the loan or other 
assistance to the Cuban government, with respect to each of the 
following types of payment:
            (1) The paid-in portion of the increase in capital stock of 
        the institution.
            (2) The callable portion of the increase in capital stock 
        of the institution.
    (c) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term 
``international financial institution'' means the International 
Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and 
Development, the International Development Association, the 
International Finance Corporation, the Multilateral Investment Guaranty 
Agency, and the Inter-American Development Bank.

SEC. 105. ASSISTANCE BY THE INDEPENDENT STATES OF THE FORMER SOVIET 
              UNION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF CUBA.

    (a) Reporting Requirement.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report detailing progress towards the 
withdrawal of personnel of any independent state of the former Soviet 
Union (within the meaning of section 3 of the FREEDOM Support Act (22 
U.S.C. 5801)), including advisers, technicians, and military personnel, 
from the Cienfuegos nuclear facility in Cuba.
    (b) Criteria for Assistance.--Section 498A(a)(11) of the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2295a(a)(1)) is amended by striking 
``of military facilities'' and inserting ``military and intelligence 
facilities, including the military and intelligence facilities at 
Lourdes and Cienfuegos,''.
    (c) Ineligibility for Assistance.--(1) Section 498A(b) of that Act 
(22 U.S.C. 2295a(b)) is amended--
            (A) by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (4);
            (B) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (6); and
            (C) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
            ``(5) for the government of any independent state effective 
        30 days after the President has determined and certified to the 
        appropriate congressional committees (and Congress has not 
        enacted legislation disapproving the determination within the 
        30-day period) that such government is providing assistance 
        for, or engaging in nonmarket based trade (as defined in 
        section 498B(k)(3)) with, the Government of Cuba; or''.
    (2) Subsection (k) of section 498B of that Act (22 U.S.C. 
2295b(k)), is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Nonmarket based trade.--As used in section 
        498A(b)(5), the term `nonmarket based trade' includes exports, 
        imports, exchanges, or other arrangements that are provided for 
        goods and services (including oil and other petroleum products) 
        on terms more favorable than those generally available in 
        applicable markets or for comparable commodities, including--
                    ``(A) exports to the Government of Cuba on terms 
                that involve a grant, concessional price, guaranty, 
                insurance, or subsidy;
                    ``(B) imports from the Government of Cuba at 
                preferential tariff rates; and
                    ``(C) exchange arrangements that include advance 
                delivery of commodities, arrangements in which the 
                Government of Cuba is not held accountable for 
                unfulfilled exchange contracts, and arrangements under 
                which Cuba does not pay appropriate transportation, 
                insurance, or finance costs.''.
    (d) Facilities at Lourdes, Cuba.--(1) The Congress expresses its 
strong disapproval of the extension by Russia of credits equivalent to 
approximately $200,000,000 in support of the intelligence facility at 
Lourdes, Cuba, in November 1994.
    (2) Section 498A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
2295a) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) Reduction in Assistance for Support of Military and 
Intelligence Facilities in Cuba.--(1) Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, the President shall withhold from assistance 
allocated for an independent state of the former Soviet Union under 
this chapter an amount equal to the sum of assistance and credits, if 
any, provided by such state in support of military and intelligence 
facilities in Cuba, including the intelligence facility at Lourdes, 
Cuba.
    ``(2) Nothing in this subsection may be construed to apply to--
            ``(A) assistance provided under the Soviet Nuclear Threat 
        Reduction Act of 1991 (title II of Public Law 102-228) or the 
        Cooperative Threat Reduction Act of 1993 (title XII of Public 
        Law 103-160); or
            ``(B) assistance to meet urgent humanitarian needs under 
        section 498(1), including disaster assistance described in 
        subsection (c)(3) of this section.''.

SEC. 106. TELEVISION BROADCASTING TO CUBA.

    (a) Conversion to UHF.--The Director of the United States 
Information Agency shall implement a conversion of television 
broadcasting to Cuba under the Television Marti Service to ultra high 
frequency (UHF) broadcasting.
    (b) Periodic Reports.--Not later than 45 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, and every three months thereafter until the 
conversion described in subsection (a) is fully implemented, the 
Director shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional 
committees on the progress made in carrying out subsection (a).

SEC. 107. REPORTS ON ASSISTANCE AND COMMERCE RECEIVED BY CUBA FROM 
              OTHER FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

    (a) Reports Required.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, and every year thereafter, the President shall 
submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees on 
assistance and commerce received by Cuba from other foreign countries 
during the preceding 12-month period.
    (b) Contents of Reports.--Each report required by subsection (a) 
shall, for the period covered by the report, contain the following:
            (1) A description of all bilateral assistance provided to 
        Cuba by other foreign countries, including humanitarian 
        assistance.
            (2) A description of Cuba's commerce with foreign 
        countries, including an identification of Cuba's trading 
        partners and the extent of such trade.
            (3) A description of the joint ventures completed, or under 
        consideration, by foreign nationals and business firms 
        involving facilities in Cuba, including an identification of 
        the location of the facilities involved and a description of 
        the terms of agreement of the joint ventures and the names of 
        the parties that are involved.
            (4) A determination whether or not any of the facilities 
        described in paragraph (3) is the subject of a claim against 
        Cuba by a United States person.
            (5) A determination of the amount of Cuban debt owed to 
        each foreign country, including the amount of debt exchanged, 
        forgiven, or reduced under the terms of each investment or 
        operation in Cuba involving foreign nationals or businesses.
            (6) A description of the steps taken to assure that raw 
        materials and semifinished or finished goods produced by 
        facilities in Cuba involving foreign nationals or businesses do 
        not enter the United States market, either directly or through 
        third countries or parties.

SEC. 108. IMPORTATION SANCTION AGAINST CERTAIN CUBAN TRADING PARTNERS.

    (a) Sanction.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, sugars, 
syrups, and molasses, that are the product of a country that the 
President determines has imported sugar, syrup, or molasses that is the 
product of Cuba, shall not be entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for 
consumption, into the customs territory of the United States, unless 
the condition set forth in subsection (b) is met.
    (b) Condition for Removal of Sanction.--The sanction set forth in 
subsection (a) shall cease to apply to a country if the country 
certifies to the President that the country will not import sugar, 
syrup, or molasses that is the product of Cuba until free and fair 
elections, conducted under the supervision of internationally 
recognized observers, are held in Cuba. Such certification shall cease 
to be effective if the President makes a subsequent determination under 
subsection (a) with respect to that country.
    (c) Reports to Congress.--The President shall report to the 
appropriate congressional committees all determinations made under 
subsection (a) and all certifications made under subsection (b).
    (d) Reallocation of Sugar Quotas.--During any period in which a 
sanction under subsection (a) is in effect with respect to a country, 
the President may reallocate to other countries the quota of sugars, 
syrups, and molasses allocated to that country, before the prohibition 
went into effect, under chapter 17 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States.

          TITLE II--ASSISTANCE TO A FREE AND INDEPENDENT CUBA

SEC. 201. POLICY TOWARD A TRANSITION GOVERNMENT AND A DEMOCRATICALLY 
              ELECTED GOVERNMENT IN CUBA.

    The policy of the United States is as follows:
            (1) To support the self-determination of the Cuban people.
            (2) To recognize that the self-determination of the Cuban 
        people is a sovereign and national right of the citizens of 
        Cuba which must be exercised free of interference by the 
        government of any other country.
            (3) To encourage the Cuban people to empower themselves 
        with a government which reflects the self-determination of the 
        Cuban people.
            (4) To recognize the potential for a difficult transition 
        from the current regime in Cuba that may result from the 
        initiatives taken by the Cuban people for self-determination in 
        response to the intransigence of the Castro regime in not 
        allowing any substantive political or economic reforms, and to 
        be prepared to provide the Cuban people with humanitarian, 
        developmental, and other economic assistance.
            (5) In solidarity with the Cuban people, to provide 
        emergency relief assistance to a transition government in Cuba 
        and long-term assistance to a democratically elected government 
        in Cuba that result from an expression of the self-
        determination of the Cuban people.
            (6) Through such assistance, to facilitate a peaceful 
        transition to representative democracy and a market economy in 
        Cuba and to consolidate democracy in Cuba.
            (7) To deliver such assistance to the Cuban people only 
        through a transition government in Cuba, through a 
        democratically elected government in Cuba, or through United 
        States, international, or indigenous nongovernmental 
        organizations.
            (8) To encourage other countries and multilateral 
        organizations to provide similar assistance, and to work 
        cooperatively with such countries and organizations to 
        coordinate such assistance.
            (9) To ensure that emergency relief is rapidly implemented 
        and distributed to the people of Cuba upon the institution of a 
        transition government in Cuba.
            (10) Not to provide favorable treatment or influence on 
        behalf of any individual or entity in the selection by the 
        Cuban people of their future government.
            (11) To assist a transition government in Cuba and a 
        democratically elected government in Cuba to prepare the Cuban 
        military forces for an appropriate role in a democracy.
            (12) To be prepared to enter into negotiations with a 
        democratically elected government in Cuba either to return the 
        United States Naval Base at Guantanamo to Cuba or to 
        renegotiate the present agreement under mutually agreeable 
        terms.
            (13) To consider the restoration of diplomatic recognition 
        and support the reintegration of the Cuban government into 
        Inter-American organizations when the President determines that 
        there exists a democratically elected government in Cuba.
            (14) To take steps to remove the economic embargo of Cuba 
        when the President determines that there exists a 
        democratically elected government in Cuba.
            (15) To assist a democratically elected government in Cuba 
        to strengthen and stabilize its national currency.
            (16) To pursue the extension of the North American Free 
        Trade Agreement to a free, democratic, and independent Cuba or 
        to seek the creation of an economic community with a free, 
        democratic, and independent Cuba.

SEC. 202. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE FOR THE CUBAN PEOPLE.

    (a) Authorization.--
            (1) In general.--The President shall develop a plan for 
        providing economic assistance to Cuba at such time as the 
        President determines that a transition government or a 
        democratically elected government (as determined under section 
        203(c)) is in power in Cuba.
            (2) Effect on other laws.--
                    (A) Superseding other laws.--Subject to 
                subparagraph (B), assistance may be provided under this 
                section notwithstanding any other provision of law.
                    (B) Determination required regarding property taken 
                from united states persons.--Subparagraph (A) shall not 
                apply to section 620(a)(2) of the Foreign Assistance 
                Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2370(a)(2)).
    (b) Plan for Assistance.--
            (1) Development of plan.--The President shall develop a 
        plan for providing assistance under this section--
                    (A) to a transition government in Cuba; and
                    (B) to a democratically elected government in Cuba.
            (2) Types of assistance.--Assistance under the plan 
        developed under paragraph (1) shall include the following:
                    (A) Transition government.--(i) Except as provided 
                in clause (ii), assistance under the plan to a 
                transition government in Cuba shall be limited to--
                            (I) such food, medicine, medical supplies 
                        and equipment, and assistance to meet emergency 
                        energy needs, as is necessary to meet the basic 
                        human needs of the Cuban people; and
                            (II) assistance described in subparagraph 
                        (C).
                    (ii) Assistance under the plan to a transition 
                government in Cuba may include assistance for 
                activities comparable to those set forth in section 498 
                of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2295) 
                (other than paragraph (9) of such section).
                    (B) Democratically elected government.--Assistance 
                under the plan to a democratically elected government 
                in Cuba shall consist of additional economic 
                assistance, together with assistance described in 
                subparagraph (C). Such economic assistance may 
                include--
                            (i) assistance under chapter 1 of part I 
                        (relating to development assistance), and 
                        chapter 4 of part II (relating to the economic 
                        support fund), of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
                        1961;
                            (ii) assistance under the Agricultural 
                        Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954;
                            (iii) financing, guarantees, and other 
                        forms of assistance provided by the Export-
                        Import Bank of the United States;
                            (iv) financial support provided by the 
                        Overseas Private Investment Corporation for 
                        investment projects in Cuba;
                            (v) assistance provided by the Trade and 
                        Development Agency;
                            (vi) Peace Corps programs;
                            (vii) relief of Cuba's external debt; and
                            (viii) other appropriate assistance to 
                        carry out the policy of section 201.
                    (C) Military adjustment assistance.--Assistance 
                under the plan to a transition government in Cuba and 
                to a democratically elected government in Cuba shall 
                also include assistance in preparing the Cuban military 
                forces to adjust to an appropriate role in a democracy.
    (c) Strategy for Distribution.--The plan developed under subsection 
(b) shall include a strategy for distributing assistance under the 
plan.
    (d) Distribution.--The plan developed under subsection (b) shall 
authorize assistance under the plan to be provided through 
nongovernmental organizations and private and voluntary organizations, 
whether within or outside the United States, including humanitarian, 
educational, labor, and private sector organizations.
    (e) International Efforts.--
            (1) The President shall take the necessary steps--
                    (A) to seek to obtain the agreement of other 
                countries and of international financial institutions 
                and multilateral organizations to provide to a 
                transition government in Cuba, and to a democratically 
                elected government in Cuba, assistance comparable to 
                that provided by the United States under this Act; and
                    (B) to work with such countries, institutions, and 
                organizations to coordinate all such assistance 
                programs.
            (2)(A) The President shall take the necessary steps to 
        encourage the Organization of American States to create a 
        special emergency fund for the explicit purpose of deploying 
        human rights observers, election support, and election 
        observation in Cuba.
            (B) The President should instruct the United States 
        Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States 
        to encourage other member states of the Organization to join in 
        calling for the Cuban Government to allow the immediate 
        deployment of independent human rights monitors of the 
        Organization throughout Cuba and on-site visits to Cuba by the 
        Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
            (C) The President shall withhold from payment to the 
        Organization of American States not less than $5,000,000 of the 
        arrearages of the United States to the Organization of American 
        States as of the date of enactment of this Act until the 
        Organization of American States agrees to make available an 
        equivalent amount solely for the purposes of the special fund.
    (f) Caribbean Basin Initiative.--The President shall determine, as 
part of the assistance plan developed under subsection (b), whether or 
not to designate Cuba as a beneficiary country under section 212 of the 
Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act.
    (2) Any designation of Cuba as a beneficiary country under section 
212 of such Act may only be made after a democratically elected 
government is in power. Such designation may be made notwithstanding 
any other provision of law.
    (3) The table contained in section 212(b) of the Caribbean Basin 
Economic Recovery Act (19 U.S.C. 2702(b)) is amended by inserting 
``Cuba'' between ``Costa Rica'' and ``Dominica''.
    (g) Trade Agreements.--The President, upon transmittal to Congress 
of a determination under section 203(c)(3) that a democratically 
elected government in Cuba is in power--
            (1) shall take the necessary steps to enter into a 
        preliminary agreement with such government in Cuba providing 
        for extension of the North American Free Trade Agreement to a 
        free and independent Cuba or to seek the creation of an 
        economic community with a free, democratic, and independent 
        Cuba; and
            (2) is authorized to enter into negotiations with a 
        democratic government in Cuba to provide for the extension of 
        the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to Cuba or to 
        seek the creation of an economic community with a free, 
        democratic, and independent Cuba and to take such other steps 
        as will encourage renewed investment in Cuba.
    (h) Communication With the Cuban People.--The President shall take 
the necessary steps to communicate to the Cuban people the plan for 
assistance developed under this section.
    (i) Report to Congress.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a report describing in detail the 
plan developed under this section.

SEC. 203. COORDINATION OF ASSISTANCE PROGRAM; IMPLEMENTATION AND 
              REPORTS TO CONGRESS; REPROGRAMMING.

    (a) Coordinating Official.--The President shall designate a 
coordinating official who shall be responsible for--
            (1) implementing the strategy for distributing assistance 
        under the plan developed under section 202(b);
            (2) ensuring the speedy and efficient distribution of such 
        assistance; and
            (3) ensuring coordination among, and appropriate oversight 
        by, the agencies of the United States that provide assistance 
        under the plan, including resolving any disputes among such 
        agencies.
    (b) United States-Cuba Council.--Upon making a determination under 
subsection (c)(3) that a democratically elected government is in power 
in Cuba, the President, after consultation with the coordinating 
official, shall designate a United States-Cuba council--
            (1) to ensure coordination between the United States 
        Government and the private sector in responding to change in 
        Cuba, and in promoting market-based development in Cuba; and
            (2) to establish periodic meetings between representatives 
        of the United States and Cuban private sectors for the purpose 
        of facilitating bilateral trade.
    (c) Implementation of Plan; Reports to Congress.--
            (1) Implementation with respect to transition government.--
        Upon making a determination that a transition government in 
        Cuba is in power, the President shall transmit that 
        determination to the appropriate congressional committees and 
        shall, subject to the availability of appropriations, commence 
        the delivery and distribution of assistance to such transition 
        government under the plan developed under section 202(b).
            (2) Reports to congress.--(A) The President shall transmit 
        to the appropriate congressional committees a report setting 
        forth the strategy for providing assistance described in 
        section 202(b)(2) (A) and (C) to the transition government in 
        Cuba under the plan of assistance developed under section 
        202(b), the types of such assistance, and the extent to which 
        such assistance has been distributed in accordance with the 
        plan.
            (B) The President shall transmit the report not later than 
        90 days after making the determination referred to in paragraph 
        (1), except that the President shall transmit the report in 
        preliminary form not later than 15 days after making that 
        determination.
            (3) Implementation with respect to democratically elected 
        government.--The President shall, upon determining that a 
        democratically elected government in Cuba is in power, submit 
        that determination to the appropriate congressional committees 
        and shall, subject to the availability of appropriations, 
        commence the delivery and distribution of assistance to such 
        democratically elected government under the plan developed 
        under section 202(b).
            (4) Annual reports to congress.--Not later than 60 days 
        after the end of each fiscal year, the President shall transmit 
        to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the 
        assistance provided under the plan developed under section 
        202(b), including a description of each type of assistance, the 
        amounts expended for such assistance, and a description of the 
        assistance to be provided under the plan in the current fiscal 
        year.
    (d) Reprogramming.--Any changes in the assistance to be provided 
under the plan developed under section 202(b) may not be made unless 
the President notifies the appropriate congressional committees at 
least 15 days in advance in accordance with the procedures applicable 
to reprogramming notifications under section 634A of the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961.

SEC. 204. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the President such sums 
as may be necessary to carry out this Act.

SEC. 205. TERMINATION OF THE ECONOMIC EMBARGO OF CUBA.

    Upon submitting a determination to the appropriate congressional 
committees under section 203(c)(3) that a democratically elected 
government in Cuba is in power, the President shall take steps to 
terminate the economic embargo of Cuba.

SEC. 206. REQUIREMENTS FOR A TRANSITION GOVERNMENT.

    For purposes of this Act, a transition government in Cuba is a 
government in Cuba which--
            (1) is demonstrably in transition from communist 
        totalitarian dictatorship to representative democracy;
            (2) has legalized all political activity;
            (3) has released all political prisoners and allowed for 
        investigations of Cuban prisons by appropriate international 
        human rights organizations;
            (4) makes public commitments to and is making demonstrable 
        progress in--
                    (A) establishing an independent judiciary;
                    (B) dissolving the present Department of State 
                Security in the Cuban Ministry of the Interior, 
                including the Committees for the Defense of the 
                Revolution and the Rapid Response Brigades;
                    (C) respecting internationally recognized human 
                rights and basic freedoms as set forth in the Universal 
                Declaration of Human Rights, to which Cuba is a 
                signatory nation;
                    (D) effectively guaranteeing the rights of free 
                speech and freedom of the press;
                    (E) organizing free and fair elections for a new 
                government--
                            (i) to be held within 1 year after the 
                        transition government assumes power;
                            (ii) with the participation of multiple 
                        independent political parties that have full 
                        access to the media on an equal basis, 
                        including (in the case of radio, television, or 
                        other telecommunications media) in terms of 
                        allotments of time for such access and the 
                        times of day such allotments are given; and
                            (iii) to be conducted under the supervision 
                        of internationally recognized observers, such 
                        as the Organization of American States, the 
                        United Nations, and other elections monitors;
                    (F) assuring the right to private property;
                    (G) taking appropriate steps to return to United 
                States citizens and entities property taken by the 
                Government of Cuba from such citizens and entities on 
                or after January 1, 1959, or to provide equitable 
                compensation to such citizens and entities for such 
                property;
                    (H) granting permits to privately owned 
                telecommunications and media companies to operate in 
                Cuba; and
                    (I) allowing the establishment of an independent 
                labor movement and of independent social, economic, and 
                political associations;
            (5) does not include Fidel Castro or Raul Castro;
            (6) has given adequate assurances that it will allow the 
        speedy and efficient distribution of assistance to the Cuban 
        people; and
            (7) permits the deployment throughout Cuba of independent 
        and unfettered international human rights monitors.

SEC. 207. REQUIREMENTS FOR A DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED GOVERNMENT.

    For purposes of this Act, a democratically elected government in 
Cuba, in addition to continuing to comply with the requirements of 
section 206, is a government in Cuba which--
            (1) results from free and fair elections conducted under 
        the supervision of internationally recognized observers;
            (2) has permitted opposition parties ample time to organize 
        and campaign for such elections, and has permitted full access 
        to the media to all candidates in the elections;
            (3) is showing respect for the basic civil liberties and 
        human rights of the citizens of Cuba;
            (4) has made demonstrable progress in establishing an 
        independent judiciary;
            (5) is substantially moving toward a market-oriented 
        economic system; and
            (6) is committed to making constitutional changes that 
        would ensure regular free and fair elections that meet the 
        requirements of paragraph (2).

        TITLE III--PROTECTION OF AMERICAN PROPERTY RIGHTS ABROAD

SEC. 301. EXCLUSION FROM THE UNITED STATES OF ALIENS WHO HAVE 
              CONFISCATED PROPERTY OF UNITED STATES NATIONALS.

    (a) Additional Grounds for Exclusion.--Section 212(a)(9) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)) is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
                    ``(D) Aliens who have confiscated american property 
                abroad and related persons.--(i) Any alien who--
                            ``(I) has confiscated, or has directed or 
                        overseen the confiscation of, property the 
                        claim to which is owned by a United States 
                        person, or converts or has converted for 
                        personal gain confiscated property, the claim 
                        to which is owned by a United States person;
                            ``(II) traffics in confiscated property, 
                        the claim to which is owned by a United States 
                        person;
                            ``(III) is a corporate officer, principal, 
                        or shareholder of an entity which has been 
                        involved in the confiscation, trafficking in, 
                        or subsequent unauthorized use or benefit from 
                        confiscated property, the claim to which is 
                        owned by a United States person, or
                            ``(IV) is a spouse or child of a person 
                        described in subclause (I),
                is excludable.
                    ``(ii) The validity of claims under this 
                subparagraph shall be established in accordance with 
                section 303 of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic 
                Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1995.
                    ``(iii) For purposes of this subparagraph, the 
                terms `confiscated', `traffics', and `United States 
                person' have the same meanings given to such terms 
                under section 4 of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic 
                Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1995.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to individuals entering the United States on or after the date of 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 302. LIABILITY FOR TRAFFICKING IN PROPERTY CONFISCATED FROM UNITED 
              STATES NATIONALS.

    (a) Civil Remedy.--(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and 
(3), any person or government that traffics in property confiscated by 
a foreign government shall be liable to the United States person who 
owns the claim to the confiscated property for money damages in an 
amount which is the greater of--
            (A) the amount certified by the Foreign Claims Settlement 
        Commission under title V of the International Claims Settlement 
        Act of 1949, plus interest at the commercially recognized 
        normal rate;
            (B) the amount determined under section 303(a)(2); or
            (C) the fair market value of that property, calculated as 
        being the then current value of the property, or the value of 
        the property when confiscated plus interest at the commercially 
        recognized normal rate, whichever is greater.
    (2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), any person or government 
that traffics in confiscated property after having received (A) notice 
of a claim to ownership of the property by the United States person who 
owns the claim to the confiscated property, and (B) a copy of this 
section, shall be liable to such United States person for money damages 
in an amount which is treble the amount specified in paragraph (1).
    (3)(A) Actions may be brought under paragraph (1) with respect to 
property confiscated before, on, or after the date of enactment of this 
Act.
    (B) In the case of property confiscated before the date of 
enactment of this Act, no United States person may bring an action 
under this section unless such person acquired ownership of the claim 
to the confiscated property before such date.
    (C) In the case of property confiscated on or after the date of 
enactment of this Act, in order to maintain the action, the United 
States person who is the plaintiff must demonstrate to the court that 
the plaintiff has taken reasonable steps to exhaust any available local 
remedies.
    (b) Jurisdiction.--Chapter 85 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 1331 the following new section:
``Sec. 1331a. Civil actions involving confiscated property
    ``The district courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction, without 
regard to the amount in controversy, of any action brought under 
section 302 of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) 
Act of 1995.''.
    (c) Waiver of Sovereign Immunity.--Section 1605 of title 28, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (5);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (6) and 
        inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) in which the action is brought with respect to 
        confiscated property under section 302 of the Cuban Liberty and 
        Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1995.''.

SEC. 303. CLAIMS TO CONFISCATED PROPERTY.

    (a) Evidence of Ownership.--For purposes of this Act, conclusive 
evidence of ownership by the United States person of a claim to 
confiscated property is established--
            (1) when the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission certifies 
        the claim under title V of the International Claims Settlement 
        Act of 1949, as amended by subsection (b); or
            (2) when the claim has been determined to be valid by a 
        court or administrative agency of the country in which the 
        property was confiscated.
    (b) Amendment of the International Claims Settlement Act of 1949.--
Title V of the International Claims Settlement Act of 1949 is amended 
by adding at the end the following new section:

                          ``additional claims

    ``Sec. 514. Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, a 
United States national may bring a claim to the Commission for 
determination and certification under this title of the amount and 
validity of a claim resulting from actions taken by the Government of 
Cuba described in section 503(a), whether or not the United States 
national qualified as a United States national at the time of the Cuban 
government action, except that, in the case of property confiscated 
after the date of enactment of this section, the claimant must be a 
United States national at the time of the confiscation.''.
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