[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1391 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1391

   To authorize the President to permit the sale and export of food, 
               medicines, and medical equipment to Cuba.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 6, 1997

    Mr. Dodd (for himself, Mr. Warner, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Grams, Mr. 
 Jeffords, Mr. Bingaman, and Mr. Leahy) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
                           and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To authorize the President to permit the sale and export of food, 
               medicines, and medical equipment to Cuba.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act shall be known as the ``Cuban Women and Children 
Humanitarian Relief Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the outright ban on the sale of American foodstuffs to 
        Cuba has contributed to serious nutritional deficits, 
        particularly among pregnant women, leading to low birth-weight 
        babies;
            (2) the embargo on trade with Cuba is severely restricting 
        Cuba's access to water treatment chemicals and spare parts for 
        its water supply, causing reductions in the supply of safe 
        drinking water and the increased incidence of water-borne 
        diseases;
            (3) the most specialized medical supplies are in short 
        supply or entirely absent from some Cuban clinics as a result 
        of the United States embargo;
            (4) although informational materials have been exempt from 
        the United States trade embargo since 1988, in practice very 
        little medical information is exchanged between the United 
        States and Cuba due to travel restrictions, currency 
        regulations, and shipping difficulties; and
            (5) current embargoes against Iran, Libya, and Iraq do not 
        ban the sale of food to those countries or restrict medical 
        commerce.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It should be the policy of the United States to permit the sale and 
export of food, medicines, and medical equipment to the Cuban people.

SEC. 4. AUTHORITY.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President is 
authorized to permit the sale and export of food, medicines, and 
medical equipment to Cuba by any person subject to the jurisdiction of 
the United States.

SEC. 5. NOTIFICATION OF CONGRESS AND THE PUBLIC.

    The President shall notify Congress of any decision to exercise the 
authority of section 4 and shall, at the time the decision is made, 
cause such decision to be published in the Federal Register, together 
with such regulations as the President determines may be necessary to 
ensure that food, medicines, and medical equipment sold to Cuba under 
this Act will primarily be consumed or otherwise utilized by the people 
of Cuba.

SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Two years after the date that the President first exercises the 
authority of section 4, the President shall submit a report to the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate 
containing an assessment of the level, composition, and end users of 
any food, medicine, or medical equipment sold to Cuba during the 
previous two years by any person subject to the jurisdiction of the 
United States.
                                 <all>