[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1673 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1673

To facilitate the export of United States agricultural products to Cuba 
as authorized by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act 
of 2000, to remove impediments to the export to Cuba of medical devices 
 and medicines, to allow travel to Cuba by United States citizens, to 
  establish an agricultural export promotion program with respect to 
                     Cuba, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 21, 2007

 Mr. Baucus (for himself, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Bingaman, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. 
    Lincoln, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Harkin, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. 
Roberts, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Enzi, and Mr. Pryor) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To facilitate the export of United States agricultural products to Cuba 
as authorized by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act 
of 2000, to remove impediments to the export to Cuba of medical devices 
 and medicines, to allow travel to Cuba by United States citizens, to 
  establish an agricultural export promotion program with respect to 
                     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.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Promoting American Agricultural and 
Medical Exports to Cuba Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF PAYMENT TERMS UNDER TRADE SANCTIONS REFORM AND 
              EXPORT ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2000.

    Section 908(b)(1) of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export 
Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7207(b)(1)) is amended by inserting 
after subparagraph (B) the following:
                    ``(C) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
                the term `payment of cash in advance' means the payment 
                by the purchaser of an agricultural commodity or 
                product and the receipt of such payment by the seller 
                prior to--
                            ``(i) the transfer of title of such 
                        commodity or product to the purchaser; and
                            ``(ii) the release of control of such 
                        commodity or product to the purchaser.''.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF DIRECT TRANSFERS BETWEEN CUBAN AND UNITED 
              STATES DEPOSITORY INSTITUTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
President may not restrict direct transfers from a Cuban depository 
institution to a United States depository institution executed in 
payment for a product authorized for sale under the Trade Sanctions 
Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.).
    (b) Depository Institution Defined.--For purposes of subsection 
(a), the term ``depository institution'' means any entity that is 
engaged primarily in the business of banking (including a bank, savings 
bank, savings association, credit union, trust company, or bank holding 
company).

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF AGRICULTURAL EXPORT PROMOTION PROGRAM WITH 
              RESPECT TO CUBA.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall establish a 
program to provide information and technical assistance to United 
States agricultural producers, cooperative organizations, or state 
agencies that promote the sale of agricultural commodities, in order to 
promote and facilitate United States exports of agricultural products 
to Cuba as authorized by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export 
Enhancement Act of 2000.
    (b) Technical Assistance To Facilitate Exports.--The Secretary 
shall maintain on a website on the Internet information to assist 
exporters and potential exporters of United States agricultural 
commodities with respect to Cuba.
    (c) Authorization of Funds.--The Secretary is authorized to expend 
such sums as may be available in the Agricultural Export Promotion 
Trust Fund established under section 10 to carry out the provisions of 
this section.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT VISAS SHOULD BE ISSUED.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
Secretary of State should issue visas for temporary entry into the 
United States to nationals of Cuba whose itinerary documents an intent 
to conduct activities, including phytosanitary inspections, relating to 
the purchase of United States agricultural goods pursuant to the 
provisions of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 
2000 (22 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.).
    (b) Periodic Reports.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 45 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter, the 
        Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Finance, 
        the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and the 
        Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, and the Committee 
        on Agriculture, the Committee on Ways and Means, and the 
        Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a 
        report on the issuance of visas described in subsection (a).
            (2) Content of reports.--Each report under paragraph (1) 
        shall contain a full description of each application received 
        from a national of Cuba for a visa to travel to the United 
        States to engage in purchasing activities pursuant to the 
        provisions of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement 
        Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.) and shall describe the 
        disposition of each such application.

SEC. 6. ADHERENCE TO INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS FOR THE MUTUAL PROTECTION 
              OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, INCLUDING REPEAL OF SECTION 
              211.

    (a) Repeal of Prohibition on Enforcement of Rights to Certain 
United States Intellectual Properties and Transfer of Such 
Properties.--
            (1) Repeal.--Section 211 of the Department of Commerce and 
        Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (section 101(b) of 
        division A of Public Law 105-277; 112 Stat. 2681-88) is 
        repealed.
            (2) Regulations.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
        promulgate such regulations as are necessary to carry out the 
        repeal made by paragraph (1), including removing any 
        prohibition on transactions or payments to which subsection 
        (a)(1) of section 211 of the Department of Commerce and Related 
        Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999, applied.
            (3) Further regulations.--The Secretary of the Treasury 
        shall amend the Cuban Assets Control regulations (part 515 of 
        title 31, Code of Federal Regulations) to authorize under 
        general license the transfer or receipt of any trademark or 
        trade name subject to United States law in which a national of 
        a designated foreign country has an interest. The filing and 
        prosecution of opposition and infringement proceedings related 
        to any trademark or trade name in which a national of a 
        designated foreign country has an interest and the prosecution 
        of any defense to such proceedings shall also be authorized by 
        general license.

SEC. 7. TRAVEL TO CUBA.

    (a) Freedom of Travel for United States Citizens and Legal 
Residents.--On and after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 
subject to subsection (c)--
            (1) the President may not regulate or prohibit, directly or 
        indirectly, travel to or from Cuba by United States citizens or 
        legal residents, or any of the transactions incident to such 
        travel that are set forth in subsection (b); and
            (2) any regulation in effect on such date of enactment that 
        regulates or prohibits travel to or from Cuba by United States 
        citizens or legal residents or transactions incident to such 
        travel shall cease to have any force or effect.
    (b) Transactions Incident to Travel.--
            (1) In general.--The transactions incident to travel 
        referred to in subsection (a) are--
                    (A) any transactions ordinarily incident to travel 
                to or from Cuba, including the importation into Cuba or 
                the United States of accompanied baggage for personal 
                use only;
                    (B) any transactions ordinarily incident to travel 
                or maintenance within Cuba, including the payment of 
                living expenses and the acquisition of goods or 
                services for personal use;
                    (C) any transactions ordinarily incident to the 
                arrangement, promotion, or facilitation of travel to, 
                from, or within Cuba;
                    (D) any transactions incident to nonscheduled air, 
                sea, or land voyages, except that this paragraph does 
                not authorize the carriage of articles into Cuba or the 
                United States other than accompanied baggage described 
                in subparagraph (A); and
                    (E) normal banking transactions incident to the 
                activities described in subparagraphs (A) through (D) 
                of this paragraph, including the issuance, clearing, 
                processing, or payment of checks, drafts, travelers 
                checks, credit or debit card instruments, or similar 
                instruments.
            (2) Exception.--Nothing in this section shall be deemed to 
        authorize the importation into the United States of any goods 
        acquired in Cuba for personal consumption.
    (c) Limitations.--The provisions of this section shall not apply in 
a case in which the United States is at war with Cuba, armed 
hostilities between the 2 countries are in progress, or there is 
imminent danger to the public health or the physical safety of citizens 
and lawful permanent residents of the United States who travel to Cuba.
    (d) Effective Date.--
            (1) In general.--The provisions of this section apply to 
        actions taken by the President before the date of the enactment 
        of this Act and that are in effect on such date of enactment, 
        and to actions taken on or after such date of enactment.
            (2) Inapplicability of other provisions.--This section 
        applies notwithstanding section 102(h) of the Cuban Liberty and 
        Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (22 U.S.C. 
        6032(h)) and section 910(b) of the Trade Sanctions Reform and 
        Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7209(b)).

SEC. 8. EXPORT OF MEDICINES AND MEDICAL DEVICES TO CUBA.

    (a) Repeal of Requirement for Onsite Verifications.--Section 1705 
of the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 (22 U.S.C. 6004) is amended by 
striking subsection (d).
    (b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in the amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall be construed to restrict the authority of the 
President to--
            (1) impose export controls with respect to the export of 
        medicines or medical devices under sections 5 or 6 of the 
        Export Administration Act of 1979; or
            (2) exercise the authorities the President has under the 
        International Emergency Economic Powers Act with respect to 
        Cuba pursuant to a declaration of national emergency required 
        by that Act that is made on account of an unusual and 
        extraordinary threat, that did not exist before the enactment 
        of this Act, to the national security, foreign policy, or 
        economy of the United States.

SEC. 9. INCREASE IN AIRPORT TICKET TAX FOR TRANSPORTATION BETWEEN 
              UNITED STATES AND CUBA; ESTABLISHMENT OF AGRICULTURAL 
              EXPORT PROMOTION TRUST FUND.

    (a) Increase in Ticket Tax.--Subsection (c) of section 4261 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to use of international travel 
facilities) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
            ``(4) Special rule for cuba.--In any case in which the tax 
        imposed by paragraph (1) applies to transportation beginning or 
        ending in Cuba before January 1, 2013, such tax shall be 
        increased by $1.00.''.
    (b) Agricultural Export Promotion Trust Fund.--
            (1) In general.--Subchapter A of chapter 98 of the Internal 
        Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to establishment of trust funds) 
        is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 9511. AGRICULTURAL EXPORT PROMOTION TRUST FUND.

    ``(a) Creation of Trust Fund.--There is established in the Treasury 
of the United States a trust fund to be known as the `Agricultural 
Export Promotion Trust Fund', consisting of such amounts as may be 
appropriated or credited to such fund as provided in this section or 
section 9602(b).
    ``(b) Transfers to Trust Fund.--There are hereby appropriated to 
the Agricultural Export Promotion Trust Fund amounts equivalent to the 
taxes received in the Treasury by reason of section 4261(c)(4).
    ``(c) Expenditures.--Amounts in the Agricultural Export Promotion 
Trust Fund shall be available, as provided by appropriation Acts, for 
making expenditures to the Secretary of Agriculture for the purposes 
set out in section 4.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Subparagraph (B) of section 
        9502(b)(1) of such Code is amended by inserting ``(other than 
        by reason of subsection (c)(4) thereof)'' after ``sections 
        4261''.
            (3) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections for 
        subchapter A of chapter 98 of such Code is amended by adding at 
        the end the following new item:

``Sec. 9511. Agricultural Export Promotion Trust Fund.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to transportation beginning after the 90-day period beginning on 
the date of the enactment of this Act, except that such amendment shall 
not apply to amounts paid before the end of such period.
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