[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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