[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 21 (Thursday, February 4, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S663-S664]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               RECENT REGULATORY CHANGES RELATED TO CUBA

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, last week the administration took another 
step in unraveling the web of onerous, misguided, and self-defeating 
restrictions on the ability of American citizens to travel to Cuba and 
to interact with the people of Cuba.
  Effective as of January 27, the Departments of Treasury and Commerce 
published revised regulations that end certain payment and financing 
restrictions, allow for more authorized exports to Cuba in a variety of 
sectors, and expand authorized travel categories and allow additional 
travel-related transactions.
  Restrictions on providing access to credit, which have been among the 
most commonly cited barriers to exporting to Cuba, were removed. 
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control amended regulations 
regarding nonagricultural exports, and it is now possible for U.S. 
banks to provide direct financing for authorized exports to Cuba, as 
opposed to requiring cash in advance or routing through a third country 
which had stymied many transactions that could benefit American 
companies and Cuban consumers.
  General licenses, meaning that a specific license application is no 
longer required, are now provided for a variety of categories, 
including telecommunications items that improve communications to, 
from, and among Cubans; certain agricultural items, such as 
insecticides and equipment, although not agricultural commodities; 
items for the safety of civil aviation and safe operation of commercial 
aircraft; and items necessary for the environmental protection of U.S. 
and international air quality, waters, or coastlines including items 
related to renewable energy or energy efficiency.
  And it is now permissible, subject to case-by-case review, to export 
to some Cuban state-owned enterprises that ``provide goods and services 
to the Cuban people.'' This includes items for agricultural production, 
education, food processing, public transportation, wholesale 
distribution, and construction of facilities for supplying energy, 
among others. As much as we disagree with many of the policies of the 
Cuban Government, it is undeniable that it provides health care, 
education, public transportation, and many other services that the 
Cuban people rely on.
  However, exports to state-owned enterprises that primarily generate 
revenue for the government remain ineligible to receive U.S. exports 
along with military, police, intelligence, and security services.

[[Page S664]]

  Categories for authorized travel to Cuba have been expanded to 
include organizing professional meetings and for professional media and 
artistic productions such as movies, TV, and music, among others. These 
are long overdue and will be welcomed by American scholars, artists, 
and journalists. I am disappointed, however, that American tourists are 
still prohibited from traveling to Cuba, unlike to any other country in 
the world.
  These are all positive steps, for which I commend the White House. 
Frankly, it is hard to believe that it has taken so long to finally 
begin to dismantle a policy of unilateral sanctions against Cuba when 
it has been obvious for so many years that it has failed to achieve any 
of its objectives, while it was hurting the people of both countries.
  But a great deal remains to be done to reverse 50 years of an ill-
conceived, punitive policy. It is for that reason that I urge the 
Administration to act expeditiously to take further action, including 
amending regulations that would allow Cuba to use the U.S. dollar in 
third-party country transactions, which would greatly facilitate U.S.-
Cuban commerce.
  The Treasury Department should also do what the American people want 
by letting them travel to Cuba on a people-to-people license as 
individuals and stop treating them like children and making them pay 
thousands of dollars to large tour group operators. The U.S. Government 
is not in the business of requiring costly chaperones for Americans who 
travel anywhere else overseas, and it should not do so for Americans 
traveling 90 miles to Cuba.
  Allowing all Americans to travel under a general license would 
significantly boost the number of Americans traveling to Cuba, it would 
create a much richer travel experience, and it would save taxpayers 
money.
  There are some who will undoubtedly continue to insist that any 
change in policy is somehow a capitulation to the Cuban Government and 
that, because Cuba's Communist Party remains in control, we should 
continue supporting a policy that has helped keep them there. That 
illogical, myopic view has been repudiated by a huge majority of the 
Cuban people, including some of Cuba's most outspoken critics of the 
government, and it is rejected by a large and increasing majority of 
Americans, including Cuban-Americans.
  The White House has all the support it needs from the American 
public, the business community, farmers, ranchers, energy companies, 
faith-based groups, academia, the media, the scientific and medical 
community, and so many others across this country to take bold action 
to expand engagement with Cuba. There is no time to waste.

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