RL31139
Cuba: U.S. Restrictions on Travel and Remittances
July 30, 2008
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Summary
Restrictions on travel to Cuba have been a key and often contentious component in U.S. efforts to isolate the communist government of Fidel Castro for much of the past 40 years. Over time, there have been numerous changes to the restrictions, and for five years, from 1977 until 1982, there were no restrictions on travel to Cuba. Under the Bush Administration, enforcement of U.S. restrictions on Cuba travel has increased, and restrictions on travel and on private remittances to Cuba have been tightened. In March 2003, the Administration eliminated travel for people-to-people educational exchanges unrelated to academic coursework. In June 2004, the Administration further restricted family and educational travel, eliminated the category of fully-hosted travel, and restricted remittances so that they could only be sent to the remitter's immediate family. In 2005, the Administration further restricted religious travel to Cuba by changing licensing guidelines for such travel. In the second session of the 110th Congress, the House Appropriations Committee reported its version of the FY2009 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill on June 25, 2008, with provisions that would ease restrictions on family travel. It would allow for such travel once a year (instead of the current restriction of once every three years) to visit aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and first cousins in addition to immediate family. The Senate Appropriations Committee version of the bill, S. 3260, reported July 14, 2008, has different provisions that would ease restrictions on family travel and travel related to the sale of agricultural and medical goods. The Senate Appropriations Committee reported its version of the FY2009 agriculture appropriations bill, S. 3289, on July 21, 2008, with a provision that also would ease travel restrictions for the sale of agricultural and medical goods. Several other initiatives would ease Cuba travel restrictions. H.R. 654 (Rangel), S. 721 (Enzi), and Section 254 of S. 554 (Dorgan) would prohibit the President from regulating or prohibiting travel to Cuba or any of the transactions incident to travel. Two bills that would lift overall economic sanctions -- H.R. 217 (Serrano) and H.R. 624 (Rangel) -- would also lift travel restrictions. H.R. 177 (Lee) would ease restrictions on educational travel to Cuba. H.R. 757 (Delahunt) would lift restrictions on family travel and the provision of remittances for family members in Cuba. H.R. 1026 (Moran, Jerry), which would facilitate the sale of U.S. agricultural products to Cuba, includes a provision that would provide for general license authority for travelrelated transactions for people involved in agricultural sales and marketing activities or in the transportation of such sales. H.R. 2819 (Rangel) and S. 1673 (Baucus), which would ease restrictions on U.S. agricultural and medical exports to Cuba, would also lift restrictions on travel to Cuba. The Senate Committee on Finance held a hearing on S. 1673 on December 11, 2007. This report will be updated to reflect major developments. For additional information on Cuba, see CRS Report RL33819, Cuba: Issues for the 110th Congress, and CRS Report RS22742, Cuba's Political Succession: From Fidel to Ra?stro.
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Related Legislation:
- S.3260
- S.3289
- H.R.654
- S.721
- S.554
- H.R.217
- H.R.624
- H.R.177
- H.R.757
- H.R.1026
- H.R.2819
- S.1673
- S.2274
