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Summary

Restrictions on travel to Cuba have been a key and often contentious component in U.S. efforts to isolate Cuba's communist government 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 Bush 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. Initially there was mixed reaction to the Bush Administration's June 2004 tightening of Cuba travel and remittance restrictions, but opposition to the policy has grown, especially within the Cuban American community regarding the restrictions on family travel and remittances. Dating back to 2000, there have been numerous legislative efforts to ease restrictions on travel to Cuba in various ways. From 2000-2004, one or both houses of Congress approved amendments to appropriations bills that would have eased restrictions on travel, but these provisions ultimately were stripped out of final enacted measures. In the 109th Congress, the House rejected amendments to appropriations measures in 2005 and 2006 that would have eased Cuba travel restrictions. In the 110th Congress, several House and Senate committee versions of appropriations bills (H.R. 2829, S. 1859, H.R. 7323, S. 3260, and S. 3289) had provisions that would have eased restrictions on travel to Cuba in various ways, but none of these provisions were included in final enacted legislation. The Bush Administration regularly threatened to veto legislation if it contained provisions weakening Cuba sanctions. Numerous other bills were introduced in the 110th Congress that would have eased restrictions on travel and remittance in various ways, but no action was taken on these measures. Two of these initiatives already have been re-introduced in the 111th Congress: H.R. 332 (Lee), which would ease restrictions on educational travel to Cuba, and H.R. 188 (Serrano), which would lift overall economic sanctions on Cuba, including restrictions on travel and remittances. During the electoral campaign, President Obama pledged to lift restrictions on family travel to Cuba as well as restrictions on Cuban Americans sending remittances to Cuba. Senator Hillary Clinton reiterated President Obama's pledge during her confirmation hearing for Secretary of State on January 15, 2009, but indicated that the Administration did not yet have a timeline on the change. For additional information on Cuba, see CRS Report RL33819, Cuba: Issues for the 110th Congress, by Mark P. Sullivan.

Related Legislation:
• H.R.2829
• S.1859
• H.R.7323
• S.3260
• S.3289
• H.R.332
• H.R.188

Related Reports:
• RL31139

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