House lifts ban on travelling to Cuba

[Miss Modular]

Load up and get those cigars while you can, kids!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...a_030910143420

House votes to lift US ban on Cuba travel
Wed Sep 10,10:34 AM ET Add Politics - AFP to My Yahoo!


WASHINGTON (AFP) - The House of Representatives voted to end the decades-old restriction prohibiting travel to Cuba, a measure US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) has already indicated he would veto.

By 227 to 188, lawmakers approved a bill authored by Representative Jeff Flake which would withhold funding to enforce the travel ban, effectively ending restrictions on travel to Cuba by US citizens.

The House has approved similar legislation in the past, only to see the US Senate fail to take up the measure.

The bill is given better odds this year, however, with the creation of the bipartisan Cuba Working Group in the Senate -- modeled after a similar group in the House -- uniting lawmakers committed to vigorously pushing behind the scenes for an end to the embargo and increased trade with the communist island.

In a statement last week, Flake said the embargo had outlived its usefulness as a political tool.

"If the US is serious about undermining Castro and bringing democratic reforms to Cuba, the best thing we can do is lessen Castro's control over the island by allowing Americans to travel to Cuba," he said.

"We have had a policy in place for over 40 years that obviously has not brought Cuba any closer to democracy. It's clear that change in Cuba would be greatly hastened by a change in our own policy," the Arizona Republican said.

Flake has offered the amendment effectively lifting the Cuba travel ban for the past two years, and it has passed the House of Representatives by widening margins.

Bush has said, however, that he would veto any legislation relaxing the four-decade embargo of Cuba.

House lawmakers approve two additional measure designed to soften US economic restrictions against Havana, voting 222 to 196 in favor of legislation authored by Massachusetts Representative Bill Delahunt to relax restrictions on remittances to Cuba.

They also adopted, by a vote of 246 to 173, a measure by Democrat Jim Davis of Florida that would prevent the Bush administration from ending "people to people" travel exchanges to the communist island.