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A Brief Recent History Of Efforts To Change
U.S. Policy Toward Cuba
presented at the National Summit on Cuba, September
17th 2002, Washington DC
prepared by Geoff Thale, Senior Associate Washington Office on Latin America
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The Congress has sought to change U.S. policy toward Cuba for the last three
years. Repeatedly, the efforts of a bi-partisan majority of Members of Congress
have been thwarted by the parliamentary maneuverings of a small and
unrepresentative group.
1999
The Senate overwhelmingly approved language that would ease sales of food
and medicine to Cuba and several other countries, as part of an agricultural
funding bill. It looked briefly as if the Congress as a whole might send this
legislation to the President. When Members of the House and Senate met to work
out differences between their versions of the bill, the first indications were
that the House would accept this Senate proposal about Cuba. But the House
Republican leadership prevented this - the House-Senate meeting was suspended
before a vote could be held, and House leaders worked out a series of private
agreements that led to the removal of the Cuba language from the final bill.
2000
The Congress debated a proposal to end all sanctions on the sale of food and
medicine to a number of countries, including Cuba. The Senate approved the
measure. The House Appropriations Committee decisively approved the measure as
well, recommending it as part of an agriculture funding bill. But conservative
Cuban-American Members of the House teamed up with the House Republican
leadership to stop this measure, and forced the Republican sponsors of the Cuba
language to accept a far more limited language. Those seeking to change U.S.
Cuba policy then tried a different tack, offering amendments to a Treasury
funding bill that would prevent any funds being spent on enforcing aspects of
the embargo. In July of 2001, The House voted to end enforcement of food and
medicine sanctions, and to end enforcement of travel restrictions. These
amendments won by substantial margins. Nonetheless, the leadership acted again
to prevent their becoming law. The Republican leadership combined the Treasury
funding bill with another piece of legislation; in the process of putting the
two bills together, they dropped the Cuba provisions.
2001
The House voted again to end funding to enforce the food and medicine
sanctions, and to end funding to enforce the travel ban. The Senate was prepared
to take similar action, but action was postponed after the tragic events of
September 11th.
2002
The House again approved an end to the enforcement of the travel ban, an end to
enforcement of restrictions on food and medicine sales, and an end to
enforcement of the limits on remittances. The Senate is poised to take similar
action. Can the will of the majority become law, or will a handful of powerful
individuals once again thwart the wishes of a bi-partisan majority?
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