Hill Debate Continues on U.S./Cuban Relations
March 17, 2003
On February 13, 2003, Senate Finance Committee ranking
member Senator Max Baucus (D–MT) introduced legislation to the committee members
to remove the 40-year-old trade embargo on Cuba. The Senator introduced similar
legislation during the last session of Congress, which he believes, ". . .
represents an important step toward normalizing the United States' economic
relations with Cuba and opening a dialogue between our two nations." It appears
that a majority of both legislative branches of Congress support these efforts,
but are cognizant of the likelihood that the President would veto any such
legislation until it becomes apparent that Cuba is transitioning into a
democratic state.
Just days before Senator Baucus introduced the Free Trade
with Cuba Act, House and Senate conferees removed comparable provisions from the
fiscal year 2003 omnibus appropriations bill to soften the U.S. embargo on
Cuba. In addition to easing the embargo, the provisions would have also enabled
the financing of U.S. agricultural and medical sales to Cuba, which currently
must be paid for either in cash or financed by a third-party arrangement. Funds
appropriated to the Office of Foreign Assets Control to enforce the Cuba travel
ban would also have been barred for such use. Although these provisions did not
survive this appropriations bill, Rep. Jeff Flake (R–AZ) predicted that they
will re-emerge possibly in the fiscal year 2004 Treasury appropriations bill.
The St. Petersburg Times reported that Rep. Jim Davis
(D–FL), a recent supporter of amendments such as the provision stripped by the
fiscal year 2003 omnibus appropriations bill, announced on February 25, 2003,
that he would join Rep. Jim Kolbe (R–AZ) on a five-day trip to Cuba arranged by
the Inter-American Dialogue. Rep. Davis stated that he was going with the goal
of "meeting the next generation of leadership in Cuba." During their visit,
Davis and Kolbe met with Oswaldo Paya, a top organizer of the Varela Project, an
organization known for its promotion of democratic principles.