End the Travel Ban on Cuba

As a response to the arrests of dissidents in Cuba, members of the newly-formed Senate Cuba Working Group sent the following letter to the Chief of the Cuban Interests Section. It urges the Cuban government to release the dissidents and to work toward a de-escalation of tensions between the two nations.

On March 21, ten members of the Senate announced the formation of a bipartisan “Cuba Working Group.” According to their announcement, the purpose of this working group is to examine US policies toward Cuba, including current trade and travel restrictions. The group hopes to move in unison with the year-old House Cuba Working Group in this year’s legislative session. The groups will likely introduce identical bills on travel in the near future in their respective chambers, with the hope that this coordinated push will move the issue further legislatively than in past years and get travel legislation to the President’s desk.

In a show of growing interest to see changes made to US policy towards Cuba, a "Cuba Working Group" of 17 Republicans and 17 Democrats emerged in the House of Representatives. Group membership has since expanded to 44 members, evenly divided between the parties, and representing 23 different states. The members of this group have asserted that the embargo is a 40 year old failed policy, and have taken a stand against the Bush administration's attempts to further isolate the nation. The goals of this group, like many of those who have been working in the LAWG coalition, is to see an end to all restrictions on the sale of food and medicine to Cuba and an opening of travel for all Americans, as a "step-by-step" loosening of the trade embargo.

On May 15, the newly formed Cuba Working Group in the House of Representatives released its much anticipated review of U.S. policy toward Cuba. The bipartisan group of 40 members state their desire to see Cubans enjoy greater political and economic freedom, and feel that the 40 year old policy of embargo has been a failure. They further call on the President and Secretary of State to exercise consistency in their foreign policy - citing that the United States currently maintains a policy of engagement with communist China and North Korea.