September 15, 2004

Many thanks for all the work you have done in the past few days to increase support for the Cuba amendments on the Transportation-Treasury Appropriations bill. Your presence has been felt here "on the Hill."

There have been new developments, and our work is not done. The Cuba amendments were not voted on last night. This morning (Wednesday), Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ), chief sponsor of the travel amendment along with Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA), made a speech on the House floor withdrawing his travel amendment because of heavy pressure from the White House on Republicans who have supported the travel amendment in the past. It is anticipated that all Cuba amendments that were to be introduced by members of the House Cuba Working Group will also be withdrawn--same reason. Our explanation and Mr. Flake's floor statement can be found below. or here. The House has now adjourned until next Tuesday, when the Transportation-Treasury Appropriations bill will be completed.

Here's what is begging our action right now. Congressman Jim Davis (D-FL) WILL introduce an amendment to the T-T bill on Tuesday to REVERSE the following new regulations impacting Cuban Americans: (1) Visits by Cuban Americans to Cuba are now limited to once every three years; (2) Visits by Cuban Americans are now limited to only 14 days; (3) Visits by Cuban Americans are limited to "immediate" family (excluding aunts, uncles, and cousins); (4) Restrictions on the contents of gift parcels that Cuban Americans may carry to their families in Cuba.

This is an amendment worthy of our support. It is a small but important step. However, its passage is not assured in this highly politicized atmosphere. Your advocacy is needed once again. So . . . please pick up the phone AGAIN and call your congressperson to ask him/her to vote for the Davis Amendment on Cuban-American travel rights, to resist White House pressure to yield to the president's position, and to cast a vote of integrity. The Capitol Switchboard is 202.224.3121; the website for information on your congressperson's contact info is www.house.gov . Congressman Davis' Dear Colleague letter on this amendment follows is below.

And . . . Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) are planning to introduce an amendment to the T-T bill on educational travel to Cuba. Urge your congressperson to support this amendment also.

Regarding the decision by the Cuba Working Group to withdraw their amendments (travel and remittances) . . . the projected vote count was too close for comfort. It was not a margin immune to White House pressure and arm-twisting of Republican supporters. While it is disappointing to learn (or relearn) how little some representatives vote on their convictions and how vulnerable they are to political election-year pressure from the White House, this was probably the correct decision. Congressmen Flake and McGovern continue to be courageous leaders on this issue; they deserve your thanks. We can count on them to resume their efforts to lift the travel ban as soon as the "electoral smoke clears," as Congressman Flake says. Congressman Flake's floor statement on his withdrawal of the amendment is at the end of this message.

Please make your calls--Monday would be best. We'll send out a reminder! It would be very detrimental to lose the votes on the Davis and Lee/Rangel amendments. Your help is critical.

Office of Representative Jim Davis

Support Family Visits to Cuba Support the Davis (FL) Amendment

As the Cuban people struggle to recover from the devastation of Hurricanes Charley and Ivan, Cuban-Americans are being prohibited from visiting Cuba to help their own family members rebuild. On June 30, 2004, the Department of Treasury implemented new restrictions on family travel to Cuba. Inexplicably, the latest get-tough initiative to rid Cuba of Fidel Castro punishes Cubans on both sides of the Florida straits and will have minimal effect on the government of Cuba.

Specifically, the new Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) rules limit family visits to Cuba to one trip every three years for a maximum of 14 days under a specific license to visit only immediate family. Under this new policy, emergency visits will no longer be allowed nor will any visits to aunts, uncles and cousins in Cuba. The previous policy allowed Cuban-Americans one trip per year under a general license for an unstated number of days, included a broader definition of family and allowed emergency visits under a specific license.

The newest collection of misguided regulations jeopardizes countless innocent Cubans who depend on visits from their Cuban-American relatives, not only for moral support but also for the delivery of food, medicine, clothing and money. These sweeping changes were done without as much as one hearing in Congress.

To that end, I will be offering an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2005 Transportation/Treasury Appropriations bill. My amendment would prohibit funds in the bill from being used to implement, administer or enforce the changes made to family travel. The amendment would also keep aunts, uncles and cousins where they belong - as part of the family - so that Cuban-Americans can continue to visit and bring goods to these relatives.

Regardless of your opinion on the travel ban, a ban I happen to support, it is unconscionable that politics is being played with families. If we are going to "break the Cuban dictatorship's information blockade" as the Report outlines as one of the goals of United States policy, reducing family contact and cracking down on innocent people is certainly not the way to do it.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or my Senior Policy Advisor, .

Sincerely,

Jim Davis

Member of Congress

Office of Congressman Jeff Flake

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Congressman Flake Withdraws Amendment Lifting Cuba Travel Ban

Policy Effort Being Mired in Election Years Politics

Washington, D.C. - Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake, a member of the House International Relations Committee, today gave the following statement on the floor of the House of Representatives regarding his decision to withdraw his amendment that would effectively lift the ban on Americans traveling to Cuba:

"Mr. Speaker, for the past four years I have stood to offer this same amendment, an amendment to restore the basic right of Americans to travel to Cuba. The Flake amendment has, for the past three years, enjoyed broad bipartisan support in the Congress, and for good reason. For the past 45 years we have attempted to bring about regime change in Cuba, only to see Fidel Castro outlast nine U.S. presidents. All the while, his countrymen have been denied their most basic human rights.

"A compelling case could be made that our policy of isolating Cuba made sense during the Cold War. As a pawn of the Soviet Union, Cuba was actively exporting the revolution with its troops around the world. But we are more than a decade removed from the Cold War. We face new challenges, challenges that, it can be safely said, don't include the spread of Cuban-style communism.

"Our challenge is to export freedom to Cuba, and for this cause our current policy is as outdated as the cars that ply the highways of Havana. How can we promote liberty in Cuba with a policy that denies our own citizens the right to travel to the island? How can we foster respect for basic human dignity when we tell Cuban Americans that they can no longer send soap and toothpaste to their long-suffering relatives in Cuba?

"Have we become so blinded by short-term politics that we fail to see the long-term consequences of our policy? In a word, yes. I should note that this blindness does not only affect the Republican Party. The Democratic leadership hasn't offered a vision that is much clearer. Unfortunately, neither party can see past Florida when trying to decide what to do about Cuba.

"With this bill today, and in other bills this year, we will appropriate tens of millions of dollars relating to Cuba. It is fitting that we ask, for what purpose? So that think tanks in Miami can churn out more reports telling the Congress, unsurprisingly, that we ought to continue the current policy, which includes giving them money? So that daily television programs can be produced in Miami that Cubans will never see? So that a little-league team in Arizona won't be able to play baseball with their peers in Cuba? So that faith-based groups in Indiana distributing bibles in Cuba can be fined for their evangelical zeal? So that a grieving daughter in South Carolina won't be able to attend her mother's funeral in Cuba? As a Republican, I fail to see anything conservative about these policies.

"There is a saying, "No man is an island," yet our policy assumes that Fidel Castro is Cuba's only resident. The people of Cuba have suffered decades under his rule. Our policies, particularly those enacted just months ago which limit family charity, have only added to their burdens.

"Unfortunately, the timing of this legislation this year does not lend itself to a reasoned and thoughtful debate about our policy toward Cuba. Our efforts in this area have always been bipartisan in nature. But, with elections so close and politics so raw, this debate would not receive the thoughtful deliberation it deserves.

"I want to thank those members of Congress on both sides of the aisle who are working so hard for a more effective and reasonable Cuba policy - those who believe that promoting freedom in Cuba is best achieved by giving Americans more freedom. Our efforts will resume as soon as the electoral smoke clears.

"It is my understanding that Congressman Davis of Florida will offer an amendment to roll back the new restrictions on family travel by Cuban Americans. My colleagues and I look forward to helping Congressman Davis with his worthy efforts.

"With that, Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my amendment."

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