Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) offered an amendment to the transportation/treasury appropriations bill to end the travel ban generally, the same amendment that passed the full Senate and House last year but was removed by the leadership in conference. The amendment was adopted handily! This is a major achievement! It means that now we must push the House to follow the Senate lead and pass an identical amendment. That push is the action request for today. (See below)

Our House allies will offer amendments that to end the ban on travel and remittances in coming days. We need your help in urging members of the House of Representatives to vote in favor of these critical pieces of legislation. Call or fax them a letter as soon as you can--certainly by Monday afternoon. There are more specifics on calling and a target list of particularly important representatives further down in this message. Please take 5 minutes and make this critical call!

Here’s a little more information on the particulars of the amendments.

Representatives Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Jim McGovern (D-MA) plan to offer an amendment that would end funding for the ban on travel to Cuba. It would amend the Transportation-Treasury Appropriations bill—which is the source of the funds for enforcement of the travel ban. As you may know, this is the amendment that we have won for the past four years. It’s important that we continue to win, as any loss could be used against us by the pro-embargo folks. With your help, we are sure that we can win this vote yet again and send the message to the administration and public that the travel ban must be lifted.

Representatives Flake and Bill Delahunt (D-MA) are planning to offer a second amendment to the Treasury-Transportation Appropriations bill that would end restrictions on remittances to Cuba. This amendment is important as well and deserves our support. Many Cubans depend on the support they receive from relatives living in the United States, and restricting this flow is inhumane.

Representative Flake could also offer other amendments that would undo the administration's latest tightening of restrictions, such as those on academic programs, family visits, sports programs and other issues. These amendments are less certain, but nonetheless deserve our support if they happen.

ACTION: Call or fax a message to your representative with the following message. “I am a constituent and I urge you to vote to end the ban on travel and remittances to Cuba. This vote is important to me and I will be watching your vote closely.” For your representative’s phone or fax number, see www.house.gov or call the capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121. Please make this easy call in the next few days. See below for a list of representatives that have been wobbling of late on the Cuba restrictions.

See our website (www.lawg.org) for regular updates on timing and content, as it is still uncertain exactly when the bill will be considered.

NOTE: Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Judd Gregg (R-NH) offered an amendment yesterday to the annual agricultural appropriations bill to allow unlimited travel (with no specific license necessary) for farmers and businesspeople seeking to sell agricultural products to Cuba. It too passed with ease. This is also a welcome step forward in ending travel restrictions!