Wednesday, July 29, 2015

New Bipartisan Consortium to Advance Normalization

Former UGA President Michael Adams named to Cuba normalization group

Education reporter

Former University of Georgia President Michael Adams was named to a high-profile group that will advocate for normalized relations between Cuba and the United States.

The Cuba Consortium and its advisory board were announced in July as the Obama administration took steps to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba and ease travel and trade restrictions.

“The consortium will “provide a bipartisan platform for examining and measuring progress in legal, economic and human rights spheres in Cuba which impact normalization prospects, will analyze politics and policy around the U.S. approach to normalization” and will “serve as a trusted advisor and convener for many companies, universities, entrepreneurs and private citizens interested in engaging with Cuba,” according to a letter from Cuba Consortium co-chairs Nancy Kassebaum Baker and Tom Daschle to Adams and other members of the consortium advisory board.

Besides those two former U.S. senators — Kassebaum a Republican and Daschle a Democrat — the advisory board’s 12 members include former Sens. Olympia Snowe, Bob Kerrey, Byron Dorgan and Bill Frist, University of North Carolina president Thomas Ross and two CEOs of large international non-government organizations, Helene Gayle and Rodney Ferguson.

The consortium was begun by the nonpartisan Howard Baker Forum, established by the late U.S. Sen. Howard Baker of Tennessee. Baker, a Republican, was well known for forging compromises and keeping relations polite between the two parties in the Senate.

Adams was Baker’s chief of staff from 1975 to 1979 and maintained ties with Baker and his family after Adams left politics for academia.

“I’m proud to be associated with this group,” said Adams. “I’ve been interested in international relations all my life.”

During Adams’ 16 years as UGA president, the number of UGA students studying abroad increased dramatically, and he and his wife Mary contribute to a scholarship fund for UGA students studying abroad.

Although President Obama is removing some barriers to normalized relations, some will require approval from Congress, where many oppose the idea.
However, many U.S. businesses, including Caterpillar, have been advocating easing trade restrictions with Cuba.

Adams said the time is right for normalization.

“I think we’re better off when we trade with people and talk with people,” he said.

“My hope would be to see Cuba become a more open society than it is today,” Adams said.

The Cuba Consortium will have its first meeting this fall and host a public conference in Washington, D.C. in early 2016.

Follow education reporter Lee Shearer at www.facebook.com/LeeShearerABH or https://twitter.com/LeeShearer.

http://onlineathens.com/mobile/2015-07-29/former-uga-president-michael-adams-named-cuba-normalization-group

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

For the 1%, Charters

Charter gains license to cruise Cuban waters

Posted on Written by Peter Swanson

Downtown Havana’s Colonial Zone is being meticulously restored with funding from the United Nations’ UNESCO program.
Downtown Havana’s Colonial Zone is being meticulously restored with funding from the United Nations’ UNESCO program.

The first recreational boat to legally cruise once-forbidden Cuban waters with U.S. citizens aboard could well be a yacht between 60 and 300 feet LOA, chartered through Paul Madden Associates of Palm Beach.

And at the upper end of the spectrum, one of your choices is the Christina O, the refurbished superyacht that the late Greek billionaire Aristotle Onassis once owned.

The U.S. Treasury Department granted Madden, who also does business under the Merrill Stevens Yachts name, a license to convey qualified U.S. citizens to Cuba on crewed charter vessels. His permit essentially gives his company the same “carrier services” status as Carnival Cruise Lines and four ferry start-ups that also recently received licenses.

Madden’s license was made possible by President Barack Obama’s new policy of engagement with Cuba’s Castro regime, which essentially returns U.S. policy to the status quo before the administration of President George W. Bush, who effectively banned all recreational boat travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens.

El Morro, Havana’s iconic fortress, guards the entrance to Havana Harbor.
El Morro, Havana’s iconic fortress, guards the entrance to Havana Harbor.

Charter customers won’t be the first recreational boaters to travel to Cuba. Recently a Hobie Cat regatta began in Key West and ended at Havana, and 17 U.S. boats were licensed to travel to Havana to participate in the Ernest Hemingway International Billfishing Tournament.

There is a key difference, however, between Madden’s license and the two competitions. Regatta and tournament participants were forbidden under the terms of their license to cruise from one port to another within Cuba or even to leave the docks, except during the actual competitions. Madden’s yachts are free to roam the entire island nation, with its six colonial-era ports, 3,000 miles of coast and more than 4,000 islands.

Not just anyone can charter a yacht to Cuba. Under U.S. regulations, customers need to qualify under 12 criteria for legal travel. They include journalists, Cuban Americans and bona-fide researchers.

Cruising Cuba is like entering some kind of time-space anomaly; the land of “rum, rhumba and revolution” looks a lot like the Caribbean of the 1950s. Outside the 90-mile sector between Havana and the marinas at Varadero to the east, there is little marine infrastructure in a place nearly the size of Florida, a circumstance that makes the choice of a 300-footer, such as the Christina O, a tad impractical.

Vestiges of the Cold War dot the Cuban landscape 25 years after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Vestiges of the Cold War dot the Cuban landscape 25 years after the fall of the Soviet Union.

There are berths for fewer than 20 megayachts in all of Cuba, excluding shipyards and commercial docks. Of those, Marina Hemingway outside Havana can accommodate a few 200-footers, a length limitation imposed by a turn after the entrance channel. Meanwhile, at Varadero, the Cuban government is nearing the completion of what will be the largest marina in the Caribbean, with 1,200 slips, including berths for six megayachts as large as 200 feet.

Nevertheless, now that Madden has cracked the code, the Caribbean yacht charter industry is beginning to cast a lustful gaze upon Cuba.

“I am in talks with some of the larger yacht charter and brokerage companies,” Madden said, “and they are predicting that the majority of yachts operating in the Caribbean will migrate to Cuba at the first opportunity. Until [this month], the U.S. embargo kept them out. Some could not get insurance, and if they visited there, they were liable to not be allowed into U.S. ports after their visit.”

Pricing for Madden’s charters ranges from $3,000 a day for a 60-footer to $20,000 a day for the biggest boats, plus provisions and fuel. That represents quite a contrast to the dollar-a-day wage the average Cuban earns and a national zeitgeist that expresses itself in billboard communism.

Peter Swanson is events content manager for the Active Interest Media Marine Group. AIM owns Soundings Trade Only.

CUBA BY THE NUMBERS
Landmass: 44,000 square miles
Climate: Tropical in the trade-wind belt, modified by frontal systems from the United States and by hurricanes
Shoreline: 3,000 nautical miles
Circumnavigation: 1,650 nautical miles
Islands and keys: 4,195
Percentage of coastal shelf navigable by boats larger than 25 feet: 70 percent
Quality of Cuban marine cartography: Superb
Boating regions: 7
Dive centers: 18
Marinas: 15, with most slips in a 60-mile swath between Havana and Varadero
Planned marinas: 23 additional, with more than 5,000 slips
Major colonial port cities: 6 (Havana, Trinidad, Cienfuegos, Manzanillo, Santiago and Baracoa)

Distances to

Florida: 90 miles
Mexico: 110 miles
Cayman Islands: 170 miles
Jamaica: 80 miles
Hispaniola: 45 miles
Bahamas: 45 miles
Turks & Caicos: 110 miles
Number of visiting yachts
Before 2004*: more than 2,000 annually
After 2004: more than 1,000 annually
Percentage of visiting yachts from the United States
Before 2004*: 69 percent
After 2004: 17 percent
Number of recreational vessels greater than 25 feet LOA registered in Florida: About 92,000
Estimated number of yachts larger than 25 feet LOA that will travel to Cuba in the first year after the travel ban ends: 60,000 to 80,000
*On Feb. 26, 2004, the administration of President George W. Bush issued a proclamation outlining measures to crack down on Americans traveling by boat to Cuba in contravention of the U.S. embargo. Despite the new policy of engagement, the basic structure of the Bush policy toward recreational boats remains in place.

http://www.tradeonlytoday.com/2015/07/charter-gains-license-cruise-cuban-waters-2/

Monday, July 27, 2015

Trip for Film Specialists in January

SPECIAL CUBAN FILM DELEGATION JANUARY 14 - 22, 2016
 
View this email in your browser
SPECIAL DELEGATION:
 INSIDE CONTEMPORARY CUBAN FILM
January 14 - 22, 2016<
The Americas Media Initiative (AMI) is organizing a very specialized delegation in collaboration with Anthropologie Consulting that will focus on current trends in contemporary Cuban filmmaking.

The trip is geared toward film programmers and curators, professionals in the film business and people interested in contemporary Cuban filmmaking and will provide insight and access normally unavailable to U.S. visitors.

An important focus of the delegation is to help clarify how the U.S. embargo still impacts Cuban filmmaking including the complex situation for Cuban independent filmmakers � who work outside of the traditional Cubban cultural institutions � and their legal status within Cuba. Aleexandra Halkin, AMI Founding Director along with Jose Pineda, Director of Anthropologie Consulting will lead the delegation.

Since President Obama’s announcement last December, AMI has received numerous requests from U.S. citizens for assistance related to filmmaking in Cuba. Because of this tsunami of interest, AMI has decided to organize our first delegation to Cuba.

Due to the close working relationship AMI has with many filmmakers, delegates will meet one on one with documentary, and fiction filmmakers, and producers as well as animators and attend special screenings of their work. A unique aspect of the delegation will be meeting filmmakers living outside of Havana.

Delegation highlights include:
  • Travel to La Conchita, Pinar del Río to meet with youth who are engaged in a unique community media project, Los ChapuSerios. The project was initiated with funding from the British Embassy in 2013. Los ChapuSerios now produce programming for the local TV channel besides their own community-based work.
  • Trip to Santa Clara to meet with Harold (Muke) Diaz-Guzman, a self-taught animator, software designer and university professor along with his award winning animation collective.
  • Also in Santa Clara a visit to El Mejunje, a famous Cuban cultural center known for it’s support of LGBT rights for a screening of the new short documentary, Mascaras (Masks) about the lives of Ríubel Alarcón and Pedro Manuel González, two famous Cuban transformistas (drag queens).
  • Havana meeting with award winning producer, Claudia Calvino of Producciones 5ta Avenida (Melaza, Juan of the Dead) who will discuss how 5ta Avenida functions within the restrictions and limitations of the US embargo and the lack of legal status within Cuba.
  • Visit to the internationally celebrated International Film and Television School (EICTV) in San Antonio de los Baños, for a tour and full day of visits and screenings with Cuban faculty and students.
  • Other Havana meetings include cultural critic Gustavo Arcos, award-winning documentary filmmaker, Ernesto Pérez Zambrano and documentary and fiction filmmakers including Rigoberto Jímenez and Marcel Beltrán.
The delegation will accommodate 15 people so we encourage people to sign up early. All events and films will be translated to English. For further information please contact Jose Pineda: jepp23@acjourneys.com or (786) 955-6660. You can also visit the AC website

Anthropologie Consulting, LLC does extensive work around Cuba and Cuban culture, both in the U.S. and Cuba. Anthropologie Consulting, LLC is authorized by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, Department of the Treasury, to organize educational and cultural delegations to Cuba. Anthropologie Consulting, LLC is registered with the State of Florida as a Seller of Travel. Registration No. ST38971.

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

New Cruise Around Cuba

Haimark Line Gets in Cuba Game, U.S. Approval for Voyages Starting in February

on .
 Haimark Line’s MS Saint Laurent will be the first small ship operated by a U.S. cruise line to circumnavigate Cuba in more than four decades following final government approval.
Operated in conjunction with Florida-based United Caribbean Lines, the 105-cabin vessel will offer 15 unique 9-night roundtrip departures from Miami to Cuba and back beginning February 20, 2016, from $4,599 per person/double occupancy (plus applicable port charges and fees).
“We are very excited to be able to offer guests this highly coveted opportunity to experience the rich culture of Cuba in accordance with the 12 approved categories for travel approved by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Cuban government. One of several advantages of small coastal ship travel to Cuba right now is that the MS Saint Laurent will be able to reach additional regions of Cuba and increase the People-to-People connection of the American public with the people of Cuba throughout the island,” said Bruce Nierenberg, President and Managing Partner of UCL.
“In keeping with our Haimark destination-driven style of experiential cruising, we expect our distinctive 10-day People-to-People cultural itinerary to sail completely around Cuba, providing guests with a unique chance to see much of the country with visits to five of Cuba’s seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The MS Saint Laurent will be our People-to-People travelers’ ‘home away from home’ as our program conveniently includes all on-board accommodations, meals and beverages. All costs associated with the cultural exchange land-based excursions are included as well as gratuities to local guides and drivers,” said Tom Markwell, Haimark Managing Partner, Sales & Marketing.
Upon final government approval for this very special people-to-people cruise product, passengers will have the opportunity to participate in this unprecedented journey.
Cuba 360˚; A Circumnavigation of the Cultures of Cuba aboard MS Saint Laurent is a 9-night/10-day People-to-People Cultural Exchange Program complete with on-board experts and knowledgeable local guides that features:
• Day 1, Miami
• Day 2, Havana
• Day 3, Havana
• Day 4, Maria La Gorda.
• Day 5, Cienfuegos
• Day 6, Trinidad
• Day 7, Santiago de Cuba
• Day 8, Parque Nacional Alejandro de Humboldt
• Day 9, Holguin
• Day 10, Miami
The 9-night/10-day Cuba Miami to Miami itinerary is priced from $4,599 per person/double occupancy (plus applicable port charges and taxes). A single supplement of 60% is available for stateroom categories A – F.

Pro Engagement PAC Raises $178,000 in Two Months

Pro-Cuba engagement PAC reports first fundraising totals

@PatriciaMazzei
A political action committee formed earlier this year to promote closer ties between the U.S. and Cuba trumpeted its first fundraising totals in a statement Tuesday.
The New Cuba PAC said raised more than $178,000 between May 4 and June 30. Half of the contributions came from Cuban Americans, according to the group's statement. A detailed public report is due to be filed this month to the Federal Election Commission.
One of its fundraisers was held two months ago on Miami Beach with special guest Alan Gross, the former contractor imprisoned for five years in Cuba. The PAC supports, among other things, a proposed Senate bill that would end the American travel ban to the island.
"For some time now polling has shown the American people are way ahead of the politicians in Washington on Cuba policy, and the record travel to the island over the last six months shows their voting with their feet as well," said James Williams, a PAC director. The group's fundraising "sends a strong message to Congress that the American people are also putting their money where their mouth is and want Congress to play a constructive role in this new era."
Critics of the U.S.-Cuba rapprochement have been collecting political funds for years.

Monday, July 13, 2015

Expanding University Exchange

Another tie to Cuba: Colleges are forming new partnerships with the country

For many years, the dean of the University of the District of Columbia’s law school has been fascinated by Cuba — its politics, culture and the historic standoff with the United States. So when she had the chance to form a partnership with the oldest university there, Shelley Broderick jumped on it.
The new relationship between the University of Havana and UDC is just one of several exchanges being explored or established by colleges in the United States and Cuba. As relations between the two countries change, some schools are reaching out eagerly – yet carefully.
It’s an opportunity for historic cultural and academic exchange. And it’s still controversial.
There’s the question of academic freedom, of course, with education controlled by the Cuban government. There’s the long-running debate about how best to combat problems there, whether through engagement or isolation.
But more U.S. students are studying there, according to the Institute of International Education, with a more than four-fold increase in numbers from the 2010-2011 school year to more than 1,600 enrolled in programs there in 2012-2013.
A director of an institute at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School predicted to the Associated Press recently that there will be an explosion of collaborations between U.S. and Cuban schools.
Auburn University created a research partnership with a Cuban university and center for animal and plant health there, and an exchange program for professors and students.
Florida International University leaders have even talked about building a campus in Cuba.
This year, Johns Hopkins, Brown, Columbia and other universities established the Consortium for Advanced Studies Abroad (CASA) in Havana, with courses there at the University of Havana.
At UDC, a discussion at the David A. Clarke School of Law about the resumption of diplomatic relations led to a question: Why not start an exchange program that would compare the legal systems in the two countries?
Next summer, she expects students and faculty will travel to Cuba, and, in the future, there will be semester-long exchanges.
On her own trip there, Broderick, whose niece married a man from Cuba, was struck by the “joie de vivre” of the people, by the pride in the faculty in their education and health system, by the lack of adequate housing and poverty, by the dramatic art she saw.
Leaders and professors at Havana University, which was founded in 1782, were incredibly welcoming, she said.
“The initial areas of agreement will be between UDC’s David A. Clarke School of Law and the Law College at Havana University, where Fidel Castro attended law school more than 70 years ago,” said former interim president James Lyons. “It was a privilege to spend several days at the law school, where we were briefed by the faculty on the Cuban constitution and statutory laws, their judicial system and several other substantive areas.”
Immediately after her return, Broderick offended some students by accepting an award at an event wearing a Che Guevara beret. They were shocked that a law school dean at a public university seemed to be honoring a revolutionary leader who once said, “To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary … these procedures are an archaic bourgeois detail.”
Broderick said, “I’m clearly delighted the U.S. and Cuba are in the process of establishing a new relationship, and celebrate that.” She said she admired Guevara for bringing down a brutal dictatorship. “I don’t admire everything about Che, by any means.”
That particular controversy, she said, “is beside the point. The point is, finally the U.S. will have a rational relationship with Cuba, and I’m thrilled.”

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Proposed Car Ferry Licensed by OFAC

Attica Group announces receipt of a license from the USA for the provision of carrier Theodore Koumelis

- 09 July 2015, 10:41

Attica Holdings seeks to expand its international footprint, provide premium overnight transportation between U.S. and Cuba.

Attica Holdings S.A., a member of Marfin Investment Group (MIG), announced that the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), granted Attica approval to operate through its wholly owned US subsidiary, Superfast Ferries (USA) LLC, a marine route between US and Cuba, in connection with travel or transportation of persons, baggage or cargo between the United States and Cuba. Attica is in the process of applying for appropriate regulatory and other approvals from the Cuban government. Attica Group’s financial and operational success in Greece and the broader South European region has provided the platform for this expansion initiative.The US-Cuba route enables Attica Group to leverage its long industry experience operating in developed and competitive markets and unique know-how in maritime transport, in the fast growing US-Cuban market. Attica’s fleet of 13 modern and technologically advanced vessels include a number of vessels ideally fit for the US-Cuba route. Two of these vessels have initially been identified for this service, each with carrying capacities of about 1,700 passengers, 700 berths and 2,000 lane meters garage, capable of carrying about 570 cars.All ferries are fully equipped with restaurants, duty free shops, swimming pool, bars, playroom and other family oriented activities. Spiros Paschalis, CEO of Attica Group, stated, “We are pleased to receive the US government approval and are excited to be able to offer service on the historically important US-Cuba marine route. The US license confirms the reliability, trust and superior quality for which Attica Group’s fleet has been internationally renowned for. Our proposed ferry service would provide daily non-stop transportation between the Port of Miami in Florida and the Port of Havana in Cuba, a distance of 230 miles, in less than 10 hours, in a relaxed and casual atmosphere with our usual superior service standards.”Spiros Paschalis continued, “Opening up the U.S.-Cuba route is an important step in rebuilding relations between the two countries. We hope to be able to provide travelers an opportunity to experience the immense beauty and rich cultural heritage of Cuba. We are proud to be chosen as trusted operators to carry passengers and cargo back and forth to an exciting new destination.”

 - See more at: http://www.traveldailynews.com/news/article/67011/attica-group-announces-receipt-of#sthash.oTHFZd6l.dpuf

Monday, July 6, 2015

State Department's Limited Interpretation of Normalization

Re-Establishment of Diplomatic Relations With Cuba


Fact Sheet
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
July 6, 2015




President Obama announced on July 1, 2015, the historic decision to re-establish diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States of America, effective July 20. The U.S. Department of State also notified Congress of its intent to convert the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Cuba to U.S. Embassy Havana, effective on the same date. These are important steps in implementing the new direction in U.S.-Cuba relations announced by President Obama on December 17, 2014.

On July 1, the U.S. and Cuban Interests Sections exchanged presidential letters declaring mutual intent to re-establish diplomatic relations and re-open embassies on July 20, 2015. President Obama affirmed that the two governments had agreed to develop “respectful and cooperative” relations based on international principles, including the promotion and encouragement of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all.

The U.S. Embassy will continue to perform the existing functions of the U.S. Interests Section, including consular services, operation of a political and economic section, implementation of a public diplomacy program, and will continue to promote respect for human rights. The U.S. Embassy will allow the United States to more effectively promote our interests and values and increase engagement with the Cuban people.

The U.S. Embassy in Havana will operate like other embassies in restrictive societies around the world, and will operate in sync with our values and the President’s policy. Diplomats will be able to meet and exchange opinions with both government and nongovernment entities. Chief of Mission Jeffrey DeLaurentis will be the senior-most official in the new embassy and will serve as Charge d’Affaires ad interim.

Normalizing relations is a long, complex process that will require continued interaction and dialogue between our two governments, based on mutual respect. We will have areas of cooperation with the Cubans, and we will continue to have differences. Where we have differences, deeper engagement via diplomatic relations will allow us to articulate those differences clearly, directly, and when appropriate, publicly. Throughout our diplomatic engagement, the United States will remain focused on empowering the Cuban people and supporting the emergence of a democratic, prosperous, and stable Cuba.

The embargo on Cuba is still in place and legislative action is required to lift it. Additionally, rules for travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens remain in effect. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control will continue to administer the regulations that provide general licenses for the 12 categories of authorized travel to Cuba.

The Administration has no plans to alter current migration policy, including the Cuban Adjustment Act. The United States continues to support safe, legal and orderly migration from Cuba to the United States and the full implementation of the existing migration accords with Cuba.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2015/07/244623.htm

**********************

My comment

Back to "never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity".

Normal should mean normal.

This would have been the ideal moment to clarify that people to people travel is a general license for self-directed individuals and families, not just for expensive tightly scheduled groups.

It also is the ideal moment to end the Cold War anomaly of automatic admission and permanent resident status for every Cuban who touches foot on US soil or overstays a visa, i.e. to actually "support safe, legal and orderly migration".

John McAuliff
Fund for Reconciliation and Development

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Update on Airbnb

Airbnb cracking the Cuban market

Havana spreads out below the rooftop terrace of the Hotel NH Capri.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/biz-monday/article26213032.html


  • John McAuliff · Top Commenter 

  • Airbnb is a great innovation but its utility is limited by the bizarre and unnecessary restriction by OFAC that people to people is a general license only for groups, not for individuals.

    There is a lot of misinterpretation and dissimulation going on which the White House could easily eliminate by clarifying its intentions.

    Group tours are great introductions to Cuba but must be supplemented with legal travel by self-organized individuals, families and groups of friends. Conventional land programs are too expensive for most Americans. Cuba Cruise reduces the cost substantially.

    However only independent people to people trips will be truly affordable. Travelers could freely stay in casas particulares ($30 - $35 booked outside of airbnb) and use public transportation between cities on Viazul busses.

    John McAuliff
    Fund for Reconciliation and Development

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Vote Tally and Debate in House on Travel and Trade with Cuba

Description: H.Amdt. 404 — 114th Congress (2015-2016)

Amendment sought to prohibit use of funds in the bill to implement or enforce sections 193 or 414 which relate to limiting air and ferry travel to Cuba.  Submitted by Rep. Barbara Lee
Ayes favored allowing commercial flights and ferry service to Cuba.  Noes supported effort by Rep Mario Diaz-Balard to block them.  (debate below vote tally)
---- AYES    176 ---

Abraham
Aguilar
Amash
Ashford
Bass
Beatty
Becerra
Bera
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Boustany
Brady (PA)
Brown (FL)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Carney
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chaffetz
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Courtney
Crawford
Crowley
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
Davis, Rodney
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
DeSaulnier
Dingell
Doggett
Duckworth
Edwards
Ellison
Emmer (MN)
Engel
Eshoo
Esty
Farr
Fattah
Fincher
Foster
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Hahn
Heck (WA)
Higgins
Himes
Hinojosa
Honda
Hoyer
Huelskamp
Huffman
Israel
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Jolly
Jones
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
Kuster
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lee
Levin
Lewis
Lieu, Ted
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham (NM)
Luján, Ben Ray (NM)
Lummis
Lynch
Maloney, Carolyn
Massie
Matsui
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Moore
Moulton
Mulvaney
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Nolan
O'Rourke
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Pingree
Pocan
Polis
Price (NC)
Rangel
Ribble
Rice (NY)
Richmond
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sánchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sanford
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schweikert
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Sinema
Slaughter
Smith (MO)
Smith (WA)
Speier
Swalwell (CA)
Takai
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tonko
Torres
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Vargas
Veasey
Velázquez
Visclosky
Walz
Waters, Maxine
Welch
Yarmuth

---- NOES    247 ---

Aderholt
Allen
Amodei
Babin
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Benishek
Bilirakis
Bishop (MI)
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Blum
Bost
Brat
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Burgess
Byrne
Calvert
Cárdenas
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Clawson (FL)
Coffman
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Comstock
Conaway
Connolly
Cook
Costello (PA)
Crenshaw
Cuellar
Culberson
Curbelo (FL)
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Deutch
Diaz-Balart
Dold
Donovan
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers (NC)
Farenthold
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Frankel (FL)
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Garamendi
Garrett
Gibbs
Gibson
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Graham
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Grayson
Griffith
Grothman
Guinta
Guthrie
Gutiérrez
Hanna
Hardy
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings
Heck (NV)
Hensarling
Herrera Beutler
Hice, Jody B.
Hill
Holding
Hudson
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurd (TX)
Hurt (VA)
Issa
Jenkins (KS)
Jenkins (WV)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jordan
Joyce
Katko
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kinzinger (IL)
Kirkpatrick
Kline
Knight
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Latta
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Long
Loudermilk
Love
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
MacArthur
Maloney, Sean
Marchant
Marino
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
McSally
Meadows
Meehan
Messer
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Moolenaar
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Murphy (FL)
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Newhouse
Noem
Norcross
Nunes
Olson
Palazzo
Pallone
Palmer
Pascrell
Paulsen
Payne
Pearce
Perry
Pittenger
Pitts
Poe (TX)
Poliquin
Pompeo
Posey
Price, Tom
Quigley
Ratcliffe
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Rice (SC)
Rigell
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney (FL)
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Rouzer
Royce
Russell
Ryan (WI)
Salmon
Scalise
Schrader
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Sherman
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Sires
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Stefanik
Stivers
Stutzman
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tipton
Trott
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Vela
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walker
Walorski
Walters, Mimi
Wasserman Schultz
Watson Coleman
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (FL)
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (IA)
Young (IN)
Zeldin
Zinke

---- ANSWERED “PRESENT”    1 ---

Boyle, Brendan F.

---- NOT VOTING    8 ---

Adams
Brady (TX)
Cramer
Doyle, Michael F.
Jackson Lee
Nugent
Stewart
Tiberi


Ms. LEE. I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
     following:
       Sec. ____.  None of the funds made available in this Act
     may be used to administer, implement, or enforce section 193
     or section 414 of this Act.

  Ms. LEE (during the reading). Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous consent that
the reading to be dispensed with.
  The Acting CHAIR. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from California?
  There was no objection.
  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 287, the gentlewoman
from California and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank Mr. Sanford for his leadership
as it relates to this amendment and helping us try to end these
outdated and failed policies toward Cuba. I rise in support of our
amendment, and I am very proud to cosponsor this simple, bipartisan
amendment. This amendment would strike two provisions included in this
bill that would further limit travel to and from Cuba via flights and
ferries. Not only are these provisions inappropriate policy riders,
they would deny Americans the right to travel to Cuba.
  I understand some of my colleagues, including our subcommittee chair,
have a personal interest in Cuba, yet personal interest should not
stall progress nor interfere with what is good for the American people.
I am joined by many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and a
diverse coalition of organizations and businesses in strong opposition
to this and other attempts to undermine efforts to normalize relations
with Cuba.
  Not only are the current provisions in this bill wrong for diplomacy,
they are patently antibusiness. That is why this amendment is supported
by the United States Chamber of Commerce, Orbitz, the American Society
of Travel Agents, and the broad-based coalition Engage Cuba.
  These provisions that are currently in the bill set us back 50 years.
They would eliminate flights that airlines have already invested in and
would kill a new market for maritime carriers. Simply put, these
provisions are an affront to Americans' basic freedom. Cuba is the only
country in the world, including North Korea, Iran, China, and Vietnam,
where Americans cannot freely travel. The President's announcement to
expand travel was a step in the right direction.
  We should be passing the bipartisan and bicameral Freedom to Travel
to Cuba Act, H.R. 664, which I am proud to cosponsor with my colleague
Mr. Sanford, rather than moving backwards with these misguided
provisions.
  Opponents to normalize the relations are quick to claim that renewed
engagement somehow rewards the Cuban Government. That couldn't be more
wrong. In order to engage on issues like human rights and democracy,
Americans should be able to do just that. This amendment allows that.
  Those who are serious about moving our relations forward to the
betterment of both Americans and Cubans know that increased exchange
and formalized relations are the path we need to be on. A majority of
Americans and Cubans agree: we need a 21st century approach to our
relations with this nation 90 miles away from our shores.

[[Page H3889]]

  This is 2015, my colleagues, not 1960. The rest of the world is doing
business with Cuba, allows its citizens to travel to Cuba, and also has
normal diplomatic relations with Cuba. The United States is isolated.
This amendment begins to thaw that freeze and to keep our country
moving forward in this next decade and, further, to become part of the
world family who understands that Americans should, like other citizens
in other countries, have a right to travel wherever they so desire.
  I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Sanford).
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman has 1\1/2\ minutes remaining.
  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I intend to strike the
last word so as to give the speakers more time.
  Ms. LEE. I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina
(Mr. Sanford).
  Mr. SANFORD. I appreciate the gentlewoman yielding me this time.
  Mr. Chairman, my comments will be brief. It is quite simple. The
concept is this: if I travel on Delta Airlines to Moscow, it does not
mean that I support Putin; if I travel on Royal Caribbean to Shanghai,
it does not mean I support the Chinese regime.
  This bill is fundamentally, as my colleague from California has
pointed out, about Americans' right to travel. It is, secondarily,
about something we talk about as Republicans, which is balance of
power. If we don't want the President overstepping his bounds, we
shouldn't overstep our bounds as Members of Congress. That is precisely
what this bill does in trying to proscribe the President, though he has
full authority within the licensing, within the Department of Commerce,
to do as he has done.
  Finally, I think it is about American opportunity. Why should we have
Canadian or Mexican jets traveling to a country that we are allowed to
travel to rather than American jets?
  Ms. LEE. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Florida is recognized for 5
minutes.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, just a couple things from the debate
that we have heard. The sponsor of the amendment talked about that this
may be a personal issue for some. Mr. Chairman, let me be very frank
and very clear: this is not a personal issue.
  Let me also talk about what the language in the bill does that this
amendment is trying to take out. It doesn't deal with the overriding
issue of policy versus whether we like the President's policy or not.
It deals with one specific issue and one specific issue only, Mr.
Chairman: whether we should condone, whether we should approve, whether
we should permit the trafficking of confiscated--in other words,
stolen--property.
  When the gentleman from my side of the aisle said that, you know,
this is an issue about traveling to other countries, when we travel to
Russia, we should be able to do that, that is fine. But is he also
saying, which is what this amendment says, that we should condone the
use of stolen, confiscated property, property that was stolen and
confiscated illegally from Americans? So if you support this amendment,
Mr. Chairman, what you are saying is it is okay to do business on
property that was stolen from Americans.
  Now, I can understand having differences of opinion on overall
policy, but the language in the mark deals specifically with
confiscated--in other words, stolen--properties from Americans. For the
life of me, I would never understand how anybody can justify doing
business on confiscated, stolen property and then try to obfuscate the
issue talking about policy, which is not what is in the mark.
  I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Florida
(Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), a distinguished gentlewoman from the Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I thank the chairman for yielding.
  As the chairman points out, do we really want to trample on the
property rights of innocent Americans whose properties were illegally
stolen by the Cuban regime?
  The gentleman from South Carolina is correct, the concept is simple,
but the concept he doesn't seem to understand is this: it is not about
travel to Cuba. This is about protecting American properties that were
illegally seized by the Castro government. We are selling out these
legitimate property claims to thousands of American citizens. Respect
for private property rights, Mr. Chairman, has been a consistent
American policy since the founding of our Republic.
  The Cuban regime illegally confiscated property from American
citizens. Our citizens have not been compensated, and we know there is
no respect for the rule of law in Cuba. If an American's property has
been seized, what does that American do? Well, there is no fair court
for recess. Let me tell you what the Inter-American Law Review has
noted about the Cuban regime's confiscation of U.S. assets. It says it
is the ``largest uncompensated taking of American property by a foreign
government in history.''
  So this is what this amendment is about. If this amendment to strike
the use of confiscated property were to pass, we would be, in essence,
allowing and condoning the trafficking of stolen goods. Currently,
there are over 8,800 claims certified by the Foreign Claims Settlement
Commission, which is under the U.S. Department of Justice. American
citizens whose properties were seized illegally--almost 9,000 have
filed claims--the Castro regime doesn't care. These certified claims,
are they just small? No. They are worth approximately $8 billion.
  This body must protect the interests of those citizens, of all of our
citizens, so I implore our colleagues to not support these misguided
attempts to normalize relations with the Cuban regime on the backs of
American citizens. We are better than that. We must not allow this
amendment to pass. We are about protecting American private property
rights. This language in the bill protects American citizens,
constituents that we represent in our congressional districts.
  Is this Chamber really going to side with a Communist tyrant in Cuba
over American citizens? The Cuban regime should not be allowed to use
American properties stolen from our citizens for its commercial
benefit. If the U.S. endorses such a practice, what message will we be
sending to other rogue regimes who would love to be confiscating
American properties?
  So, if we want to help the Cuban people, and I am sure that all of us
do, let's not give their oppressors more resources to violate their
rights. We are here to protect private property rights of American
citizens. We must reject this amendment, and rather than striking the
provisions directly, which my colleagues could have done, they are
offering limitation amendments that would prohibit funds to enforce
those same provisions. Let's not do this.
  I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. Let's not trample on
the rights of American citizens.

                              {time}  1015

  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Sanford).
  Mr. SANFORD. Three quick points. If you follow this logic, then no
American plane should fly into Saigon, no American plane should fly
into China, no American plane should fly into Russia, because indeed
property was confiscated at the time of the Russian revolution, the
Chinese taking, or, for that matter, what happened in Vietnam. There
are American properties there.
  This is not about American property rights. This is about
legalistically trying to undo that which has been changed.
  The other thing it is about is, again, legalism. What the bill
actually says is if a boat docks in the previous 180 days within 7
miles of a port or property where there may be land somewhere
connected.
  This is a legalistic attempt to undo what the President has proposed.
  The Acting CHAIR. The time of the gentlewoman from California has
expired.
  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last
word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last

[[Page H3890]]

word in order to express my strong support for this amendment and my
appreciation to our colleague from California for offering it.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr).
  Mr. FARR. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Chairman, this is the bill, and the language that we are trying
to strike out reads: ``None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used to facilitate new scheduled air transportation originating from
the United States if such flights would land on, or pass through,
property confiscated by the Cuban Government, including property in
which a minority interest was confiscated, as the terms confiscated,
the Cuban Government, and property are defined in'' the paragraphs
below.
  This is just a job killer for Americans. We have a hundred thousand
Americans who are visiting Cuba illegally. You know how they get there?
They go to Mexico. Who gets the business? Mexican airlines. They go to
Canada. Who gets the business? Canadian airlines. Or, any other country
in the world that has normal travel relationships with Cuba.
  You are just cutting off the ability for American enterprise to get
access to Cuba, where everybody wants to go, because there are family
feuds going on here, because it is including property which has a
minority interest.
  How are the airlines, how are the people going to decide what
property has been confiscated, who is the ownership title? Those are
big legalistic problems in the United States when we confiscate
property to build freeways or railways.
  This amendment really screws up the ability for America to be
involved in a business that Americans want to do. They want to travel.
Censorship of American travel--this is just ridiculous in these days.
  What is the message to the world? Do we prohibit our citizens from
going to countries that are communist countries? You can go to Vietnam,
China, and Russia, but you can't go to Cuba because there is a lot of
feuding going on in Florida.
  In fact, Florida is going to benefit from this because where are the
airports that these scheduled airlines are going to leave from? They
are Tampa, they are Miami, the businesses in your State.
  So if you want to give American jobs to Americans, and you want
commerce to occur, and you don't want to continue this censorship of
Cuba, then vote for this amendment.
  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. I yield to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Lee).
  Ms. LEE. A couple of points I would just like to make.
  First of all, confiscated property 50 years-plus ago should be part
of negotiations in terms of bilateral discussions as it relates to
normalizing relations with Cuba. What is in this bill right now is what
we have indicated, and which is why we offer this amendment.
  This bill prohibits Americans from traveling to Cuba. It eliminates
jobs in America, and it eliminates economic growth through our maritime
industry and our airline industry.
  Once again, all of the issues that occurred 50 years ago are subject
to discussion based on any bilateral negotiations taking place.
  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Could I inquire how much time is
remaining?
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price) has
45 seconds remaining.
  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. I yield to the gentleman from South
Carolina (Mr. Sanford).
  Mr. SANFORD. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I would just make three last points. As was correctly pointed out by
my colleague from California, indeed this is about American jobs. It
indeed is about, again, this larger notion of private property rights.
  I would stand my private property rights record up to anybody. I
believe strongly in private property rights and legal code, which is
why Ms. Lee is correct: should there be bilateral relations between
Cuba and the United States, this would be part of that discussion.
  But the idea of creating a legal hurdle for an airline not to be able
to fly from Miami or Tampa to Havana--and instead, those jobs go to
other places around the globe--makes no sense to me.
  Finally, I would simply say this. We have tried 50 years of one
policy, and it hasn't worked. It was Ronald Reagan who encouraged
travel to the Eastern Bloc countries. I think it would make sense in
this instance.
  The Acting CHAIR. The time of the gentleman from North Carolina has
expired.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Florida is recognized for 5
minutes.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, we have heard a lot of things that, by
the way, you will notice, at very few times actually deal with language
in the mark, the language in the bill. By the way, for example, that
this is going to hurt American jobs.
  To argue, Mr. Chairman, that American companies will benefit from
trafficking in stolen property that was stolen from American companies
I think is probably the definition of an oxymoron, number one.
  Number two, there is a lot of obfuscation. The language in the bill
doesn't say that Americans can't travel. The language says that they
cannot use trafficking in, make a profit from, property that was stolen
from Americans. Stolen from Americans.
  So I understand that the gentleman says that his property rights
record is as good as any, but, Mr. Chairman, the language in the bill
deals with a specific issue, and one specific issue alone: Should we
condone, should we allow, should we permit, should we encourage the
trafficking, the profiting from stolen property--property that was
confiscated from Americans, whether there are certified claims or not.

  If you support this amendment, Mr. Chairman, you are saying it is
okay for folks to traffic in property that was stolen from Americans,
illegally stolen from Americans. I think, frankly, that is a sad day.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Curbelo).
  Mr. CURBELO of Florida. I thank the chairman for yielding.
  Mr. Chairman, it is fascinating to come here to the floor and listen
to colleagues who struggle to support free trade agreements with our
allies come to the floor and advocate for expanded trade with one of
our enemies, taking advantage of properties stolen from American
citizens.
  I heard that we have a personal interest in this matter--and I do. I
am an American citizen. I was born here. And I want to do justice by
American property owners.
  Shouldn't we resolve these 8,818 claims before proceeding? Shouldn't
we do justice by these families, these businesses whose property was
stolen with no due process, with no hearing by the Castro government?
  Whose side are we on, Mr. Chairman? That is the question here. As
Americans, do we want to be on the side of those who were aggrieved by
a tyrannical regime--American citizens--or do we want to reward that
regime by allowing others now to profit over those stolen properties?
That is the question that we need to ask ourselves today.
  This is not about travel. No one is here advocating for restricting
travel to Cuba. Many people travel to Cuba today legally, and that
would not change. But I cannot stand for violating the property rights
of my fellow American citizens.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, again, before I yield back, as Mr.
Curbelo just mentioned, this is not an issue of travel. This is not an
issue of the overriding policy. This is not an issue of even arguing
whether President Obama has been a good negotiator or a horrible
negotiator on anything. This is about whether we want to condone,
permit, accept, in violation of everything that the United States
stands for, the trafficking of stolen property, property illegally
confiscated from American citizens.
  If you support this amendment, Mr. Chairman, you are supporting, you
are condoning, you are assisting, you are helping trafficking and the
profiting on property that was stolen from Americans.
  This cannot stand. This should not stand. I would respectfully ask
for a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my
time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

[[Page H3891]]

  The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

*****************************************************

Description: H.Amdt. 308 — 114th Congress (2015-2016)

Amendment sought to strike section 540 from the bill which prohibits use of funds to facilitate, permit, license, or promote exports to the Cuban military or intelligence service or to any officer of the Cuban military or intelligence service, or an immediate family member thereof.   Submitted by Rep Sam Farr

Purpose:

An amendment to strike section 540 from the bill which prohibits use of funds to facilitate, permit, license, or promote exports to the Cuban military or intelligence service or to any officer of the Cuban military or intelligence service, or an immediate family member thereof.
Ayes supported President Obama's initiatives to open trade with Cuba; noes supported amendment by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart to stop any opening on trade. (debate below vote tally)


---- AYES    153 ---

Aguilar
Bass
Beatty
Becerra
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Brady (PA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Carney
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Courtney
Cramer
Crowley
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
DeSaulnier
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle, Michael F.
Duckworth
Edwards
Ellison
Eshoo
Esty
Farr
Fattah
Foster
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Green, Al
Grijalva
Gutiérrez
Hahn
Higgins
Himes
Hinojosa
Honda
Huffman
Israel
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
Kirkpatrick
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lee
Levin
Lewis
Lieu, Ted
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham (NM)
Luján, Ben Ray (NM)
Maloney, Carolyn
Matsui
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Moore
Moulton
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Nolan
O'Rourke
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Pingree
Pocan
Polis
Price (NC)
Rangel
Rice (NY)
Richmond
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sánchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Sensenbrenner
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Sinema
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Speier
Swalwell (CA)
Takai
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tonko
Torres
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velázquez
Visclosky
Walz
Waters, Maxine
Welch
Yarmuth

---- NOES    273 ---

Abraham
Aderholt
Allen
Amash
Amodei
Ashford
Babin
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Benishek
Bera
Bilirakis
Bishop (MI)
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Blum
Bost
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Brat
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Brown (FL)
Brownley (CA)
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Burgess
Byrne
Calvert
Cárdenas
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Chaffetz
Clawson (FL)
Coffman
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Comstock
Conaway
Connolly
Cook
Costello (PA)
Crawford
Crenshaw
Cuellar
Culberson
Curbelo (FL)
Davis, Rodney
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Deutch
Diaz-Balart
Dold
Donovan
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers (NC)
Emmer (MN)
Engel
Farenthold
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Frankel (FL)
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Garrett
Gibbs
Gibson
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Graham
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Green, Gene
Griffith
Grothman
Guinta
Guthrie
Hanna
Hardy
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings
Heck (NV)
Heck (WA)
Hensarling
Herrera Beutler
Hice, Jody B.
Hill
Holding
Hoyer
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurd (TX)
Hurt (VA)
Issa
Jenkins (KS)
Jenkins (WV)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jolly
Jones
Jordan
Joyce
Katko
Keating
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Knight
Kuster
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Latta
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Long
Loudermilk
Love
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Lynch
MacArthur
Maloney, Sean
Marchant
Marino
Massie
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
McSally
Meadows
Meehan
Messer
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Moolenaar
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Mulvaney
Murphy (FL)
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Newhouse
Noem
Norcross
Nugent
Nunes
Olson
Palazzo
Pallone
Palmer
Pascrell
Paulsen
Pearce
Perry
Pittenger
Pitts
Poe (TX)
Poliquin
Pompeo
Posey
Price, Tom
Quigley
Ratcliffe
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
Rice (SC)
Rigell
Roby
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney (FL)
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Rouzer
Royce
Ruppersberger
Russell
Ryan (WI)
Salmon
Sanford
Scalise
Schrader
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sessions
Sherman
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Sires
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Stefanik
Stewart
Stivers
Stutzman
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Trott
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walker
Walorski
Walters, Mimi
Wasserman Schultz
Watson Coleman
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (FL)
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (IA)
Young (IN)
Zeldin
Zinke

---- NOT VOTING    6 ---

Adams
Boyle, Brendan F.
Grayson
Jackson Lee
Kaptur
Roe (TN)

Mr. FARR. Mr. Chairman, I am serving my 22nd year in the United 
States Congress, and I have never seen a provision in an appropriations 
bill like this.
  This amendment in there could be labeled the ``family feud.'' There 
is only one Member of Congress who is related to anybody in the 
leadership and in the military in Cuba, and he is the person who put 
this amendment in.
  What it does is it prohibits businesses from doing business in Cuba 
because it makes it almost impossible for any business to get a 
license. That is why the United States Chamber of Commerce; the 
National Foreign Trade Council; the Emergency Committee for American 
Trade; USA Engage, which is a trade group; and CubaNow, which is 
Florida's Cuban Americans, are all opposed to this provision of the 
bill and support my amendment to strike it.
  Mr. Chairman, I submit for the Record letters from CubaNow which are 
in support of my amendment.
       Dear Congressman Farr: We urge that House Members vote to 
     strip Section 540 from H.R. 2578, Commerce, Justice, Science, 
     and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016.
       This provision would turn back the strategic effort to 
     normalize relations between the U.S. and Cuba, harming 
     advancements to increased commerce with Cuba.
       Majorities of Americans, Cuban-Americans, and Cubans 
     support normalizing relations and ending the unilateral trade 
     embargo. Bipartisan support exists in both the House and 
     Senate and throughout the business community and the majority 
     of civil society groups focused on Cuba.
       The question of Cuba policy should be approached 
     deliberatively in the full context of hemispheric relations.
       Please support the Farr amendment to strip Section 540 from 
     H.R. 2578.
           Sincerely,
     CubaNow;
     Emergency Committee for American Trade;
     Engage Cuba;
     Manchester Trade Limited, Inc.;
     National Foreign Trade Council;
     U.S. Chamber of Commerce;
     USA*Engage.
                                  ____


   #CubaNow Statement on Administration Veto Threats Over Cuba Policy

                            [From #CubaNow]

       Washington.--#CubaNow Political Director David Gomez issued 
     the following statement in support of the Obama 
     Administration's veto threats and congressional efforts to 
     eliminate attempts to limit or roll back the new Cuba policy:
       ``#CubaNow supports the recent veto threats issued by the 
     Obama Administration in regards to the House's current 
     Transportation and Commerce appropriations bills. As the 
     Administration noted, these bills include policy riders that 
     place unacceptable and regressive restrictions related to 
     Cuba, including Americans' right to travel to the Island and 
     the ability to do business with and support Cuba's growing 
     private sector. #CubaNow also supports the floor amendment by 
     Rep. Sam Farr to strike the restrictions from the Commerce 
     appropriations bill and other similar efforts in Congress to 
     keep spending bills free of bad policy that will do nothing 
     to help the Cuban people.''
       ``Congress should work on advancing U.S.-Cuba policy in a 
     constructive manner that recognizes there's no going back to 
     the failed ideas of yesterday. Only a small minority in 
     Congress continues to try to drag their feet. But the Cold 
     War is over, and it's time that Congress heeds the will of an 
     American public that by and large supports moving forward 
     with greater engagement. Our new direction will do more to 
     help Cuban civil society than riders that try to breathe life 
     into an unsuccessful half-century-old policy.''

  Mr. FARR. Almost every country in this hemisphere and almost every 
country in the world has normal trade relations with Cuba. We are 
trying to open those up so that businesses in America, particularly our 
agriculture and our other trading goods, can take advantage of the 
market in Cuba--not a big one, but an important one--because it is so 
close to shore.
  What this amendment does is it stops all of that. It targets the 
Cuban military by saying that anything related to the Cuban military 
and what they own, which is a lot of businesses in Cuba, may not be 
used to facilitate, permit, license, or promote exports to the Cuban 
military or intelligence services or the immediate families thereof.
  This is what is really so damaging. The term ``immediate family,'' as 
described in the bill, means a spouse, sibling, son, daughter, parent, 
grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew. Now, how does a 
businessperson in the United States know if

[[Page H3723]]

any of those people are working for any of the agencies that this bill 
restricts from?
  It hurts American businesses, and it hurts Cubans. Let's stop living 
in the past. Let's strike this provision in the bill and support my 
amendment.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Florida is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I am glad this amendment is here.
  President Obama said--and he said this a while ago--that his policies 
are to help promote the Cuban people's independence from Cuban 
authorities.
  Now, no one can claim that the Cuban military and the Cuban 
intelligence community and their direct family members are not the 
Cuban authorities. Nothing is more authority than those two things. 
Let's unmask what this amendment does.
  The language in the mark, in the bill, simply affirms that we should 
not send exports--I will make this very clear--to the Cuban military or 
the intelligence community or their immediate families. In unmasking 
this amendment, what this amendment is saying is no, no, no, that we do 
support and that we do want to do business with the Cuban military and 
the Cuban intelligence services and their immediate families.
  By the way, it is the same military and intelligence services that 
brutalized the Cuban people, that beat prodemocracy demonstrators, that 
beat a number of American citizens in Panama recently, that illegally 
smuggles weapons, which has members of that Cuban military under 
indictment here in a U.S. Federal court for the murder of American 
citizens.
  I am glad this amendment is here because this amendment unmasks the 
underlying issue, and the chairman's mark specifically deals with--
again, as I mentioned--the Cuban military and the intelligence 
community and their immediate relatives.
  If this amendment were to happen, what we would be saying is that we 
want to do business, not with Cuba and not with the Cuban people, but 
with the Cuban military and the intelligence services and their direct 
relatives. Frankly, I am glad this amendment is here because it does 
unmask the issue.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the distinguished 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Curbelo).
  Mr. CURBELO of Florida. I thank my colleague for yielding.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the Farr amendment.
  Section 540 is critical in ensuring that exports to Cuba reach and 
benefit the Cuban people, not the regime's military and intelligence 
services, which actively and aggressively collaborate with our enemies 
throughout the world. Still today, Cuba has one of the most robust spy 
networks in the United States. These are not the people we should be 
rewarding with American business.
  The most recent State Department report on Cuba's human rights 
conditions says that harsh prison conditions, arbitrary arrests, 
selective prosecution, and the denial of fair trials continue in the 
country.
  The iron fist of the Castro regime has cracked down on peaceful 
democratic activists with over 2,000 dissidents arrested since the 
President's December 17 announcement. Just this past Sunday, 59 members 
of the Ladies in White were arrested along with 25 other human rights 
activists--their crime? It was attending Sunday mass, Mr. Chairman.
  The oppression is not limited to Cuba's borders. According to high-
level military defectors from Venezuela's Government, there are between 
2,700 and 3,000 Cuban military and intelligence agents aiding in the 
crackdown against Venezuelan protesters and opposing American interests 
in that country.
  These are the thugs--the very individuals--who would most benefit 
from the Farr amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I understand that there is a diversity of views in this 
Chamber with regard to our broader Cuba policy. What I cannot 
understand is why anyone would want to reward the individuals 
responsible for the deaths of Americans, for the oppression of the 
Cuban people, for spying against our country.
  I respectfully ask my colleagues to oppose the Farr amendment.
  Mr. FARR. Mr. Chairman, rhetoric is really cheap here, but I would 
urge Members to read the bill and to read the second term.
  It reads:

       The term ``Cuban military intelligence service'' includes 
     but is not limited to the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed 
     Forces and the Ministry of Interior of Cuba and any 
     subsidiary of such ministry.
       The term ``immediate family'' means spouse, sibling, son, 
     daughter, and so on.

  The analysis by our own Library of Congress says that this would 
severely hurt the consumer communication devices that would be sent to 
families in Cuba as part of the negotiations that are going on right 
now between the United States and the administration.
  It would also hurt materials, equipment, tools used by the private 
sector to construct or to renovate privately owned buildings, tools and 
equipment for private sector agriculture activity, tools and equipment 
and supplies and instruments used by the private sector.
  This provision just kills the ability for the United States to open 
up trade that every other country has. This is just a ``family feud'' 
amendment. This is not good business, and that is why the business 
community is opposed.
  Mr. Chairman, how much time do I have remaining?
  The Acting CHAIR (Mr. McClintock). The gentleman from California has 
2 minutes remaining.
  Mr. FARR. I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman 
from California (Ms. Lee).
  Ms. LEE. I thank my colleague for yielding.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this amendment.
  Once again, the other side is really pushing the envelope in terms of 
characterizing what this amendment actually does.
  This amendment would strike provisions included in this bill that 
would prohibit the Department of Commerce from issuing licenses for new 
types of exports that are permitted under the Obama administration's 
new policy of engagement with Cuba. This provision is not only an 
inappropriate policy rider in this appropriations bill, but, if 
included, it would put this House, once again, on the wrong side of 
history.

  Supporters of this provision claim that it would only prohibit 
exporting to anyone who works with the Cuban military, intelligence 
services, and their immediate families. The reality is that the effects 
of this provision are much, much broader.
  It would make it difficult for the Department of Commerce to issue 
licenses to companies that want to export to Cuba, U.S. companies that 
create jobs in the United States of America. This includes equipment 
and supplies for entrepreneurs that are related to running their own 
businesses here in America, and it includes the materials, equipment, 
and tools to construct or renovate privately owned businesses.
  Simply put, this rider is wrong. It is wrong for business, and it 
certainly should not be part of a bill that funds our critical 
Commerce, Justice, and Science programs.
  The majority of Americans and Cubans agree that U.S. policy toward 
Cuba has been an unpopular failure for more than 50 years. Instead of 
including misguided provisions that undermine the process of 
normalizing relations with Cuba, we should be moving toward increased 
exchanges, formal relations with our neighbors, and creating good-
paying jobs in the United States by allowing the exporting of U.S. 
products to Cuba.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Culberson).
  Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I want to point out the language Mr. 
Farr is attempting to strike.
  It reads:

       No funds made available to do business with the Cuban 
     military or the intelligence services.

  The only thing standing between President Barack Obama's attempt to 
override the will of the people as expressed by Congress, which is we 
will not do business with Cuba, is the Federal law. President Obama is 
attempting to change that.
  The only thing stopping President Obama from doing business with Cuba 
is this language, and the language says

[[Page H3724]]

you cannot do business with the Communist military in Cuba or with the 
Communist intelligence services.
  It is very straightforward. If you want to do business with the 
private sector in Cuba, go ahead. All this says is that you can't do 
business with the Communist military or with the Communist intelligence 
services.
  Therefore, we urge Members to vote ``no'' against this amendment.
  The Acting CHAIR. The time of the gentleman from Florida has expired.
  Mr. FARR. It is very interesting that the capitalist society out 
there supports my amendment: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National 
Foreign Trade Council, Engage Cuba, the Emergency Committee for 
American Trade. They wrote a letter that they urge the House Members to 
strip section 540 from H.R. 2578, the Commerce, Justice, Science, and 
Related Agencies Appropriations Act.
  The provision would turn back the strategic effort to normalize 
relations between the U.S. and Cuba, harming advancements to increase 
commerce with Cuba. The majorities of Americans, Cuban Americans, and 
Cubans support the normalization of relations and any unilateral trade 
embargo.
  Bipartisan support exists in both the House and the Senate and 
throughout the businesses community and with the majority of the civil 
society focused on Cuba. The question of Cuba policy should be 
approached deliberatively and in the full context of hemispheric 
relations.
  I urge the support of this amendment.
  The Acting CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Chairman, we spend a lot of time making something 
simple complex. The problem here is that, in a small nation, an island 
like Cuba, trying to discern whether somebody is related--a cousin, a 
nephew, a so-and-so who might work for some entity--is very 
problematic.
  What this restriction would basically mean is that you wouldn't be 
able to do any business. That is notwithstanding everything else, 
notwithstanding the failure of the last 50 years, notwithstanding the 
fact that everybody else in the world is doing business in Cuba, this 
language would prevent us from being able to do any business there 
because you would not be able to predetermine whether there was a blood 
connection between some person you were selling a cell phone to and 
someone who, at some point, was a grunt in the military.

                              {time}  2130

  That is the issue. That is why we should support the Farr amendment.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Farr).
  The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes 
appeared to have it.

https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2015/06/02/house-section/article/h3700-2/