U.S.
senators visit Cuba, hope Congress will ease restrictions
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[June 29, 2015]
By Daniel Trotta
HAVANA (Reuters) - Three visiting U.S.
senators said on Saturday they hoped Congress would support President
Barack Obama's opening toward Cuba, including lifting a ban on U.S.
citizens traveling to the Communist-run island.
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Democratic Senators Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Ben Cardin of
Maryland joined Republican Dean Heller of Nevada on a trip to Cuba
where they met First Vice-President Miguel Diaz-Canel, Foreign
Minister Bruno Rodriguez and ordinary Cubans.
A number of Cuba initiatives are pending in the Senate, including a
bill to remove the travel ban on Americans and a more ambitions bill
to rescind the decades-old U.S. economic embargo.
Obama, a Democrat, has called on Congress to act but the legislation
is opposed by the Republican leadership in control of the Senate and
the House of Representatives.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Jun/29/images/ads/current/pestcontrol_bch_fleas_061215.png) Earlier this month, the House rejected a measure that would have
relaxed travel restrictions. But the senators said there were better
prospects for progress on Cuba legislation in their chamber.
"We think that can be achieved this year and we can make additional
progress next year," Cardin told a news conference. "We're
optimistic this path that President Obama and President (Raul)
Castro started will be continued."
Heller, one of a few Republican senators to side with Obama on Cuba,
encouraged members of Congress to visit Cuba and engage with
ordinary Cubans. "I think the Senate can move the House, but the
Senate's going to have to act first," Heller told Reuters after the
news conference.
Currently, some Americans may travel to Cuba with official
permission but general tourism is banned.
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Breaking decades of Cold War-era hostility, Obama and Castro
announced plans last December to restore diplomatic ties that
Washington severed in 1961, and to work toward normalizing overall
relations. An announcement on reopening embassies in both capitals
is expected soon.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Frances Kerry)
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