A bipartisan group of senators introduced two pieces of legislation Thursday that would allow Americans to travel to Cuba and do business in the island nation.
The legislation to allow Americans to travel freely to Cuba is supported by 55 bipartisan senators. The legislation was introduced by Republican Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake and Democratic Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy.
Americans can currently travel to Cuba for specific purposes such as educational travel, but the act would completely deregulate travel to the nation. Sen. Flake said that it is “Americans who are penalized by our travel ban, not the Cuban government.”
The other bill would eliminate export barriers with Cuba, a move the agricultural industry supports. “Decades after the end of the Cold War we continue to impose punitive sanctions against Cuba, a tiny island neighbor that poses no threat to us,” Sen. Leahy said in a statement.
The Trump administration is currently undergoing a review of Cuban policy. President Trump told The Daily Caller in 2015 that the “concept of opening with Cuba is fine,” but Republican Florida Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart said recently that he is a “1000 percent sure” Trump will roll back Obama’s moves to better relations with Cuba.