Bill would end all restrictions on U.S. travel to Cuba [View all]

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Bill would end all restrictions on U.S. travel to Cuba

By Lindsay Wise and Lesley Clark

McClatchy Washington Bureau
January 29, 2015 Updated 14 minutes ago


Cuba Ready for Tourists?

Commuters ride a public bus as tourists set off for a spin in a classic American convertible in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 16, 2015. Tens of thousands more American tourists are expected to flock this year to a country where some five-star hotels don't have working air-conditioning or hand towels. The Obama administration hopes the new wave of U.S. tourists will fuel one of the healthiest parts of Cuba's new entrepreneurial sector, the thousands of private bed and breakfasts.
DESMOND BOYLAN — AP


WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators unveiled a bill Thursday that would end all travel restrictions for Americans who want to visit Cuba.

The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act of 2015 also would allow travel-related banking transactions.

“We all need to remember this is a prohibition on Americans, not Cubans,” the bill’s Republican sponsor, Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, said at a news conference Thursday. “We’re simply saying that Americans should be allowed to travel wherever they want unless there’s a compelling national security reason.”

The prohibition on travel to Cuba makes no sense, agreed Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, one of the bill’s four Democratic co-sponsors. Four Republicans, including Flake, also signed on to support the bill.

“It’s one thing if another country tells me I can’t visit them; it’s another if my country tells me I can’t,” Leahy said Thursday. “This thing hasn’t worked.”

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