The Democratic legislator proposes to expand trade, travel and diplomatic engagement.
On Thursday, Jim McGovern, a Democratic U.S. representative for Massachusetts’ 2nd Congressional District, introduced a bill to eliminate the legal basis of the U.S. blockade against Cuba.
“I introduced a bill to repeal the U.S. embargo against Cuba. For over six decades, the U.S. has embraced failed, obsolete, Cold War thinking toward Cuba,” said the lawmaker, who is also a senior member of the House Rules Committee, a leading anti-hunger advocate and co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
“Our 60-plus-year embargo has been ineffective and counterproductive — it hurts the Cuban people, it strengthens hardliners, it gives rise to more refugees, and it undercuts our standing in the world,” he added.
“We have tried the same thing for over 60 years — and it has failed for over 60 years. Let’s try something different — let’s open things up! Let’s lift the embargo, giving U.S. businesses, entrepreneurs, tourists and universities more access.”
“Let’s push for freedom and democracy through diplomacy and engagement. Let’s let Cubans who live on the island decide their own future — not Marco Rubio or Donald Trump,” McGovern concluded.
His bill, titled the United States-Cuba Trade Act (H.R. 7521), seeks to repeal the statutory basis for the U.S. embargo on Cuba. To that end, McGovern’s proposal would:
-. Remove the primary authority for the U.S. president to maintain a total trade embargo on Cuba by repealing Section 620(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
-. Effectively end the regulatory basis for the Cuban Assets Control Regulations by terminating authorities under the Trading With the Enemy Act regarding Cuba.
-. Eliminate the codification of the embargo and legal obstacles to property-related transactions by repealing the Helms-Burton Act.
-. Delete restrictions on trade and limits on the entry of vessels into U.S. ports that have recently traded with Cuba by repealing the Cuban Democracy Act.
-. Remove Cuba-specific restrictions on agricultural and medical exports by amending the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act.
-. Remove the ban on Cuba’s participation in the U.S. sugar program by repealing the sugar quota prohibition in the Food Security Act.
-. End restrictions on the registration or renewal of certain Cuban-related trademarks by repealing Section 211 of the Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.
-. Provide direct telecommunications services between the two nations by authorizing U.S. common carriers to install and maintain telecommunications facilities in Cuba.
-. Protect the right to travel by prohibiting the government from regulating or banning travel to Cuba if the activity is otherwise lawful for U.S. citizens.
-. Promote settlement of outstanding property claims by U.S. nationals and the protection of internationally recognized human rights by directing the U.S. president to negotiate with the Cuban government.
-. Extend nondiscriminatory, or normal trade relations, tariff treatment to Cuban products by amending the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, repealing Cuba-specific tariff provisions and ending application of Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 to Cuba.
-. Prohibit the U.S. Treasury Department from limiting remittances to Cuba.
-. Require the U.S. president to submit a report to Congress on U.S.-Cuba trade relations within 18 months of enactment.
teleSUR/ JF
Sources: dljksdljkds
0 Comentarios