By Tim Johnson. tjohnson@krwashington.com. Published
Friday, October 12, 2001. The Miami Herald
WASHINGTON -- If Congress defies President Bush and insists on letting U.S.
citizens travel freely to Cuba, the president may veto an entire $17 billion
appropriations bill that includes the softer language, a White House office
warned Thursday.
The warning from Mitch Daniels, director of the Office of Management and
Budget, signaled a clear raising of the stakes on U.S. policy toward Cuba.
In a letter to eight key legislators, Daniels said the White House "strongly
opposes''any initiative to soften pressure on Cuban leader Fidel Castro,
including a House-approved proposal July 25 that would prohibit the Treasury
Department from spending money to enforce restrictions on U.S. travel to the
island.
"If a bill is presented to the president with this provision, his
senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill,'' Daniels wrote.
For most of the past four decades, U.S. citizens have been barred from
spending U.S. currency in Cuba, virtually blocking U.S. tourism to the island.
Current law allows some U.S. citizens -- such as government officials,
journalists, humanitarian workers and business owners -- to travel with a
specific or general license.
Illegal travel by U.S. citizens to Cuba has been on the upswing, however,
and members of Congress have voted to abolish the federal travel restrictions
for two consecutive years.
Last year, language lifting the travel restrictions was stricken from a
House-approved bill as the proposal passed through the Senate.
This year, House members, voting 240-186, again sought to prevent the
Treasury Department from spending money to enforce the travel restrictions. The
amendment was attached to a huge Treasury appropriations bill, which later was
approved by the Senate without the language. The spending plan is now before
House-Senate conferees seeking to iron out different language in the two
versions of the bill.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Miami Republican, applauded the White House for
maintaining a firm stance on Cuba and preventing tourist dollars from flowing to
support Castro.
"Our goal, as always, will be the denial of economic resources that
would not only allow the Castro regime to continue oppressing its people,'' she
said in a statement.
Copyright 2001 Miami Herald | 
