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CUBA
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House votes to lift US ban on Cuba travel
WASHINGTON, 10 (AFP) - The House of Representatives
voted to end the decades-old restriction prohibiting
travel to Cuba, a measure US President George
W. Bush has already indicated he would veto.
By 227 to 188, lawmakers approved a bill authored
by Representative Jeff Flake which would withhold
funding to enforce the travel ban, effectively
ending restrictions on travel to Cuba by US citizens.
The House has approved similar legislation in
the past, only to see the US Senate fail to take
up the measure.
The bill is given better odds this year, however,
with the creation of the bipartisan Cuba Working
Group in the Senate -- modeled after a similar
group in the House -- uniting lawmakers committed
to vigorously pushing behind the scenes for an
end to the embargo and increased trade with the
communist island.
In a statement last week, Flake said the embargo
had outlived its usefulness as a political tool.
"If the US is serious about undermining
Castro and bringing democratic reforms to Cuba,
the best thing we can do is lessen Castro's control
over the island by allowing Americans to travel
to Cuba," he said.
"We have had a policy in place for over
40 years that obviously has not brought Cuba any
closer to democracy. It's clear that change in
Cuba would be greatly hastened by a change in
our own policy," the Arizona Republican said.
Flake has offered the amendment effectively lifting
the Cuba travel ban for the past two years, and
it has passed the House of Representatives by
widening margins.
Bush has said, however, that he would veto any
legislation relaxing the four-decade embargo of
Cuba.
House lawmakers approve two additional measure
designed to soften US economic restrictions against
Havana, voting 222 to 196 in favor of legislation
authored by Massachusetts Representative Bill
Delahunt to relax restrictions on remittances
to Cuba.
They also adopted, by a vote of 246 to 173, a
measure by Democrat Jim Davis of Florida that
would prevent the Bush administration from ending
"people to people" travel exchanges
to the communist island.
Presidential Determination Regarding the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act for 2003
Statement by the White House Press Secretary.
Wednesday September 10, 11:17 am ET
WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The following
is a statement by the White House Press Secretary:
The President notified Congress that ten countries
have avoided possible sanctions under the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act of 2000 because of significant
steps their governments have taken to fight trafficking
in persons. These governments -- Belize, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, the Dominican Republic, Georgia,
Greece, Haiti, Kazakhstan, Suriname, Turkey, and
Uzbekistan -- deserve recognition for their quick
action to address problems noted in the Department
of State's June 2003 Trafficking in Persons Report.
The President is committed to leading the fight
to eradicate trafficking in persons, which according
to our recent estimate involves up to 900,000
people a year being moved across international
borders into forced labor, sexual exploitation,
and other forms of modern day slavery. Steps taken
by these ten governments demonstrate that the
Administration's intervention on this issue is
spurring the international community to action
and, most importantly, is yielding results.
These ten countries made notable progress in
many key areas including the drafting or passage
of new anti-trafficking legislation and procedures;
conducting high-profile public awareness campaigns
on national press and television; developing new
anti-trafficking training programs for police,
immigration and judicial officials; creating national
task forces and action plans; establishing confidential
hotlines to fight corruption and trafficking in
persons; and building referral systems for victims.
These important actions will punish the perpetrators
and help the victims of this heinous crime around
the world.
The steps taken by these countries stand in contrast
to the continuing failure of Burma, Cuba, and
North Korea to make significant efforts to comply
with the Act's minimum standards. As a result,
the President decided to impose sanctions on these
countries in accordance with the Act. While Liberia
and Sudan have also failed to meet the standards
of the Act, and are thus subject to sanctions,
the President has determined that certain multilateral
assistance for these two countries would promote
the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the
national interest of the United States. For Sudan,
the assistance will be limited to that which may
be necessary to implement a peace accord.
Source: White House Press Office
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