I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1698

To lift the trade embargo on Cuba, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 9, 2003

Mr. PAUL (for himself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. CLAY, and Mr. WHITFIELD) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

International Relations, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and 

Means, Energy and Commerce, the Judiciary, Financial Services, Government Reform, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To lift the trade embargo on Cuba, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. REMOVAL OF PROVISIONS RESTRICTING 

4 TRADE AND OTHER RELATIONS WITH CUBA. 

5 (a) AUTHORITY FOR EMBARGO AND SUGAR

6 QUOTA.—Section 620(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

7 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2370(a)) is repealed. 

8 (b) TRADING WITH THE ENEMY ACT.—The authori9 ties conferred upon the President by section 5(b) of the 
2

•HR 1698 IH 

1 Trading With the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. App. 5(b)), 

2 which were being exercised with respect to Cuba on July 

3 1, 1977, as a result of a national emergency declared by 

4 the President before that date, and are being exercised 

5 on the day before the effective date of this Act, may not 

6 be exercised on or after such effective date with respect 

7 to Cuba. Any regulations in effect on the day before such 

8 effective date pursuant to the exercise of such authorities, 

9 shall cease to be effective on such date. 

10 (c) EXERCISE OF AUTHORITIES UNDER OTHER PRO11 VISIONS OF LAW.—

12 (1) REMOVAL OF PROHIBITIONS.—Any prohibi13 tion on exports to Cuba that is in effect on the day 

14 before the effective date of this Act under the Ex15 port Administration Act of 1979 shall cease to be ef16 fective on such effective date. 

17 (2) AUTHORITY FOR NEW RESTRICTIONS.—The 

18 President may, on and after the effective date of this 

19 Act—

20 (A) impose export controls with respect to 

21 Cuba under section 5, 6(j), 6(l), or 6(m) of the 

22 Export Administration Act of 1979, and 

23 (B) exercise the authorities he has under 

24 the International Emergency Economic Powers 

25 Act with respect to Cuba pursuant to a declara-
3

•HR 1698 IH 

1 tion of national emergency required by that Act 

2 that is made on account of an unusual and ex3 traordinary threat, that did not exist before the 

4 enactment of this Act, to the national security, 

5 foreign policy, or economy of the United States. 

6 (d) CUBAN DEMOCRACY ACT.—The Cuban Democ7 racy Act of 1992 (22 U.S.C. 6001 et seq.) is repealed. 

8 (e) REPEAL OF CUBAN LIBERTY AND DEMOCRATIC

9 SOLIDARITY (LIBERTAD) ACT OF 1996.—

10 (1) REPEAL.—The Cuban Liberty and Demo11 cratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 is re12 pealed. 

13 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(A) Section 

14 498A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 

15 U.S.C. 2295a) is amended—

16 (i) in subsection (a)(11) by striking ‘‘and 

17 intelligence facilities, including the military and 

18 intelligence facilities at Lourdes and Cien19 fuegos,’’ and inserting ‘‘facilities,’’; 

20 (ii) in subsection (b)—

21 (I) in paragraph (4) by adding ‘‘and’’ 

22 after the semicolon; 

23 (II) by striking paragraph (5); and 

24 (III) by redesignating paragraph (6) 

25 as paragraph (5); and 
4

•HR 1698 IH 

1 (iii) by striking subsection (d).

2 (B) Section 498B(k) of the Foreign Assistance 

3 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2295b(k)) is amended by 

4 striking paragraphs (3) and (4). 

5 (C) Section 1611 of title 28, United States 

6 Code, is amended by striking subsection (c). 

7 (D) Sections 514 and 515 of the International 

8 Claims Settlement Act of 1949 (22 U.S.C. 1643l 

9 and 1643m) are repealed. 

10 (f) TRADE SANCTIONS REFORM AND EXPORT EN11 HANCEMENT ACT OF 2000.—The Trade Sanctions Re12 form and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 

13 7201 et seq.) is amended—

14 (1) in section 906(a)(1)—

15 (A) by striking ‘‘to Cuba or’’; and 

16 (B) by inserting ‘‘(other than Cuba)’’ after 

17 ‘‘to the government of a country’’; 

18 (2) in section 908—

19 (A) by striking subsection (b); 

20 (B) in subsection (a)—

21 (i) by striking ‘‘PROHIBITION’’ and all 

22 that follows through ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—

23 ’’ and inserting ‘‘IN GENERAL.—’’; 

24 (ii) by striking ‘‘for exports to Cuba 

25 or’’; 
5

•HR 1698 IH 

1 (iii) by striking paragraph (2); and 

2 (iv) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

3 subsection (b) (and conforming the margin 

4 accordingly); and 

5 (C) in subsection (b) (as redesignated), by 

6 striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub7 section (a)’’; 

8 (3) by striking section 909; 

9 (4) by striking section 910; and 

10 (5) by redesignating section 911 as section 909. 

11 (g) REPEAL OF PROHIBITION ON TRANSACTIONS OR

12 PAYMENTS WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN UNITED STATES

13 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.—Section 211 of the Depart14 ment of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations 

15 Act, 1999 (as contained in section 101(b) of division A 

16 of Public Law 105–277; 112 Stat. 2681–88) is repealed. 

17 (h) TERMINATION OF DENIAL OF FOREIGN TAX

18 CREDIT WITH RESPECT TO CUBA.—Subparagraph (A) of 

19 section 901(j)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

20 (relating to denial of foreign tax credit, etc., with respect

21 to certain foreign countries) is amended by adding at the 

22 end thereof the following new flush sentence: ‘‘Notwith23 standing the preceding sentence, this subsection shall not 

24 apply to Cuba after the date which is 60 days after the 

25 date of the enactment of this sentence.’’. 
6

•HR 1698 IH 

1 (i) SUGAR QUOTA PROHIBITION UNDER FOOD SECU2 RITY ACT OF 1985.—Section 902(c) of the Food Security 

3 Act of 1985 is repealed. 

4 SEC. 2. TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT AND FACILI5 TIES. 

6 Any common carrier within the meaning of section 

7 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153) 

8 is authorized to install, maintain, and repair telecommuni9 cations equipment and facilities in Cuba, and otherwise 

10 provide telecommunications services between the United 

11 States and Cuba. The authority of this section includes 

12 the authority to upgrade facilities and equipment. 

13 SEC. 3. TRAVEL. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Travel to and from Cuba by indi15 viduals who are citizens or residents of the United States, 

16 and any transactions ordinarily incident to such travel, 

17 may not be regulated or prohibited if such travel would 

18 be lawful in the United States. 

19 (b) TRANSACTIONS INCIDENT TO TRAVEL.—Any 

20 transactions ordinarily incident to travel which may not 

21 be regulated or prohibited under subsection (a) include, 

22 but are not limited to—

23 (1) transactions ordinarily incident to travel or 

24 maintenance in Cuba; and 
7

•HR 1698 IH 

1 (2) normal banking transactions involving for2 eign currency drafts, traveler’s checks, or other ne3 gotiable instruments incident to such travel. 

4 SEC. 4. DIRECT MAIL DELIVERY TO CUBA. 

5 The United States Postal Service shall take such ac6 tions as are necessary to provide direct mail service to and 

7 from Cuba, including, in the absence of common carrier 

8 service between the 2 countries, the use of charter pro9 viders. 

10 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL ASSISTANCE. 

11 (a) PROHIBITION.—No Federal funds may be used 

12 to provide any assistance to Cuba. 

13 (b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of subsection (a)—

14 (1) the term ‘‘assistance to Cuba’’ includes, but 

15 is not limited to—

16 (A) assistance to or for the benefit of Cuba 

17 that is provided by grant, commercial sale, 

18 guaranty, or insurance, or by any other means 

19 on terms more favorable than that generally 

20 available in the applicable market, whether in 

21 the form of a loan, lease, credit, or a reserve, 

22 including, but not limited to—

23 (i) insurance, financing, extensions of 

24 credit, or participation in extensions of 

25 credit provided by the Export-Import Bank 
8

•HR 1698 IH 

1 of the United States for exports to or im2 ports from Cuba; 

3 (ii) insurance, reinsurance, financing, 

4 or equity investment provided by the Over5 seas Private Investment Corporation for 

6 projects in Cuba; 

7 (iii) any export credit, credit guar8 anty, bonus, or other payment carried out 

9 through the Commodity Credit Corporation 

10 in support of export sales of agricultural 

11 commodities to Cuba; 

12 (iv) assistance under any provision of 

13 the Agricultural Trade and Development 

14 Assistance Act of 1954 to, or in support 

15 of, export sales of agricultural commodities 

16 to, Cuba; 

17 (v) financing or other assistance 

18 under the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 

19 in support of export sales of agricultural 

20 commodities to Cuba; and 

21 (vi) any loan, credit, or other financ22 ing provided by any department or agency 

23 of the United States to any person for the 

24 purpose of financing transactions involving 

25 confiscated property (within the meaning 
9

•HR 1698 IH 

1 of section 4 of the Cuban Liberty and 

2 Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act 

3 of 1996), as in effect on the day before the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act); and 

5 (B) an exchange, reduction, or forgiveness 

6 of Cuban debt owed in return for a grant of an 

7 equity interest in a property, investment, or op8 eration of the Government of Cuba (including 

9 the government of any political subdivision of 

10 Cuba, and any agency or instrumentality of the 

11 Government of Cuba) or of a Cuban national; 

12 and 

13 (2) the term ‘‘agency or instrumentality of the 

14 Government of Cuba’’ means an agency or instru15 mentality of a foreign state as defined in section 

16 1603(b) of title 28, United States Code, with each 

17 reference in such section to ‘‘a foreign state’’ 

18 deemed to be a reference to Cuba. 

19 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

20 This Act shall take effect 60 days after the date of 

21 the enactment of this Act.

Æ