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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1388 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1388

To require the President to submit a plan for resolving all outstanding 
   claims relating to property confiscated by the Government of Cuba 
 before taking action to ease restrictions on travel to or trade with 
                     Cuba, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 19, 2015

 Mr. Vitter (for himself and Mr. Rubio) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
                           and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To require the President to submit a plan for resolving all outstanding 
   claims relating to property confiscated by the Government of Cuba 
 before taking action to ease restrictions on travel to or trade with 
                     Cuba, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Cuba Normalization Accountability 
Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Confiscated; confiscation.--The terms ``confiscated'' 
        and ``confiscation'', with respect to property, have the 
        meanings given those terms in section 401 of the Cuban Liberty 
        and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (22 U.S.C. 
        6091).
            (2) Cuban assets control regulations.--The term ``Cuban 
        Assets Control Regulations'' means part 515 of title 31, Code 
        of Federal Regulations.
            (3) Economic embargo of cuba.--The term ``economic embargo 
        of Cuba''--
                    (A) has the meaning given that term in section 4 of 
                the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) 
                Act of 1996 (22 U.S.C. 6023); and
                    (B) includes restrictions on travel and trade 
                imposed with respect to Cuba under the Trade Sanctions 
                Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 
                7201 et seq.).
            (4) Export administration regulations.--The term ``Export 
        Administration Regulations'' means subchapter C of chapter VII 
        of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations.
            (5) United states national.--The term ``United States 
        national'' has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the 
        Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 
        (22 U.S.C. 6023).

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) On December 17, 2014, President Barack Obama announced 
        his plan to revise United States policy with respect to Cuba by 
        promising engagement and to ``normalize relations''.
            (2) The President, through the Department of the Treasury 
        and the Department of Commerce, has issued revisions to the 
        Cuban Assets Control Regulations and the Export Administration 
        Regulations relating to easing restrictions on travel to and 
        trade with Cuba.
            (3) Those revisions have been implemented pursuant to the 
        discretion of the President to modify licensing authorities 
        under the Cuban Assets Control Regulations and the Export 
        Administration Regulations.
            (4) The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) 
        Act of 1996 prohibits the full removal of the economic embargo 
        of Cuba and establishes requirements for discretionary 
        licensing authority including through the following provisions:
                    (A) Section 205(b)(2)(D) of that Act (22 U.S.C. 
                6065(b)(2)(D)), which requires the President to take 
                into account the extent to which the Government of Cuba 
                is ``taking appropriate steps to return to United 
                States citizens (and entities which are 50 percent or 
                more beneficially owned by United States citizens) 
                property taken by the Cuban Government from such 
                citizens and entities on or after January 1, 1959, or 
                to provide equitable compensation to such citizens and 
                entities for such property''.
                    (B) Section 206 of that Act (22 U.S.C. 6066), which 
                sets forth requirements for determining whether a 
                democratically elected government has been established 
                in Cuba and defines such a government as one that ``has 
                made demonstrable progress in returning to United 
                States citizens (and entities which are 50 percent or 
                more beneficially owned by United States citizens) 
                property taken by the Cuban Government from such 
                citizens and entities on or after January 1, 1959, or 
                providing full compensation for such property in 
                accordance with international law standards and 
                practice''.
                    (C) Section 103 of that Act of (22 U.S.C. 6033), 
                which prohibits a United States national or a United 
                States agency from knowingly providing financing for 
                transactions involving any property owned by a United 
                States national that was confiscated by the Government 
                of Cuba.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the United 
States should not further pursue efforts to ease restrictions on travel 
to or trade with Cuba or to otherwise further normalize relations with 
Cuba until--
            (1) the President submits to Congress the plan described in 
        section 3(b);
            (2) all property taken by the Cuban Government from United 
        States nationals on or after January 1, 1959, has been returned 
        to such nationals or full compensation for such property has 
        been property has been provided to such nationals; and
            (3) the Government of Cuba provides secure protection for 
        the internationally recognized human rights of the people of 
        Cuba.

SEC. 4. PLAN FOR RESOLVING OUTSTANDING CLAIMS RELATING TO PROPERTY 
              CONFISCATED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF CUBA.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
President may not take any action to ease restrictions on travel to or 
trade with Cuba under the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, the Export 
Administration Regulations, or any other regulations relating to the 
economic embargo of Cuba before the date on which the President submits 
to Congress the plan described in subsection (b).
    (b) Plan Described.--
            (1) In general.--The plan described in this subsection is a 
        plan of the President for resolving outstanding claims relating 
        to confiscated property to ensure that--
                    (A) all property taken by the Government of Cuba 
                from United States nationals on or after January 1, 
                1959, has been returned to such nationals; or
                    (B) full compensation for such property has been 
                provided to such nationals.
            (2) Assessment relating to certain claims.--The President 
        shall include in the plan described in paragraph (1) an 
        assessment of the effect of planned actions to ease the 
        restrictions described in subsection (a) on claims relating to 
        confiscated property considered by the Foreign Claims 
        Settlement Commission of the United States before the date of 
        the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>
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