I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2404 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2019 

Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and 

Means, Energy and Commerce, the Judiciary, Agriculture, and Financial 

Services, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-Cuba 

5 Relations Normalization Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the United States can best support demo9 cratic change and human rights in Cuba through bi10 lateral dialogue with the Cuban government and by 


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1 promoting trade and commerce, travel, communica2 tions, and cultural, academic, and scientific ex3 changes; 

4 (2) extension to Cuba of unconditional normal 

5 trade relations treatment would assist Cuba in devel6 oping its economy based on free market principles 

7 and becoming competitive in the global marketplace; 

8 (3) expanding bilateral trade relations is likely 

9 to promote further progress in Cuba on human 

10 rights and democratic rule and assist Cuba in adopt11 ing regional and world trading rules and principles; 

12 and 

13 (4) Cuba was one of the founding members of 

14 the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 

15 1947 and is an original member of the World Trade 

16 Organization, and extension of unconditional normal 

17 trade relations treatment to Cuba would enable the 

18 United States to avail itself of all rights under the 

19 World Trade Organization with respect to Cuba. 

20 SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF PROVISIONS RESTRICTING TRADE 

21 AND OTHER RELATIONS WITH CUBA. 

22 (a) AUTHORITY FOR EMBARGO AND SUGAR

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

24 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2370(a)) is repealed. 


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1 (b) TRADING WITH THE ENEMY ACT.—The authori2 ties conferred upon the President by section 5(b) of the 

3 Trading With the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. 4305(b)), which 

4 were being exercised with respect to Cuba on July 1, 1977, 

5 as a result of a national emergency declared by the Presi6 dent before that date, and are being exercised on the day 

7 before the effective date of this Act, may not be exercised 

8 on or after such effective date with respect to Cuba. Any 

9 regulations in effect on the day before such effective date 

10 pursuant to the exercise of such authorities shall cease to 

11 be effective on such date. 

12 (c) EXERCISE OF AUTHORITIES UNDER OTHER PRO13 VISIONS OF LAW.— 

14 (1) REMOVAL OF PROHIBITIONS.—Any prohibi15 tion on exports to Cuba that is in effect on the day 

16 before the effective date of this Act under the Ex17 port Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801 

18 et seq.) shall cease to be effective on such effective 

19 date. 

20 (2) AUTHORITY FOR NEW RESTRICTIONS.—The 

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

22 Act— 

23 (A) impose export controls with respect to 

24 Cuba under the Export Control Reform Act of 

25 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801 et seq.); and 


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1 (B) exercise the authorities the President 

2 has under the International Emergency Eco3 nomic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) 

4 with respect to Cuba pursuant to a declaration 

5 of national emergency required by that Act that 

6 is made on account of an unusual and extraor7 dinary threat, that did not exist before the en8 actment of this Act, to the national security, 

9 foreign policy, or economy of the United States. 

10 (d) CUBAN DEMOCRACY ACT.—The Cuban Democ11 racy Act of 1992 (22 U.S.C. 6001 et seq.) is repealed. 

12 (e) REPEAL OF CUBAN LIBERTY AND DEMOCRATIC

13 SOLIDARITY (LIBERTAD) ACT OF 1996.— 

14 (1) REPEAL.—The Cuban Liberty and Demo15 cratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (22 

16 U.S.C. 6021 et seq.) is repealed. 

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

18 498A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 

19 U.S.C. 2295a) is amended— 

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

21 intelligence facilities, including the military and 

22 intelligence facilities at Lourdes and Cien23 fuegos,’’ and inserting ‘‘facilities,’’; 

24 (ii) in subsection (b)— 


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1 (I) in paragraph (4), by adding ‘‘and’’ 

2 after the semicolon; 

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

4 (III) by redesignating paragraph (6) 

5 as paragraph (5); and 

6 (iii) by striking subsection (d). 

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

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

9 striking paragraphs (3) and (4). 

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

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

12 (D) Sections 514 and 515 of the International 

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

14 and 1643m) are repealed. 

15 (f) TRADE SANCTIONS REFORM AND EXPORT EN16 HANCEMENT ACT OF 2000.—The Trade Sanctions Re17 form and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 

18 7201 et seq.) is amended— 

19 (1) in section 906(a)(1) (22 U.S.C. 

20 7205(a)(1))— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘Cuba,’’; and 

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

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

24 (2) in section 908 (22 U.S.C. 7207)— 

25 (A) by striking subsection (b); 


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1 (B) in subsection (a)— 

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

3 that follows through ‘‘(1) IN

4 GENERAL.—’’ and inserting ‘‘IN GEN5 ERAL.—’’; 

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

7 or’’; 

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

9 (iv) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

10 subsection (b) (and conforming the margin 

11 accordingly); and 

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

13 striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub14 section (a)’’; 

15 (3) by striking section 909 (22 U.S.C. 7208); 

16 (4) by striking section 910 (22 U.S.C. 7209); 

17 and 

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

19 (g) REPEAL OF PROHIBITION ON TRANSACTIONS OR

20 PAYMENTS WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN UNITED STATES

21 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.—Section 211 of the Depart22 ment of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations 

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

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


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1 (h) SUGAR QUOTA PROHIBITION UNDER FOOD SE2 CURITY ACT OF 1985.—Section 902(c) of the Food Secu3 rity Act of 1985 is repealed. 

4 SEC. 4. 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. 5. 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 


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

4 SEC. 6. ONGOING DISCUSSIONS WITH CUBA. 

5 (a) CLAIMS ISSUES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall take all 

7 necessary steps to conduct negotiations with the 

8 Government of Cuba for the purpose of settling 

9 claims of nationals of the United States against the 

10 Government of Cuba for the taking of property by 

11 such government. 

12 (2) BASIS OF NEGOTIATIONS.—These negotia13 tions should use as their basis the three bilateral 

14 meetings between the United States and Cuba held 

15 between December 2015 and January 2017. 

16 (b) HUMAN RIGHTS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall take all 

18 necessary steps to engage in bilateral dialogue with 

19 the Government of Cuba for the purpose of securing 

20 the protection of internationally recognized human 

21 rights. 

22 (2) CONTINUATION OF DIALOGUE.—This bilat23 eral dialogue should be a continuation of the dia24 logue between the United States and Cuba initiated 

25 in 2016. 


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1 (c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the terms 

2 ‘‘national of the United States’’ and ‘‘property’’ have the 

3 meanings given those terms in section 502 of the Inter4 national Claims Settlement Act of 1949 (22 U.S.C. 

5 1643a). 

6 SEC. 7. EXTENSION OF NONDISCRIMINATORY TRADE 

7 TREATMENT. 

8 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—It is the sense of the Con10 gress that— 

11 (A) the United States should promote 

12 democratic change and economic reform by nor13 malizing trade relations with Cuba; and 

14 (B) upon the enactment of this Act, it will 

15 no longer be necessary for the United States to 

16 continue to use article XXI of the GATT 1994 

17 with respect to Cuba, understanding that the 

18 President retains full authority to invoke article 

19 XXI of the GATT 1994 and comparable provi20 sions in other Uruguay Round Agreements in 

21 the future in all appropriate circumstances. 

22 (2) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the term 

23 ‘‘GATT 1994’’ and ‘‘Uruguay Round Agreements’’ 

24 have the meanings given those terms in section 2 of 


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1 the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 

2 3501). 

3 (b) EXTENSION OF NONDISCRIMINATORY TREAT4 MENT TO THE PRODUCTS OF CUBA.— 

5 (1) HARMONIZED TARIFF SCHEDULE AMEND6 MENTS.—General note 3(b) of the Harmonized Tar7 iff Schedule of the United States is amended— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘to section 401 of the Tar9 iff Classification Act of 1962,’’; and 

10 (B) by striking ‘‘Cuba’’. 

11 (2) REPEAL OF SECTION 401 OF THE TARIFF

12 CLASSIFICATION ACT OF 1962.—Section 401 of the 

13 Tariff Classification Act of 1962 (76 Stat. 78) is re14 pealed. 

15 (3) TERMINATION OF APPLICATION OF TITLE IV

16 OF THE TRADE ACT OF 1974 TO CUBA.— 

17 (A) EXTENSION OF NONDISCRIMINATORY

18 TREATMENT.—Nondiscriminatory treatment 

19 (normal trade relations treatment) shall apply 

20 to the products of Cuba. 

21 (B) TERMINATION OF APPLICATION OF

22 TITLE IV.—Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 

23 (19 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.) shall cease to apply to 

24 Cuba. 


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1 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and the 

2 amendments and repeal made by this section, shall 

3 apply with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn 

4 from warehouse for consumption, on or after the 

5 15th day after the effective date of this Act. 

6 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The President shall 

7 submit to the Congress, not later than 18 months after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, a report on trade 

9 relations between the United States and Cuba. 

10 SEC. 8. PROHIBITION ON LIMITING ANNUAL REMITTANCES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

12 (b), the Secretary of the Treasury may not limit the 

13 amount of remittances to Cuba that may be made by any 

14 person who is subject to the jurisdiction of the United 

15 States, and the Secretary shall rescind all regulations in 

16 effect on the date of enactment of this Act that so limit 

17 the amount of those remittances. 

18 (b) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub19 section (a) may be construed to prohibit the prosecution 

20 or conviction of any person committing an offense de21 scribed in section 1956 of title 18, United States Code 

22 (relating to the laundering of monetary instruments), or 

23 section 1957 of such title (relating to engaging in mone24 tary transactions in property derived from specific unlaw25 ful activity). 


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1 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

3 take effect 60 days after the date of the enactment of this 

4 Act. 

Æ 


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