I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3960 

To allow United States citizens and legal residents to travel between the 

United States and Cuba. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2019 

Mr. MCGOVERN (for himself, Mr. EMMER, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. 

CRAWFORD, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. 

RESCHENTHALER, Mr. BEYER, and Mr. RIGGLEMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To allow United States citizens and legal residents to travel 

between the United States and Cuba. 

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 ‘‘Freedom for Ameri5 cans to Travel to Cuba Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) During the more than 50 years since the 

2 United States initially restricted travel by Americans 

3 to Cuba— 

4 (A) the Soviet Union has dissolved into a 

5 dozen independent states; and 

6 (B) the United States has resumed diplo7 matic and trade relations with the communist 

8 governments of China and of Vietnam. 

9 (2) There are no such restrictions on travel by 

10 Americans to any other country except North Korea. 

11 (3) While restrictions on travel by Cuban Amer12 icans were lifted in 2009, continuing restrictions on, 

13 and requirements of licenses for, travel by non14 Cuban Americans are discriminatory and without 

15 justification. 

16 (4) Since 2013, the Government of Cuba— 

17 (A) has ended restrictions on foreign travel 

18 for most Cubans; 

19 (B) has permitted Cubans to buy and sell 

20 real property; 

21 (C) has permitted hundreds of thousands 

22 of Cubans to work as private entrepreneurs; 

23 and 

24 (D) has greatly expanded public access to 

25 the Internet. 


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1 (5) Restrictions on travel by Americans to Cuba 

2 have resulted in a significant loss of revenue for pri3 vate Airbnb hosts, restaurants, taxi drivers, and 

4 other small businesses in Cuba. 

5 (6) Many companies in Europe, Canada, Rus6 sia, and other countries regularly send their rep7 resentatives to Cuba, while American companies can8 not do so, preventing American companies, including 

9 banks and credit card companies, from providing 

10 services to Americans who travel to Cuba under a 

11 general license issued by the Office of Foreign As12 sets Control of the Department of the Treasury. 

13 (7) A majority of Americans from every region 

14 of the country and in both major political parties 

15 consistently support normalizing travel by Americans 

16 to Cuba. 

17 (8) Ending restrictions on travel to Cuba, and 

18 transactions incident to such travel would— 

19 (A) pose no threat to the security of the 

20 United States; 

21 (B) advance United States national inter22 ests in the hemisphere; and 

23 (C) foster free enterprise and democracy in 

24 Cuba. 


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1 SEC. 3. TRAVEL TO CUBA. 

2 Subject to section 4, on or after the date of the enact3 ment of this Act— 

4 (1) the President may not prohibit or otherwise 

5 restrict travel to or from Cuba by United States citi6 zens or legal residents, or any of the transactions in7 cident to such travel, including banking transactions; 

8 and 

9 (2) any law, regulation, or policy in effect on 

10 such date of enactment that prohibits or otherwise 

11 restricts travel to or from Cuba by United States 

12 citizens or legal residents, or any of the transactions 

13 incident to such travel, including banking trans14 actions, shall cease to have any force or effect. 

15 SEC. 4. EXCEPTIONS. 

16 (a) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.—Nothing in this Act may 

17 be construed to limit the authority of the President to re18 strict travel described in section 3, or any transaction inci19 dent to such travel, on a case-by-case basis, if the Presi20 dent determines that such restriction— 

21 (1) is necessary to protect the national security 

22 of the United States; or 

23 (2) is necessary to protect the health or safety 

24 of United States citizens or legal residents resulting 

25 from traveling to or from Cuba; or 


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1 (b) WRITTEN JUSTIFICATION.—Not later than 5 

2 days before restricting travel described in section 3 or a 

3 transaction incident to such travel, pursuant to the au4 thority referred to in subsection (a), the President shall 

5 submit a written justification for such restriction to— 

6 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

7 Senate; 

8 (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

9 Senate; 

10 (3) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

11 House of Representatives; and 

12 (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

13 House of Representatives. 

14 SEC. 5. INAPPLICABILITY. 

15 The provisions of this Act shall apply notwith16 standing section 102(h) of the Cuban Liberty and Demo17 cratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (22 U.S.C. 

18 6032(h)) and section 910(b) of the Trade Sanctions Re19 form and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 

20 7209(b)). 

Æ 


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