II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2303 

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

United States and Cuba. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2019 

Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. 

BOOZMAN, Mr. BROWN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. 

CASEY, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. COONS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. 

ENZI, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. HASSAN, 

Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. JONES, Mr. KAINE, Mr. KING, Ms. 

KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MORAN, 

Mr. MURPHY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. PETERS, Mr. REED, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. 

SCHATZ, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. SMITH, Ms. STABENOW, 

Mr. TESTER, Mr. UDALL, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WARNER, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

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

4 United States initially restricted travel by Americans 

5 to Cuba— 

6 (A) the Soviet Union has dissolved into a 

7 dozen independent states; and 

8 (B) the United States has resumed diplo9 matic and trade relations with the communist 

10 governments of China and of Vietnam. 

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

12 Americans to any other country except North Korea. 

13 (3) While restrictions on travel by Cuban Amer14 icans were lifted in 2009, continuing restrictions on, 

15 and requirements of licenses for, travel by non16 Cuban Americans are discriminatory and without 

17 justification. 

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

19 (A) has ended restrictions on foreign travel 

20 for most Cubans; 

21 (B) has permitted Cubans to buy and sell 

22 real property; 

23 (C) has permitted hundreds of thousands 

24 of Cubans to work as private entrepreneurs; 

25 and 


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1 (D) has greatly expanded public access to 

2 the Internet. 

3 (5) Restrictions on travel by Americans to Cuba 

4 have resulted in a significant loss of revenue for pri5 vate Airbnb hosts, restaurants, taxi drivers, and 

6 other small businesses in Cuba. 

7 (6) Many companies in Europe, Canada, Rus8 sia, and other countries regularly send their rep9 resentatives to Cuba, while American companies can10 not do so, preventing American companies, including 

11 banks and credit card companies, from providing 

12 services to Americans who travel to Cuba under a 

13 general license issued by the Office of Foreign As14 sets Control of the Department of the Treasury. 

15 (7) A majority of Americans from every region 

16 of the country and in both major political parties 

17 consistently support normalizing travel by Americans 

18 to Cuba. 

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

20 transactions incident to such travel would— 

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

22 United States; 

23 (B) advance United States national inter24 ests in the hemisphere; and 


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1 (C) foster free enterprise and democracy in 

2 Cuba. 

3 SEC. 3. TRAVEL TO CUBA. 

4 Subject to section 4, on or after the date of the enact5 ment of this Act— 

6 (1) the President may not prohibit or otherwise 

7 restrict travel to or from Cuba by United States citi8 zens or legal residents, or any of the transactions in9 cident to such travel, including banking transactions; 

10 and 

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

12 such date of enactment that prohibits or otherwise 

13 restricts travel to or from Cuba by United States 

14 citizens or legal residents, or any of the transactions 

15 incident to such travel, including banking trans16 actions, shall cease to have any force or effect. 

17 SEC. 4. EXCEPTIONS. 

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

19 be construed to limit the authority of the President to re20 strict travel described in section 3, or any transaction inci21 dent to such travel, on a case-by-case basis, if the Presi22 dent determines that such restriction— 

23 (1) is necessary to protect the national security 

24 of the United States; or 


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

2 of United States citizens or legal residents resulting 

3 from traveling to or from Cuba. 

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

5 days before restricting travel described in section 3 or a 

6 transaction incident to such travel, pursuant to the au7 thority referred to in subsection (a), the President shall 

8 submit a written justification for such restriction to— 

9 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

10 Senate; 

11 (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

12 Senate; 

13 (3) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

14 House of Representatives; and 

15 (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

16 House of Representatives. 

17 SEC. 5. INAPPLICABILITY. 

18 The provisions of this Act shall apply notwith19 standing section 102(h) of the Cuban Liberty and Demo20 cratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (22 U.S.C. 

21 6032(h)) and section 910(b) of the Trade Sanctions Re22 form and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 

23 7209(b)). 

Æ 


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