I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2937 
To strengthen support for the Cuban people and prohibit financial 
transactions with the Cuban military, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 25, 2015 
Mr. NUNES (for himself, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. DIAZ- 
BALART, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. CURBELO of Florida, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. 
BOUSTANY, Mr. COLE, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. DESANTIS, Mr. HARDY, Mr. 
HOLDING, Mr. YOUNG of Iowa, Ms. JENKINS of Kansas, Mr. KING of 
New York, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. MARINO, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr. 
MILLER of Florida, Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, Mr. MURPHY of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. POMPEO, Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia, Mr. RIGELL, Mr. 
SALMON, Mr. SIRES, Mr. STEWART, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. UPTON, Mr. 
VALADAO, Mrs. MIMI WALTERS of California, and Mr. WILSON of South 
Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Financial 
Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To strengthen support for the Cuban people and prohibit 
financial transactions with the Cuban military, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Cuban Military Transparency Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Statement of policy. 
Sec. 4. Prohibitions on financial transactions with the Ministry of the Revolu-
tionary Armed Forces or the Ministry of the Interior of Cuba. 
Sec. 5. Inclusion in Department of State rewards program of rewards for infor-
mation leading to the arrest or conviction of individuals respon-
sible for the February 24, 1996, attack on United States air-
craft. 
Sec. 6. Coordination with INTERPOL. 
Sec. 7. Report on the role of the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces 
and the Ministry of the Interior of Cuba in the economy and 
foreign relationships of Cuba. 
Sec. 8. Report on use and ownership of confiscated property. 
Sec. 9. Termination. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) In his December 17, 2014, announcement 
to pursue the normalization of relations with Cuba, 
President Barack Obama stated, ‘‘I believe that 
more resources should be able to reach the Cuban 
people. So we’re significantly increasing the amount 
of money that can be sent to Cuba, and removing 
limits on remittances that support humanitarian 
projects, the Cuban people, and the emerging Cuban 
private sector.’’. 
(2) In his January 14, 2011, comments on the 
easing of travel sanctions, President Barack Obama 
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also stated, ‘‘These measures will increase people-to- 
people contact; support civil society in Cuba; en-
hance the free flow of information to, from, and 
among the Cuban people; and help promote their 
independence from Cuban authorities.’’. 
(3) Article 18 of the 1976 Constitution of Cuba 
reads, ‘‘The State directs and controls foreign com-
merce.’’. 
(4) The largest company in Cuba is the Grupo 
Gaesa (Grupo de Administracio´n Empresarial S.A.), 
founded by General Raul Castro Ruz in the 1990s, 
controlled and operated by the Cuban military, 
which oversees all investments, and run by General 
Raul Castro’s son-in-law, General Luis Alberto 
Rodriguez Lopez-Callejas. 
(5) On June 3, 2015, the United States House 
of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in support 
of a provision prohibiting exports to the Cuban mili-
tary and security services in the Fiscal Year 2016 
Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations bill 
(H.R. 2578), with a recorded vote of 153 to 273 in 
opposition to House Amendment 308 to strike that 
provision. 
(6) The Cuban military, through its tourism 
conglomerates, is currently operating resort facilities 
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in properties confiscated from United States citi-
zens. 
(7) In 2003, a United States grand jury in-
dicted General Ruben Martinez Puente, head of the 
Cuban Air Force, and two Cuban Air Force pilots, 
Col. Lorenzo Alberto Perez-Perez and Francisco 
Perez-Perez, on four counts of murder, two counts 
of destruction of aircraft, and one count of con-
spiracy to kill United States nationals for their roles 
in the February 24, 1996, attack by Cuban military 
jets over international waters on two United States 
civilian Cessna planes operated by the Brothers To 
The Rescue humanitarian organization. 
(8) The 2003 United States indictment against 
Cuban military officials is the only outstanding in-
dictment against senior military officials from a 
country designated by the United States as a ‘‘state 
sponsor of terrorism’’ for the murder of United 
States nationals. 
(9) In a December 17, 2014, article in Politico, 
United States Representative James McGovern (D– 
MA) stated that General Raul Castro admitted to 
giving the order to shoot down the United States ci-
vilian planes that resulted in the murder of those 
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United States nationals in 1996. ‘‘I gave the order. 
I’m the one responsible.’’, Castro told McGovern. 
(10) One of the Cuban spies exchanged in the 
December 17, 2014, deal by President Obama with 
the Cuban regime was Gerardo Hernandez, who was 
serving a life sentence for murder conspiracy in the 
deaths of three United States citizens, Armando 
Alejandre, Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Pena, and 
permanent resident of the United States, Pablo Mo-
rales. 
(11) According to a July 16, 2013, article in 
The New York Times, the Cuban military played a 
central role in the 2013 trafficking incident that in-
volved more than 240 metric tons of heavy weapons, 
including fully fueled MiG fighter jets, missiles, and 
air defense systems, to North Korea. 
(12) A United Nations panel of experts found 
that the trafficking incident described in paragraph 
(11) violated United Nations Security Council sanc-
tions and was the largest weapons cache ever inter-
cepted being transported to or from North Korea. 
The Cuban military refused to cooperate with 
United Nations investigators. 
(13) According to a March 5, 2015, article in 
The Washington Times, in February 2015, the Co-
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lombian authorities intercepted a Chinese-flagged 
vessel carrying a clandestine shipment of war mate-
riel destined for the Cuban military, via one of its 
shadow companies, TecnoImport S.A. The shipment, 
disguised as grain products, included 99 rockets, 
3,000 cannon shells, 100 tons of military-grade dy-
namite and 2,600,000 detonators. 
(14) According to a March 25, 2014, article in 
The New York Times and an April 15, 2014, Finan-
cial Times article, the Cuban military has provided 
military intelligence, weapons training, strategic 
planning, and security logistics to the military and 
security forces of Venezuela, which has contributed 
to the subversion of democratic institutions and vio-
lent suppression of peaceful protests in Venezuela. 
(15) The Cuba 2013 Human Rights Report 
prepared by the Department of State states that 
‘‘the military maintained effective control over the 
security forces, which committed human rights 
abuses against civil rights activists and other citi-
zens alike.’’. 
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States— 
(1) to support the efforts of the people of Cuba 
to promote the establishment of basic freedoms in 
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Cuba, including a democratic political system in 
which the military and other security forces are 
under the control of democratically elected civilian 
leaders; 
(2) to ensure that legal travel and trade with 
Cuba by citizens and residents of the United States 
does not serve to enrich or empower the military or 
other security forces of Cuba run by the Castro fam-
ily; 
(3) to support the emergence of a government 
in Cuba that does not oppress the people of Cuba 
and does not use its military or other security forces 
to persecute, intimidate, arrest, imprison, or assas-
sinate dissidents; 
(4) to bring to justice in the United States the 
officials of Cuba involved in the February 24, 1996, 
attack of two United States civilian Cessna aircraft 
by Cuban military jets over international waters; and 
(5) to counter the efforts of Cuba, through mili-
tary and other assistance, to promote repression 
elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere, especially in 
Venezuela. 
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SEC. 4. PROHIBITIONS ON FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS WITH 
THE MINISTRY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY 
ARMED FORCES OR THE MINISTRY OF THE 
INTERIOR OF CUBA. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 
(b), beginning on the date that is 30 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, and notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, a United States person shall not 
engage in any financial transaction with, or transfer of 
funds to, any of the following: 
(1) The Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed 
Forces of Cuba, the Ministry of the Interior of 
Cuba, or any subdivision of either such Ministry. 
(2) Any agency, instrumentality, or other entity 
that is operated or controlled by an entity specified 
in paragraph (1). 
(3) Any agency, instrumentality, or other entity 
owned by an entity specified in paragraph (1) in a 
percentage share exceeding 25 percent. 
(4) An individual who is a senior member of the 
Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba 
or the Ministry of the Interior of Cuba. 
(5) Any agency, instrumentality, or other entity 
that is operated or controlled by an individual speci-
fied in paragraph (4). 
(6) Any individual or entity— 
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(A) for the purpose of avoiding a financial 
transaction with, or transfer of funds to, an in-
dividual or entity specified in any of paragraphs 
(1) through (5); or 
(B) for the benefit of an individual or enti-
ty specified in any of paragraphs (1) through 
(5). 
(b) EXCEPTIONS.—The prohibitions on financial 
transactions and transfers of funds under subsection (a) 
shall not apply with respect to— 
(1) the sale of agricultural commodities, medi-
cines, and medical devices sold to Cuba consistent 
with the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export En-
hancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.); 
(2) a remittance to an immediate family mem-
ber; 
(3) payments in furtherance of the lease agree-
ment, or other financial transactions necessary for 
maintenance and improvements of the military base 
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including any adjacent 
areas under the control or possession of the United 
States; 
(4) assistance or support in furtherance of de-
mocracy-building efforts for Cuba described in sec-
tion 109 of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Soli-
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