Title: Freedom for Americans to Travel to Cuba Act of 2017
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Freedom for Americans to Travel to Cuba Act of 2017
This bill states that: (1) the President may not prohibit or otherwise restrict travel to or from Cuba by U.S. citizens or legal residents, or any of the transactions incident to such travel, including banking transactions; and (2) any law, regulation, or policy in effect on the date of enactment of this bill that prohibits or otherwise restricts such travel or transactions incident to such travel shall cease to have any force or effect.
Nothing in this bill may be construed to limit the President's authority to restrict such travel or any transaction incident to such travel if the President determines that such restriction is necessary to protect: (1) U.S. national security, or (2) the health or safety of U.S. citizens or legal residents resulting from traveling to or from Cuba.
Prior to restricting travel to Cuba, the President shall submit a written justification to Congress.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1287 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1287

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 25, 2017

Mr. Flake (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Moran, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Enzi, Mr. 
  Udall, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. Collins, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. 
  Merkley, Mr. Reed, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Coons, Mr. Cardin, 
Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Heitkamp, Mr. Brown, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. 
 Hirono, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Markey, Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. Paul, Mr. Wyden, 
Mr. Kaine, Mr. King, Mr. Franken, Ms. Warren, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Heinrich, 
Mr. Sanders, Mr. Tester, Mr. Warner, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Blumenthal, Mrs. 
  Murray, Mr. Schumer, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Donnelly, Mr. 
   Cassidy, Mr. Peters, Mr. Carper, Mr. Manchin, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. 
 Harris, Mr. Casey, Mr. Crapo, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Daines, Ms. Hassan, 
and Mr. Heller) 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.

    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 ``Freedom for Americans to Travel to 
Cuba Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. TRAVEL TO CUBA.

    Subject to section 3, on or after the date of the enactment of this 
Act--
            (1) the President may not prohibit or otherwise restrict 
        travel to or from Cuba by United States citizens or legal 
        residents, or any of the transactions incident to such travel, 
        including banking transactions; and
            (2) any law, regulation, or policy in effect on such date 
        of enactment that prohibits or otherwise restricts travel to or 
        from Cuba by United States citizens or legal residents, or any 
        of the transactions incident to such travel, including banking 
        transactions, shall cease to have any force or effect.

SEC. 3. EXCEPTIONS.

    (a) Savings Provision.--Nothing in this Act may be construed to 
limit the authority of the President to restrict travel described in 
section 2, or any transaction incident to such travel, on a case-by-
case basis, if the President determines that such restriction--
            (1) is necessary to protect the national security of the 
        United States; or
            (2) is necessary to protect the health or safety of United 
        States citizens or legal residents resulting from traveling to 
        or from Cuba.
    (b) Written Justification.--Not later than 7 days before 
restricting travel described in section 2 or a transaction incident to 
such travel, pursuant to the authority referred to in subsection (a), 
the President shall submit a written justification for such restriction 
to--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate;
            (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
            (3) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
        Representatives; and
            (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
        Representatives.

SEC. 4. INAPPLICABILITY.

    The provisions of this Act shall apply notwithstanding section 
102(h) of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 
1996 (22 U.S.C. 6032(h)) and section 910(b) of the Trade Sanctions 
Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7209(b)).
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