Legislation
Cuba-related legislation pending in the U.S. Congress
General Information
Click here to find which House district you are in (i.e., which Representative “represents” you). Once you do, you can click on the name of your representative to get to their web page which will have some method of contacting them. Few if any allow you to simply email them; most require you to fill in a form online.
None of the bills below are up for a vote at this time. What is required to do that is to convince enough members of Congress (Representatives and Senators) to become “sponsors” of the bill, which, even if they do nothing else to promote the bill, more or less commits them to actually voting for it. Our task right now is to contact our own Representatives and Senators and tell them we want them to become sponsors; if they already are sponsors, thanking them for doing so may encourage them to do a little more to promote the bill. You can contact them about one bill at a time, or all of the bills at the same time.
Within each bill below, you can click on the number of the bill to read it in detail, or just click on the “Cosponsors” link to see who is already a cosponsor of the bill (you can filter the results by state so you’ll only have to read through the ones in your state). Once you do that, you’ll know whether you have to convince your representative to become a cosponsor, or to thank them for already being one.
Of course, this is not the only task required to get these bills passed and U.S. policy towards Cuba changed. Talking to people on a one-on-one basis, holding public forums, writing letters to the editor, and more are always necessary. But the more awareness we can create about the specific changes embodied in existing pending legislation, the greater the chance we will see those changes made.
Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act of 2015
The President may not prohibit or otherwise regulate travel to or from Cuba by U.S. citizens or legal residents, or any of the transactions incident to such travel, including banking transactions
Cosponsors (122)
Cosponsors (46)
Freedom to Export to Cuba Act of 2015
This act is actually misnamed, because it repeals all laws restricting trade with Cuba, which includes not only exports but imports as well.
Cosponsors (11)
Cosponsors (24)
S 1543 (seems to be identical to S 491)
Cosponsors (3)
Free Trade with Cuba Act
This bill seems to legalize only exports to Cuba (not imports), and makes into permanent law many of the actions already taken by the Obama administration, e.g., permitting direct mail between the U.S. and Cuba, allowing U.S. telecoms to provide service to Cuba. It also repeals the travel ban.
Cosponsors (32)
Stop Wasting Taxpayer Money on Cuba Broadcasting Act
Puts an end to Radio/TV Marti.
Cosponsors (4)
There is no corresponding Senate bill, so what is needed for this bill is not just to find more cosponsors for the House bill, but to find a sponsor for a companion Senate bill.
Repeal the Cuba Adjustment Act
Repeals the Cuban Adjustment Act which created the “wet-foot/dry-foot” policy which provides automatic permanent residence status to any Cuban who sets foot in the United States.
Cosponsors (12)
There is no corresponding Senate bill, so what is needed for this bill is not just to find more cosponsors for the House bill, but to find a sponsor for a companion Senate bill.
Return Guantánamo to Cuba Act
Just kidding. There is no such bill.