U.S. Senate panel votes to lift Cuba travel ban

The Senate Appropriations Committee has voted to lift a decades-long U.S. ban on travel to Cuba, ending restrictions on U.S. citizens’ travel to Cuba.

According to an article by the Associated Press, the committee voted 18-12, mere days after the U.S. and Cuba formally re-established diplomatic relations following a 50 year estrangement.

The Obama administration issued rules in January to ease travel restrictions to Cuba, including lifting a requirement that travellers obtain a license from the Treasury Department before departure (travellers must instead assert that their trip met certain purposes such as education or travel), and allowing regularly scheduled flights for the first time.

Business sectors – including the hospitality industry – remain blocked from doing business in Cuba, but according to the Associated Press’s story, the panel's votes reflect a growing sentiment to ease the five-decade-plus Cuba trade embargo and travel restrictions to the island, in spite of the fact that the country remains a Communist regime.

The committee also voted to block enforcement of a law prohibiting banks and other U.S. businesses from financing sales of U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba, and to lift restrictions on vessels that have shipped goods to Cuba from returning to the U.S. until six months have passed.

The measure will now move to the full Senate.