International Trade Law News

Published by Jacobson Burton Kelley PLLC

As expected, on October 19, 2005 Senator Dorgan (D-ND) introduced an amendment to H.R. 3058, the fiscal year 2006 appropriations bill for the Departments of Transportation, Treasury and Housing and Urban Development, that would prohibit funding to the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) that would be used to enforce travel-related sanctions on Cuba. The text of the amendment (amendment number 2133), which was co-sponsored by Senators Craig, Enzi and Baucus read as follows:

The amendment read as follows:

"(Purpose: To restrict enforcement of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations with respect to travel to Cuba)

At the appropriate place in the bill, insert the following:

SEC. __. (a) None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to administer or enforce part 515 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations (the Cuban Assets Control Regulations) with respect to any travel or travel-related transaction.
(b) The limitation established in subsection (a) shall not apply to--
(1) the administration of general or specific licenses for travel or travel-related transactions;
(2) section 515.204, 515.206, 515.332, 515.536, 515.544, 515.547, 515.560(c)(3), 515.569, 515.571, or 515.803 of such part 515; or
(3) transactions in relation to any business travel covered by section 515.560(g) of such part 515."

In a bizarre series of events, Senator Dorgan withdrew his Cuba travel amendment yesterday after an unrelated amendment (known as a secod-degree amendment) dealing with domestic abortion issues was introduced by Senator Ensign (amendment 2153). In announcing his withdrawal of his amendment on the Senate Floor, Senator Dorgan stated:

We will change [the Cuba travel policy] one day, and there are sufficient votes in the Senate to change it. But because there is now a second-degree amendment dealing with abortion attached to the amendment, I will withdraw the amendment this afternoon and simply tell my colleague who offered this that he will have delayed this a bit. But inevitably, I and my colleagues will come to the floor. We will have a sufficient opportunity to prohibit this kind of legitimate but certainly strange mischief with a second-degree amendment on abortion attached to a Cuba travel amendment. It is going to happen. We are going to vote on this and we will, as we have in the past, vote to eliminate the restriction of the American people's right to travel.

I know why this is happening. This is all about politics. It is about politics in Florida and politics in New Jersey and perhaps a couple other areas, but mostly Florida and New Jersey. It is reaching out to those people who block the vote because the tougher you sound on Cuba, the better for them. So the President, about 3 years ago, decided to tighten it up even further, shut it down. Family vacations, family opportunities to interact, to send money home, he has tightened it all down. . . .

I wanted to explain as I withdraw this amendment for the moment why I am forced to withdraw it: because the majority slaps an abortion amendment on an amendment dealing with the American people's right to travel. It is unbelievable. It is within the rules, but still unbelievable.

Those who have gained a few days respite on this will not apparently have to vote today when I withdraw the amendment, but they will vote. When they vote, the Senate will approve the underlying amendment that I, Senator Craig, Senator Enzi, and Senator Baucus have offered.

Labels: OFAC