Lawmakers to tend US interests under new ties with Cuba

Lawmakers to tend US interests under new ties with Cuba

Washington (AFP) - American lawmakers announced Wednesday the creation
of a group to promote US interests as newly restored US-Cuba relations
evolve.

Twelve lawmakers from both parties did so in a letter to House Speaker
Paul Ryan and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.

The Cuba Working Group in the House of Representatives is to be formally
created on Thursday.

It will push to "advance policy proposals that are in our national
interest in an era in which the US-Cuba relationship is rapidly being
reshaped," the letter said.

Thursday marks the one year anniversary of the announcement by the US
and Cuba that they would restore ties severed during the Cold War. They
actually did so in July.

But the 50-year-old US trade embargo against Cuba remains in force.

Over the past year, the lawmakers said, the United States began a
process to remove restrictions on trade with and travel to Cuba.

But congressional action is needed to lift the remaining commerce and
travel restrictions that still hinder progress, they added.

Restrictions still in place deny Americans the right to travel freely to
Cuba. And trade restrictions place American firms at a competitive
disadvantage and cost the US economy an estimated $2 billion a year in
exports, the letter stated.

"Our goal is to raise the level of understanding inside of Congress for
the need to build a new policy framework for US-Cuban relations," it added.

Source: Lawmakers to tend US interests under new ties with Cuba - Yahoo
News -
http://news.yahoo.com/lawmakers-tend-us-interests-under-ties-cuba-194015781.html;_ylt=AwrC1zFS_XJWTWoAjzPQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBybGY3bmpvBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--