Legislation to lift the trade embargo on Cuba has made little headway in Congress, but next week lawmakers will examine the possible benefits – and challenges – of agricultural trade with the island nation.
A hearing is scheduled before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Russell Senate Office Building. It will be chaired by Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, a Republican who has expressed support in the past for opening Cuba to U.S. trade.
“Heretofore we’ve always run into state-owned entities and a brick wall,” Roberts told McClatchy on Tuesday. “Hopefully we can make some progress.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, introduced a bill in February that would end the embargo on trade with Cuba, which was imposed by the Kennedy administration more than 50 years ago and later codified by Congress.
The Freedom to Export to Cuba Act of 2015 has six co-sponsors, including two Republicans – Sens. Mike Enzi of Wyoming and Jeff Flake of Arizona. It has yet to attract broad support, however. The website Govtrack.us gives the bill just a 6 percent chance of passage.
Another bipartisan group of senators, including Roberts’ fellow Kansas Republican, Jerry Moran, has filed a bill to lift all travel restrictions for Americans who want to visit Cuba.
Asked about the likelihood of the Republican-controlled Congress voting to lift the trade embargo, Roberts said it’s too early to tell.
“As Raúl Castro said after he shook hands with the president, ‘This will take a long time,’” Roberts said.
The hearing, the senator said, will help senators “get the facts straight.”
Witnesses are to include farmers and ranchers from Kansas, Arkansas and Minnesota, as well as Michael Scuse, undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other administration officials from the Treasury and Commerce departments.
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