108-792 ) to the FY2005 omnibus appropriations bill ( H.R. The Administration has threatened to veto the measure if it contained provisionsweakening Cuba sanctions. 647 ) to the FY2005 Commerce, Justice, and State appropriations bill, H.R. Political Conditions

Although Cuba has undertaken some limited economic reforms in recent years, politicallythe country remains a hard-line communist state. Legislative Initiatives. H.Res. S.Res. Economic Conditions(10)

With the cutoff of assistance from the former Soviet Union, Cuba experienced severeeconomic deterioration from 1989-1993, although there has been improvement since 1994. Since the early 1960s, U.S. policy toward Cuba has consisted largely of isolating the islandnation through comprehensive economic sanctions. Another component of U.S. policy consists of support measures for the Cuban people, aso-called second track of U.S. policy. There has been considerable reaction to the Administration's June2004 tightening of restrictions for family visits and other categories of travel. Restrictions on Travel and Remittances .) Issues in U.S.-Cuban Relations

		Overall Direction of U.S. Policy

Over the years, although U.S. policymakers have agreed on the overall objective of U.S.policy toward Cuba -- to help bring democracy and respect for human rights to the island -- therehave been several schools of thought about how to achieve that objective. Some advocate a policyof keeping maximum pressure on the Cuban government until reforms are enacted, while continuingcurrent U.S. efforts to support the Cuban people. Others argue for an approach, sometimes referredto as constructive engagement, that would lift some U.S. sanctions that they believe are hurting theCuban people, and move toward engaging Cuba in dialogue. 2494 . 4818 , H.Rept. The House-passed version of the FY2005 Transportation/Treasury appropriations bill, H.R. Several additional initiatives were introduced in the 108th Congress that would have liftedrestrictions in whole or in part on food and medical exports to Cuba, but no action was taken onthese measures. Three broad bills, H.R. In the second session of the 108th Congress, the House-passed version of the FY2005Commerce, Justice, and State appropriations bill, H.R. 4754 , included a provision(Section 801) that would have prohibited funds from being used to implement, administer, or enforcerecent amendments to the Cuba embargo regulations that tightened restrictions on gift parcels andbaggage taken by individuals for travel to Cuba. 5025 , and the Senate Appropriations Committee version of the bill, S. 2806 , had provisions that would have eased Cuba travel sanctions in various ways, but theseprovision were not included in the FY2005 omnibus appropriations measure ( H.R. H.R. Division A, covering agriculture appropriations, dropped the Cuba provision that had beenincluded in the Senate committee version of S. 2803 (Section 776) that would haveeased restrictions on travel to Cuba if it was related to the commercial sale of agricultural andmedical products. 5025 that would have eased Cuba sanctions on family and educational travel andon private commercial sales of agricultural and medical products; and one Senate provision in thecommittee version S. 2806 that would have prohibited funds from administering orenforcing restrictions on Cuba travel. S.Res. S.Res. Modification of Sanctions

H.R. H.R. H.R. H.R. Transportation, Treasury,and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, FY2005. H.R. S. 403 (Baucus). S. 950 (Enzi). S. 2449 (Baucus)/ H.R. H.R.
Cuba under Fidel Castro remains a hard-line communist state with a poor record on humanrights that has deteriorated significantly since 2003. With the cutoff of assistance from the formerSoviet Union, Cuba experienced severe economic deterioration from 1989 to 1993. While there hasbeen some improvement since 1994, as Cuba has implemented limited reforms, the economyremains in poor shape.
Since the early 1960s, U.S. policy toward Cuba has consisted largely of isolating the islandnation through comprehensive economic sanctions. Another component of U.S. policy consists ofsupport measures for the Cuban people, including private humanitarian donations andU.S.-sponsored radio and television broadcasting to Cuba. The Bush Administration has furthertightened restrictions on travel for family visits, other categories of travel, and on sending privatehumanitarian assistance to Cuba. While there appears to be broad agreement on the overall objectiveof U.S. policy toward Cuba -- to help bring democracy and respect for human rights to the island,there are several schools of thought on how to achieve that objective. Some advocate maximumpressure on the Cuban government until reforms are enacted; others argue for lifting some U.S.sanctions that they believe are hurting the Cuban people. Still others call for a swift normalizationof U.S.-Cuban relations.
Several FY2005 appropriations bills had provisions that would have eased Cuba sanctions,but ultimately these provisions were not included in the FY2005 omnibus appropriations measure( H.R. 4818 , H.Rept. 108-792 ). The House-passed version of the FY2005 Commerce,Justice, and State appropriations bill, H.R. 4754 , would have prohibited funds toimplement recent restrictions on gift parcels and on baggage for travelers. The House-passed versionof the FY2005 Transportation/Treasury appropriations bill, H.R. 5025 , had three Cubaprovisions that would have eased sanctions on family and educational travel, and on privatecommercial sales of agricultural and medical products; the Senate committee version of the bill, S. 2806 , would have prohibited funds from administering or enforcing restrictions onCuba travel. The Senate committee version of the FY2005 Agriculture appropriation bill, S. 2803 , would have eased restrictions on travel to Cuba if it was related to thecommercial sale of agricultural and medical products. The Administration had threatened to vetoboth the Transportation/Treasury and Agriculture appropriations measures if they had provisionsweakening Cuba sanctions.
In other action, the 108th Congress demonstrated concern about the poor human rightssituation by approving four resolutions: S.Res. 97 , H.Res. 179 , S.Res. 62 , and S.Res. 328 . Numerous additional legislative initiatives wereintroduced that would have eased sanctions on Cuba, but no action was completed on these bills: H.R. 187 , H.R. 188 , H.R. 1698 , H.R. 2071 , H.R. 3422 , H.R. 4678 , S. 403 , S. 950 , and S. 2449 / H.R. 4457 . Two initiatives, H.R. 3470 and H.R. 3670 , would have tightened sanctions. H.R. 2494 / S. 2002 would have repealed a provision in law that prohibits trademark registration or courts fromconsidering trademark claims if the trademark was used in connection with confiscated assets inCuba; in contrast, H.R. 4225 / S. 2373 would have applied a narrow fix tothe law so that it conformed with a World Trade Organization ruling.