Accordingly, from 1963 until 1977, travel to Cuba was effectively banned under the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) issued by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to implement the embargo. Among the significant travel-related measures, the Administration authorized travel by general license for all 12 categories of travel to Cuba set forth in the CACR; permitted authorized travelers to use U.S. credit and debit cards; eliminated traveler per diem limits; authorized general license travel for professional media or artistic productions as part of the travel category for those involved in the export, import, or transmission of information or informational materials; and authorized people-to-people educational travel for individuals. With regard to remittances, the Administration initially increased the dollar limits for so-called nonfamily or donative remittances and the amount of remittances that authorized travelers could carry to Cuba. The most significant regulatory changes, issued in November 2017, included the elimination of individual people-to-people travel and restrictions on transactions with companies controlled by the Cuban military, intelligence, or security services or personnel. Easing of Restrictions in 2015 and 2016

Just after the adjournment of the 113 th Congress in December 2014, President Obama announced a major shift in U.S. policy toward Cuba, moving away from a sanctions-based policy toward one of engagement and a normalization of relations. Changes to the Travel Restrictions. Trump Administration Policy

As noted above, the Trump Administration unveiled Cuba policy changes in June 2017 partially rolling back the Obama Administration's engagement with Cuba. The changes included new restrictions on travel and remittances. In November 2017, the Treasury Department's OFAC issued amendments to the CACR, and the State Department took complementary action by issuing a list of almost 180 restricted entities associated with the Cuban military, intelligence, or security services or personnel with which financial transactions that would disproportionately benefit such services or personnel at the expense of the Cuban people or private enterprise in Cuba are prohibited. To the extent not authorized above, U.S. academic institutions and their faculty, staff, and students are authorized to engage in transactions directly incident to the following activities, provided these authorizations take place under the auspices of an organization that is subject to U.S. jurisdiction and that all such travelers be accompanied by an employee, paid consultant, or other representative of the sponsoring organization: (1) participation in a structured educational program in Cuba as part of a course offered for credit by a U.S. graduate or undergraduate degree-granting academic institution that is sponsoring the program; (2) noncommercial academic research in Cuba specifically related to Cuba and for the purpose of obtaining an undergraduate or graduate degree; (3) participation in a formal course of study at a Cuban academic institution that will be accepted for credit toward the student's graduate or undergraduate degree; (4) teaching at a Cuban academic institution related to an academic program at the Cuban institution, provided the individual is regularly employed by a U.S. or other non-Cuban academic institution; (5) sponsorship of a Cuban scholar to teach or engage in other scholarly activity at the sponsoring U.S. academic institution; (6) educational exchanges sponsored by Cuban or U.S. secondary schools involving student participation in a formal course of study or in a structured educational program offered by a secondary school or other academic institution and led by a teacher or other secondary school official; (7) sponsorship or cosponsorship of noncommercial academic seminars, conferences, symposia, and workshops related to Cuba or global issues involving Cuba and attendance at such events by faculty, staff, and students of a participating U.S. academic institution; (8) establishment of academic exchanges and joint noncommercial academic research projects with universities or academic institutions in Cuba; (9) provision of standardized testing services to Cuban nationals; (10) provision of internet-based courses, provided that the course content is at the undergraduate level or below; (11) the organization of, and preparation for, activities described above, by an employee, paid consultant, agent, or other representative of the U.S. sponsoring organization; and (12) the facilitation by a U.S. organization, or by a staff member of that organization, of licensed educational activities in Cuba on behalf of U.S. academic institutions or secondary schools with certain provisions for the U.S. organization (31 C.F.R. People-to-People Travel. In 2009, the President lifted all restrictions on family remittances. Remittances to Religious Organizations. Legislative Initiatives in the 115th Congress

In the 115 th Congress, six bills have been introduced that would lift restrictions on travel to Cuba. 572 (Serrano), the Promoting American Agricultural and Medical Exports to Cuba Act of 2017, would ease certain restrictions on agricultural and medical exports to Cuba and would lift restrictions on travel and prohibit restrictions on travel if such travel would be lawful in the United States. 2966 (Rush), the United States-Cuba Normalization Act of 2017, and S. 1699 (Wyden), the United States-Cuba Trade Act of 2017, would lift the embargo on Cuba by removing provisions of law restricting trade and other financial transactions with Cuba, including restrictions on travel, and would prohibit restrictions on travel if such travel would be lawful in the United States. (Both H.R. 2966 and S. 1699 also would prohibit restrictions on U.S. remittances to Cuba.) The 115 th Congress also took legislative action related to concerns about Cuba's airport security. In early October 2018, Congress completed action on the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, signed into law October 6, 2018, as P.L. 115-254 ( H.R. 302 ), which includes a provision in Section 1957 requiring the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to provide Congress a briefing on certain aspects of security measures at airports in Cuba that have air service to the United States. (The language of the provision is similar, although not identical, to a provision in H.R. 3328 [Katko], the Cuban Airport Security Act of 2017, approved by the House in October 2017.) For more comprehensive information on legislative initiatives on Cuba in the 115 th Congress, see CRS Report R44822, Cuba: U.S. Policy in the 115th Congress . Appendix A. The new regulations also further restricted sending cash remittances to Cuba. 201 5 —As part of President Obama's new policy approach toward Cuba, OFAC amended the embargo regulations, effective January 16, 2015, that significantly eased restrictions on travel and also eased restrictions on remittances. Effective October 17, 2016, OFAC amended the CACR to remove the value limit for Cuban products, including alcohol and tobacco, that U.S. travelers may bring back to the United States from Cuba or from third countries as accompanied baggage for personal use. Appendix B. 214 (Serrano), H.R. Three bills would have lifted the overall embargo, including restrictions on travel and remittances: H.R. Three bills would have focused solely on prohibiting restrictions on travel to Cuba: H.R. 664 (Sanford), and S. 299 (Flake).
Restrictions on travel and remittances to Cuba have constituted a key and often contentious component in U.S. efforts to isolate Cuba's communist government since the early 1960s. Such restrictions are part of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR), the overall embargo regulations administered by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Various Administrations have eased and tightened the restrictions over the years as U.S. policy toward Cuba has changed.
The Obama Administration lifted all restrictions on family travel and remittances in 2009. In 2011, the Administration eased restrictions on other types of travel, including travel related to religious, educational, and people-to-people exchanges, and allowed any U.S. person to send remittances to individuals in Cuba. As part of President Obama's major shift in U.S. policy toward Cuba in December 2014, which moved the U.S. approach away from a sanctions-based policy toward one of engagement, the Administration took actions that considerably eased restrictions on nonfamily travel and remittances. In 2015 and 2016, OFAC amended the embargo regulations five times to implement the new policy. It initially authorized travel by general license for all 12 categories of travel set forth in the CACR; eliminated traveler per diem limits; increased the amount of nonfamily remittances; and permitted other types of remittances. OFAC subsequently removed dollar limits for donative remittances to Cuban nationals; authorized people-to-people educational travel for individuals; and removed value limits for the importation of Cuban products, including alcohol and tobacco products, by U.S. travelers as accompanied baggage for personal use.
In June 2017, the Trump Administration announced a partial rollback of U.S. engagement toward Cuba that included the elimination of individual people-to-people travel and restrictions on financial transactions with companies controlled by the Cuban military, intelligence, or security services or personnel. To implement the policy changes, OFAC amended the embargo regulations in November 2017, and the State Department took complementary action by issuing a list of restricted entities, including more than 80 hotels.
Legislative Initiatives
In the 115th Congress, six bills have been introduced that would lift all restrictions on travel to Cuba. H.R. 351 (Sanford) and S. 1287 (Flake) would focus solely on prohibiting restrictions on travel to Cuba. H.R. 572 (Serrano) would ease certain restrictions on agricultural and medical exports to Cuba and also would lift restrictions on travel to Cuba. H.R. 574 (Serrano), H.R. 2966 (Rush), and S. 1699 (Wyden) would lift the embargo on Cuba by removing provisions of law restricting trade and other financial transactions with Cuba, including restrictions on travel; both H.R. 2966 and S. 1699 also would prohibit restrictions on remittances.
The 115th Congress also took legislative action in October 2018 related to concerns about Cuba's airport security. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, P.L. 115-254, signed into law October 6, 2018, includes a provision requiring the Transportation Security Administration to brief Congress on certain aspects of security measures at Cuban airports that have air service to the United States and to take action to more reliably track air charter operations between the United States and Cuba. Some of the language in the provision is similar, although not identical, to a provision in H.R. 3328 (Katko), the Cuban Airport Security Act of 2017, approved by the House in October 2017; an identical bill, S. 2023 (Rubio), was introduced in the Senate in October 2017.
This report examines developments in U.S. policy restricting travel and remittances to Cuba, current permissible travel and remittances, enforcement of the travel restrictions, and debate on lifting the travel restrictions. Appendix A provides a chronology of major actions taken on travel restrictions from 1962 through 2018. Appendix B provides a history of legislative action related to the restrictions on travel and remittances to Cuba from 1999 through 2016.
For further information on Cuba from CRS, see CRS Report R44822, Cuba: U.S. Policy in the 115th Congress and CRS In Focus IF10045, Cuba: U.S. Policy Overview.