Senators reassured about Cuba policy; spending bill vote expected

[Jimmy2]

These 2 Sentors dont understand that most dont agree with them !!!!!!

BY LESLEY CLARK

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Treasury Department has promised opponents of changes to U.S.-Cuba policy tucked into a giant spending bill that some of the most controversial provisions will result in little change.

The U.S. Senate is expected to vote Tuesday on a $410 billion spending bill that contains provisions that make trade and travel to Cuba easier. The bill offers a general travel license for Americans selling agricultural products to Cuba, lets Cuba pay for goods on arrival and defunds enforcement of family travel restrictions enacted by former President George W. Bush.

Florida senators had vowed to block the bill. But in a letter to Sens. Bill Nelson of Florida and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the provision that would grant a general license for agricultural producers to travel to Cuba would be limited to ``only a narrow class of businesses.''

''Any business using the general license would be required to provide both advance written notice outlining the purpose and scope of the planned travel and, upon return, a report outlining the activities conducted,'' Geithner wrote.

The assurances from Treasury are likely to pave the way toward passage of the $410 billion spending bill that was blocked last week by Nelson, Menendez and other senators opposed to the scope of spending in the bill.

A spokesman for Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., who worked with Menendez to rally opposition to the Cuba changes said Tuesday, ``It appears Treasury is addressing the most egregious of these provisions, fixing the problem.''

Activists who oppose travel restrictions are still unhappy with the bill because it does not make family travel legal.