...and So the Push for Open American Travel to Cuba Begins....

[E.J.]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news...uba/ar-AA8Jr0l

A bipartisan coalition of eight senators want Americans to make Cuba their next vacation destination. Or at least have that option.

Four Republicans and four Democrats will introduce the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act of 2015 Thursday to end the restrictions on American travel to Cuba. The 50-year travel embargo is still in place, but has been loosened in President Obama’s effort to “normalize” relations with Cuba.

“Since 2009, Cuban-Americans have been able to travel to Cuba without restriction. There is a bipartisan, bicameral interest in extending that right to all Americans,” according to a one-page summary provided to the Loop.

Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) are the original co-sponsors. Reps. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) are introducing a companion bill in the House next week.

Leahy, Durbin, and Whitehouse were among several Democrats to visit Cuba about two weeks ago to discuss Obama’s new policy with the Cuban government.

“The sponsors of the bill believe that the exchange of ideas and values via people-to-people travel can have a far greater, positive impact than the decades-old failed policy of isolation,” according to the summary.

But before any American starts packing a beach bag and clearing the cigar box, the bipartisan support does not mean it will be an easy sell on Capitol Hill.

During their joint interview on CBS News’s “60 Minutes,” Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell both said they disagreed with Obama’s decision to re-establish diplomatic ties with Cuba. McConnell said he expected a “vigorous discussion.”

Though lifting the travel embargo might prove an easier goal than lifting the trade embargo with Cuba.