DeLauro Hosts Briefing On Travel and Business Regulations with Cuba

NEW HAVEN, CT—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) today hosted a briefing for business representatives from across Connecticut’s Third Congressional District on updated travel and business regulations with Cuba. Senior officials from the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments spoke about changes in those areas since President Obama’s December announcement.

“Since President Obama’s historic announcement on Cuba, I have received a flood of interest from people asking how they can travel to Cuba and businesses asking how they can invest there. Despite the 50-year-old trade embargo staying in place for now, we are moving in the right direction. Several new rules dramatically alter the business environment in Cuba for American travel and export. Today’s briefing was an informative discussion about those rules and I am glad to have been able to bring federal officials together with Connecticut businesses.”

Among the changes put in place by the Obama Administration are:
• Easing of travel restrictions for authorized purposes
• Raising the limits on some categories of remittances
• Allowing activities in the fields of finance, telecommunications, trade and shipping

Representatives from the Commerce Department were: Matthew Borman, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Export Administration; Tony Christino, Director of the Foreign Policy Division, Office of Export Administration; and Bill Arvin, Senior Export Policy Analyst in the Office of Exporter Services. Representatives from the Treasury Department were: John Smith, Deputy Director, Office of Foreign Assets Control and Susan Demske, Assistant Director for Regulatory Affairs, Office of Foreign Assets Control.

DeLauro supports opening up diplomatic relations with Cuba and ending the trade embargo. She has visited Cuba three times: as part of a bipartisan delegation on agriculture issues 2007, last year where she met with Alan Gross, who was at the time being held captive by Cuban authorities and women entrepreneurs, and last month as part of the first official delegation from the House of Representatives to visit Cuba after President Obama’s announcement on the U.S.-Cuba relationship in December.


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