Congress members push for fewer travel restrictions to Cuba

Posted on Wed, Mar. 15, 2006
Congress members push for fewer travel restrictions to Cuba
BY MIAMI HERALD STAFF
dadenews@MiamiHerald.com

Members of Congress opposed to the U.S. embargo of Cuba are meeting with
administration officials in Washington today to discuss what they say
are new restrictions on religious travel to Cuba, said Matthew Specht, a
spokesman for Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.

Members of the Cuba Working Group are planning to meet with
representatives from the departments of State and Treasury. More than
100 members of Congress and more than a dozen senators have sent letters
to Treasury Secretary John Snow over the past two weeks complaining
about tightened restrictions on religious travel and asking for
explanations.

''National U.S. religious institutions and their local [congregations]
have developed strong ties to religious communities in Cuba,'' the March
3 letter to Snow said.

``We believe it is inappropriate and unacceptable for politics and
government to serve as a hurdle and now as a barrier to faith-based
connections between individuals. If anything, these connections foster
greater religious freedom in Cuba and contribute to a severely-lacking
free-flowing exchange of ideas between the two countries.''

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/email/news/breaking_news/14104827.htm