House Votes to Lift Limits on Food and Drug Sales to Cuba

The House voted Thursday to lift limits on U.S. food and drug sales to Cuba and to allow Americans to freely travel there. The vote was a major victory for farm, business and other groups trying to ease the four-decade-old sanctions against Fidel Castro’s government.

With supporters arguing that increased contacts would help weaken Castro’s hold over the communist nation, the House voted 232 to 186 to stop enforcing rules that limit the ability of Americans to travel to Cuba.

It then voted 301 to 116 to also halt enforcement of rules banning U.S. exports there of food, and of rules limiting sales there of American medicine.

Minutes earlier, lawmakers voted 241 to 174 to reject a broader proposal by Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) that would have ended enforcement of U.S. prohibitions against virtually all trading with the Caribbean island nation.

Even so, approval of the narrower provisions was a major victory for an alliance of conservative, liberal, pro-business and farm-state lawmakers. And it was a setback for House GOP leaders, who have opposed easing the sanctions.

The votes seemed certain to strengthen the hand of Rep. George R. Nethercutt Jr. (R-Wash.), the leader of farm-state lawmakers who earlier this year tried to lift the food and medicine embargo against Cuba but ran into opposition by Republican leaders.

The two sides agreed to a compromise last month that House GOP leaders have promised to try pushing into law. Thursday’s votes seemed to increase pressure on the leaders to follow through on the compromise.

Anti-Castro legislators said allowing Cuba to receive more U.S. trade and tourists would help prop up his regime.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) said the revenue Cuba would gain from eased restrictions would help “the worst violator of human rights in all of the Western Hemisphere.”

But sponsors of easing the trade and travel embargoes said the result would be to accelerate the drive toward freedom in Cuba.

President Reagan “allowed Americans with backpacks to travel in Eastern Europe, and it did help bring down the Berlin Wall,” said conservative Rep. Marshall “Mark” Sanford (R-S.C.), chief sponsor of the language easing the travel restrictions.

“Personal freedom follows economic freedom,” said Rep. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who conceded that lifting the food embargo would help his farm-state constituents.