U.S.: House of Representatives withdraws bill on Cuba
Help us keep OnCuba alive Last week, several Democrats in the House of Representatives quietly killed an attempt to roll back aspects of the Trump administration’s sanctions on Cuba Representative Bobby Rush, a Democrat from Illinois, proposed two island-related amendments to the appropriations bill, aimed at alleviating the current administration’s efforts to strangle the Cuban economy and returning to Obama-era policy. Representative Bobby Rush. Photo: Colin Boyle/Sun-Times. One of the measures prohibited officials from blocking exports of food and medicine. The other eliminated the limit imposed on the amount of money that people in the United States can send to Cuba. A coalition of more than 100 groups, including organizations like Just Foreign Policy, Demand Progress, and CODEPINK, supported the amendments and asked Massachusetts Representative Jim McGovern, chair of the House Rules Committee, to allow those measures to thrive in the legislative body. McGovern has long opposed the United States' policy toward Cuba. According to his spokesperson Matt Bonaccorsi, though the congressman would have approved the remittances measure, he had some issues with the amendment to stop enforcing restrictions on food and medicine exports. And just a few days later, Rush withdrew the amendments. Representative Jim McGovern. Photo: Robin Lubbock/WBUR. Proponents...