Tampa area Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor announced today that she is in support of a bill in Congress that would lift the 50-year plus restrictions on Americans traveling to Cuba.
In doing so, she becomes the first member of Congress from Florida to announce her support of legislation in the House for a bill sponsored by Massachusetts Democrat William Delahunt and Arizona Republican Jeff Flake.
“If the travel ban is lifted, Cuban-Americans would be able to visit friends and reestablish ties to Cuba. Tampa area families and educators could expand educational and cultural exchanges and learn more about the rich heritage of Tampa’s Cuban-Americans,” Castor said. “Now is the time to remove the obstacles and hassles that have prevented Cuban-Americans without direct family ties and other Floridians from traveling to Cuba, and for our region to reap the benefits that freedom of travel can bring."
The Freedom To Travel to Cuba Act now has 178 sponsors in the House.
For Representatives like Castor, it's good politics. There is a unified effort in Tampa to get direct international flights (which are a problem itself with T.I.A. overseas) from Tampa to Havana, an effort that is so non-controversial that recently Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio called for such flights last month (currently only New York, Los Angeles and Miami are authorized for such flights), writing a letter directly to President Obama.
The Tampa business establishment feels in some ways that if and when relations are ever enhanced with the Communist Island, the area will be far behind other cities that simply should not have an advantage, considering the historical ties between the regions.
This article appears in Jul 22-28, 2010.