<a id="pl.1.2"></a><var>1.2</var>urging the President and Congress to end trade, financial, and travel restrictions <br/>
<a id="pl.1.3"></a><var>1.3</var>to Cuba.<br/>
<a id="pl.1.4"></a><var>1.4</var>WHEREAS, the relationship between the United States and Cuba has been marked by <br/>
<a id="pl.1.5"></a><var>1.5</var>tension and confrontation; and <br/>
<a id="pl.1.6"></a><var>1.6</var>WHEREAS, furthering this hostility is the 40-year-old United States trade embargo against <br/>
<a id="pl.1.7"></a><var>1.7</var>the island nation, the longest standing such embargo in modern history; and <br/>
<a id="pl.1.8"></a><var>1.8</var>WHEREAS, the United States Congress approved the 2000 Trade Sanctions Reform and <br/>
<a id="pl.1.9"></a><var>1.9</var>Export Enhancement Act, which provides for the limited sale of food, medicine, medical supplies, <br/>
<a id="pl.1.10"></a><var>1.10</var>and agricultural products from the United States to Cuba; and <br/>
<a id="pl.1.11"></a><var>1.11</var>WHEREAS, recent additional restrictions on specified payment procedures will <br/>
<a id="pl.1.12"></a><var>1.12</var>substantially curtail existing levels of limited trade; and <br/>
<a id="pl.1.13"></a><var>1.13</var>WHEREAS, Cuba has imported over $1 billion of food products and agricultural <br/>
<a id="pl.1.14"></a><var>1.14</var>commodities from the United States during the past five years to support and feed its 11 million <br/>
<a id="pl.1.15"></a><var>1.15</var>people; and <br/>
<a id="pl.1.16"></a><var>1.16</var>WHEREAS, import volume is expected to grow significantly in coming years as Cuba <br/>
<a id="pl.1.17"></a><var>1.17</var>continues its economic recovery, following the withdrawal of subsidies from the former Soviet <br/>
<a id="pl.1.18"></a><var>1.18</var>Union in the last decade; and <br/>
<a id="pl.1.19"></a><var>1.19</var>WHEREAS, Minnesota is ideally positioned to benefit from the market opportunities <br/>
<a id="pl.1.20"></a><var>1.20</var>that free trade with Cuba would provide, as trade restrictions succeed only in driving sales to <br/>
<a id="pl.1.21"></a><var>1.21</var>competitors in other countries that have no such restrictions; and <br/>
<a id="pl.2.1"></a><var>2.1</var>WHEREAS, agricultural production in Minnesota is valued at more than $9 billion <br/>
<a id="pl.2.2"></a><var>2.2</var>annually; and <br/>
<a id="pl.2.3"></a><var>2.3</var>WHEREAS, Minnesota is a leader in the overall value of agricultural exports at more than <br/>
<a id="pl.2.4"></a><var>2.4</var>$2.5 billion annually; and <br/>
<a id="pl.2.5"></a><var>2.5</var>WHEREAS, under an ideal trade scenario, Minnesota farmers could enjoy at least $45 <br/>
<a id="pl.2.6"></a><var>2.6</var>million in new exports annually; the state's total economic benefit would be nearly $92 million, <br/>
<a id="pl.2.7"></a><var>2.7</var>including 900 new jobs; and <br/>
<a id="pl.2.8"></a><var>2.8</var>WHEREAS, in recent years, Cuba has developed important pharmaceutical products, <br/>
<a id="pl.2.9"></a><var>2.9</var>specifically a new meningitis B vaccine that has virtually eliminated the disease in Cuba; such <br/>
<a id="pl.2.10"></a><var>2.10</var>products have the potential to protect Americans against diseases that continue to threaten large <br/>
<a id="pl.2.11"></a><var>2.11</var>populations around the world; and <br/>
<a id="pl.2.12"></a><var>2.12</var>WHEREAS, Cuba's potential oil production and reserves have attracted the interest of <br/>
<a id="pl.2.13"></a><var>2.13</var>numerous other countries who have been helping Cuba develop its existing wells and search for <br/>
<a id="pl.2.14"></a><var>2.14</var>new reserves; Cuba's oil output has increased well over 400 percent over the last decade; and <br/>
<a id="pl.2.15"></a><var>2.15</var>WHEREAS, the United States' trade, financial, and travel restrictions against Cuba hinder <br/>
<a id="pl.2.16"></a><var>2.16</var>Minnesota's export of agricultural and food products, its ability to import essential energy <br/>
<a id="pl.2.17"></a><var>2.17</var>products, its ability to treat Minnesotans' illnesses, and the right of Minnesotans to travel freely; <br/>
<a id="pl.2.18"></a><var>2.18</var>NOW, THEREFORE, <br/>
<a id="pl.2.19"></a><var>2.19</var>BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it supports national <br/>
<a id="pl.2.20"></a><var>2.20</var>efforts to remove all trade, financial, and travel restrictions to Cuba and urges the President and <br/>
<a id="pl.2.21"></a><var>2.21</var>Congress to take all necessary steps to see that this end is accomplished. <br/>
<a id="pl.2.22"></a><var>2.22</var>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is <br/>
<a id="pl.2.23"></a><var>2.23</var>directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United <br/>
<a id="pl.2.24"></a><var>2.24</var>States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of <br/>
<a id="pl.2.25"></a><var>2.25</var>the United States House of Representatives, the chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, <br/>
<a id="pl.2.26"></a><var>2.26</var>Nutrition, and Forestry, the chair of the House Committee on Agriculture, and Minnesota's <br/>
<a id="pl.2.27"></a><var>2.27</var>Senators and Representatives in Congress.<br/>