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SF 4370

as introduced - 92nd Legislature (2021 - 2022) Posted on 03/31/2022 08:35am

KEY: stricken = removed, old language.
underscored = added, new language.

Current Version - as introduced

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A resolution
memorializing the President and Congress to normalize diplomatic and economic
relations with Cuba.

WHEREAS, beginning in October 1960, the United States government imposed an economic,
commercial, and financial embargo on Cuba that not only prevents most engagement and trade
with the United States, but also punishes other countries that continue to engage with Cuba; and

WHEREAS, the embargo continues to inflict extreme hardship on the Cuban people by
creating shortages of food and medicine, including medical equipment and supplies to address the
COVID-19 pandemic, and severely restricting financial and trade opportunities; and

WHEREAS, both the Cuban government and the United Nations have estimated that the
embargo has cost the Cuban economy $130 billion over six decades; and

WHEREAS, in December 2014, President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro
announced that they would begin normalizing relations between the two countries and would
establish diplomatic relations, an agreement that was enthusiastically embraced by the Cuban
people; and

WHEREAS, President Obama removed Cuba from the United States list of state sponsors
of terrorism; and

WHEREAS, most Americans, including Cuban Americans, oppose the United States embargo
and tens of thousands of United States citizens have visited the island when travel restrictions were
relaxed; and

WHEREAS, the Trump administration imposed 243 new sanctions on Cuba, including
restrictions on Cuban Americans to send remittances to families and businesses in Cuba, and
reinstated Cuba to the list of state sponsors of terrorism; and

WHEREAS, for the last 29 years, the United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly
voted to support the end of the United States embargo against Cuba; and

WHEREAS, President Biden has not yet reversed the additional sanctions that former President
Trump imposed on Cuba; NOW THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the President
and the Congress of the United States to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba, including restoring
the full operations of the United States Embassy in Havana, and to make the well-being of the
Cuban people the centerpiece of United States policies toward Cuba.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the
President and the Congress of the United States to remove Cuba from the United States list of state
sponsors of terrorism and to immediately close the United States military base at Guantanamo Bay
and return the occupied territory in Guantanamo to Cuba.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the
President and the Congress of the United States to immediately reverse all sanctions against Cuba
by the United States and end all aspects of the United States embargo against Cuba, including
restrictions on travel to Cuba by United States citizens and residents, so that the people of Cuba
and the United States can freely travel between the countries.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is directed
to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United States, the
President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United
States House of Representatives, the chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the chair
of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in
Congress.