EarlPomeroy

The House Agriculture Committee has approved a bill co-sponsored by Congressman Earl Pomeroy that would break down barriers to trade with Cuba, prying open a valuable market for North Dakota’s family farmers and ranchers.

Pomeroy, a member of the Agriculture Committee, helped push for the successful vote on the Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act, H.R. 4645, which was introduced by Congressman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) as its lead sponsor.

The bill would ease a number of restrictions on family farmers’ ability to sell to Cuba. Pomeroy, a longtime critic of the policies, said those restrictions needlessly hurt our producers.

“For decades, the federal government has told our family farmers that they can’t sell to Cuba because it is ruled by the Castro brothers. All the while, we’ve watched the Castro brothers use that policy against us. It’s time we put an end to wrong-headed and counterproductive policies like this,” Congressman Pomeroy said.

The bill passed by the Agriculture Committee today would:

• Eliminate a requirement that payments to American producers from Cuba be transferred through foreign banks.

• Ease restrictions on agricultural sales and travel by U.S. citizens to Cuba. This will allow our producers to make more trade missions to the island. 

“The restrictions on travel and payment don’t provide any foreign policy benefit to our country, but they sure do make it tough for the farmers who just want to find a market for their beans and potatoes,” Congressman Pomeroy said. “This bill will give our producers a valuable new export market.”