--- ---  # Senators Introduce Bill To End Cuba Travel Ban  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 29, 2015 6:02 PM UTC  Man wears shorts with the colors of the U.S. flag in Jaimanitas, Cuba, Jan. 2015. Man wears shorts with the colors of the U.S. flag in Jaimanitas, Cuba, Jan. 2015.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 29, 2015 6:02 PM UTC A bipartisan group of eight senators will [introduce legislation](http://www.durbin.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=38c0253e-bdf0-4cd9-b3eb-449384d33869) Thursday to lift all travel restrictions between the U.S. and Cuba. The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act, led by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), is co-sponsored by an equal number of Senate Democrats and Republicans, and would end onerous constraints on Americans wishing to travel to the Caribbean island. It is the first move by Congress towards ending the embargo since Obama’s December announcement that he would begin normalizing relations with Cuba. The bill, which is seen by supporters as an intermediate step to lifting the full embargo, is co-sponsored by Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), John Boozman (R-Arkansas), Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), Tom Udall (D-New Mexico), Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Dick Durbin (D-Illinois). > [](https://twitter.com/SenatorDurbin/status/560852669775216640) The United States held face-to-face talks with Cuba last week to discuss how best to normalize relations. On Thursday, Cuban President Raul Castro [added new demands](http://time.com/3687347/castro-guantanamo-trade-embargo/) to restore diplomatic relations, including the U.S. returning Guantanamo Bay. Senators Introduce Bill To End Cuba Travel Ban ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3688003/congress-cuba-travel-ban/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3688003/congress-cuba-travel-ban/"},"headline":"Senators Introduce Bill To End Cuba Travel Ban","datePublished":"2015-01-29T18:02:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:59:34.168Z","description":"A bipartisan group of eight senators was set to introduce legislation Thursday to lift all travel restrictions between the U.S. and Cuba. The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act, led by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), would lift onerous constraints on Americans visiting the Caribbean island nation","url":"https://time.com/3688003/congress-cuba-travel-ban/","keywords":["Congress"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf30d0b61f32732ac/69877c9e55a8590ba5a8588a/cuba-travel-ban1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf30d0b61f32732ac/69877c9e55a8590ba5a8588a/cuba-travel-ban1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Cuba travel ban","caption":"Young man wears shorts with the colors of the U.S. flag in Jaimanitas , Cuba, Jan. 2015.","creditText":"Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3688003/congress-cuba-travel-ban/","name":"Senators Introduce Bill To End Cuba Travel Ban"}}]}] ```