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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, In 1960, the United States government imposed a | ||||||
| 3 | strict
economic, commercial, and financial embargo on the | ||||||
| 4 | Republic of Cuba; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, On December 17, 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama | ||||||
| 6 | and
Cuban President Raul Castro agreed to reestablish | ||||||
| 7 | diplomatic relations
between the two countries, as well as | ||||||
| 8 | cooperation between them on certain
matters of mutual | ||||||
| 9 | interest; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, Nevertheless, despite executive decisions by | ||||||
| 11 | President Obama
that eased some restrictive regulations, the | ||||||
| 12 | main portions of the embargo
affecting trade and travel | ||||||
| 13 | continue in force; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, Full restoration of trade and travel between the | ||||||
| 15 | two countries
would be of great benefit to both, particularly | ||||||
| 16 | in the areas of food
production, education, health care, | ||||||
| 17 | tourism, the arts, music, sports, and
medical and | ||||||
| 18 | biotechnological research; and | ||||||
| 19 | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois would greatly benefit by | ||||||
| 20 | the
restoration of trade with the Republic of Cuba, which | ||||||
| 21 | would permit the
export of industrial and agricultural | ||||||
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| 1 | products to the neighboring nation of 11
million people and | ||||||
| 2 | the importation of Cuban products useful to Illinois, such as | ||||||
| 3 | the life-saving medicines Herberprot-p and CIMAvax; and
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| 4 | WHEREAS, Institutions and businesses in Illinois have | ||||||
| 5 | expressed a
strong interest in selling their products and | ||||||
| 6 | services to Cuba, importing
Cuban products, and cooperating | ||||||
| 7 | with Cuban institutions in the areas of the
development of | ||||||
| 8 | pharmaceuticals and medical devices and procedures and
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| 9 | biomedical research, to the benefit of our citizens; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, The people of Illinois are negatively affected by | ||||||
| 11 | these
restrictions, which violate their right to travel and | ||||||
| 12 | which harm economic
opportunities for our people that enhanced | ||||||
| 13 | trade with Cuba would bring us; therefore, be it
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| 14 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 15 | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 16 | we denounce the
embargo and travel restrictions as prejudicial | ||||||
| 17 | to the interests of the people
of Cuba, the United States, and | ||||||
| 18 | Illinois and as a violation of the rights of
U.S. citizens and | ||||||
| 19 | residents to travel and ascertain the real situation in Cuba
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| 20 | for themselves; and be it further | ||||||
| 21 | RESOLVED, That we urge President Biden to renew
engagement | ||||||
| 22 | with the Republic of Cuba, as initiated by the Obama
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| 1 | administration, and rescind restrictive regulations, as well | ||||||
| 2 | as restaff the Cuban embassy in Washington, D.C. and the U.S. | ||||||
| 3 | embassy
in Havana; and be it further | ||||||
| 4 | RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Congress to
pass | ||||||
| 5 | legislation finally ending the harmful 59-year-old economic, | ||||||
| 6 | financial,
and commercial embargo, as well as the travel | ||||||
| 7 | restrictions on U.S. citizens
and residents to Cuba and Cuban | ||||||
| 8 | citizens to the United States; and be it further
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| 9 | RESOLVED, That this resolution be distributed to the | ||||||
| 10 | Illinois Congressional Delegation and President Biden with the | ||||||
| 11 | urgent request that they act upon it
as soon as possible.
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