California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 3

Introduced by Assembly Member Alejo

January 5, 2015

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 3—Relative to the Cuban embargo.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AJR 3, as introduced, Alejo. Cuban embargo.

This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to support President Obama’s initiative to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba and to move forward with legislation to lift the economic embargo on Cuba.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, The ability of American companies to do business
with Cuba is curtailed by the Cuban Assets Control Regulations
(31 C.F.R. 515), which were issued in 1963, that lay out a
comprehensive set of economic sanctions, including a prohibition
on most financial transactions with the island; and

WHEREAS, These sanctions were made stronger with the Cuban
Democracy Act of 1992 (22 U.S.C. sec. 6001 et seq.) and the
Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of
1996, which is commonly referred to as the Helms-Burton Act.
Most significantly, the Helms-Burton Act codified the embargo
and has had a lasting impact on U.S. policy options toward Cuba
by imposing economic sanctions, travel restrictions, and
international legal penalties; and

WHEREAS, Prior to the embargo, the United States accounted
for nearly 70 percent of Cuba’s international trade. Cuba was the
seventh largest market for U.S. exporters particularly for American
farm producers, and 84 percent of all food consumed in Cuba was
imported from the United States; and

WHEREAS, Despite the fact that the United States and Cuba
are natural trading partners, the embargo forced Cuba to seek out
new sources for its domestic consumption at the expense of U.S.
exports and American jobs; and

WHEREAS, According to the United States Chamber of
Commerce, the embargo’s annual cost to the U.S. economy ranges
from $1.2 to $3.6 billion and disproportionately affects U.S. small
businesses who lack the transportation and financial infrastructure
to skirt the embargo; and

WHEREAS, These restrictions result in real reductions in
income and employment, negatively impacting U.S. small
businesses; and

WHEREAS, Allies of the United States have taken a
disproportionate share of the market of an island that is only 90
miles from our shores and is a natural market for U.S. goods and
services; and

WHEREAS, California is currently the eighth largest economy
in the world but exported only $122,000 in agricultural products
to Cuba in 2013, approximately .00068 percent of the $18 billion
of agricultural products exported from California each year; and

WHEREAS, California’s agricultural growers face great
opportunities by moving to Cuba to aid in the development of
agricultural technology, innovation, and investment; and

WHEREAS, California is the high-tech capital of the nation and
is well positioned to export telecommunications infrastructure to
Cuba; and

WHEREAS, California pharmaceutical companies and
devicemakers will be able to sell their products in Cuba, a new
market hungry for its products; and

WHEREAS, California healthcare providers can benefit
immensely from renewed Cuban relationships; and

WHEREAS, Acknowledging that the embargo has not produced
any positive economic or political outcomes in Cuba or the United
States, and that lifting the embargo will better serve California’s
interests and improve the lives of Cubans and their families; now,
therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California
urges the Congress of the United States to support President
Obama’s initiative to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba
and to, with all deliberate speed, move forward with legislation to
lift the economic embargo on Cuba; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, to the Majority
Leader of the Senate, the Minority Leader of the Senate, and to
each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress
of the United States.