AJR 3, as amended, 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 tobegin delete lift the economic embargo onend deletebegin insert help increase trade withend insert Cuba.
Fiscal committee: no.
P1 1WHEREAS, The ability of American companies to do business
2with Cuba is curtailed by the Cuban Assets Control Regulations
3(31 C.F.R. 515), which were issued in 1963, that lay out a
4comprehensive set of economic sanctions, including a prohibition
5on most financial transactions with the island; and
6WHEREAS, These sanctions were made stronger with the Cuban
7Democracy Act of 1992 (22 U.S.C. sec. 6001 et seq.) and the
8Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of
91996, which is commonly referred to as the Helms-Burton Act.
10Most significantly, the Helms-Burton Act codified the embargo
11and has had a lasting impact on U.S. policy options toward Cuba
12by imposing economic sanctions, travel restrictions, and
13international legal penalties; and
P2 1
WHEREAS, The Obama administration announced new United
2States Department of the Treasury and United States Department
3of Commerce regulations allowing more exports of certain products
4to Cuba; and
5
WHEREAS, The United States and Cuba recently signed an
6agreement to restore commercial airline service between both
7countries, which could potentially result in 110 daily flights to and
8from Cuba. According to the United States Embassy in Havana,
9authorized travel to Cuba by United States citizens increased by
10over 50 percent since travel restrictions were eased in December
112014; and
12WHEREAS, Prior to thebegin delete embargo,end deletebegin insert embargo the United States
13placed on Cuba in 1960,end insert the United States accounted for nearly
1470 percent of Cuba’s international trade. Cuba was the seventh
15largest market forbegin delete U.S. exportersend deletebegin insert United States exporters,end insert
16 particularly for American farmbegin delete producers, andend deletebegin insert producers.
17Currently,end insert
84 percent of all food consumed in Cubabegin delete was imported begin insert is imported;end insert
and
18from the United States;end delete
19WHEREAS,begin delete Despite the fact that theend deletebegin insert Theend insert United States and
20Cuba are natural trading partners,begin delete the embargo forced Cuba to seek begin insert and California stands ready to be a major source for Cuba’s
21out new sources for its domestic consumption at the expense of
22U.S.end delete
23domestic consumption, which will result in significant growth in
24the United Statesend insert exports andbegin insert the creation of moreend insert
American jobs;
25and
26
WHEREAS, A United States International Trade Commission
27report states that small exporters currently avoid the Cuban market
28because of the complexity of the regulations in the Trade Sanctions
29Reform and Export Enhancement Act (TSRA); and
30
WHEREAS, Removing the embargo would provide small- and
31medium-sized enterprises with access to a much needed market;
32and
33
WHEREAS, Studies on lifting the embargo show a possible
34economic spark of $1.1 billion, $365 million from sales of United
35States goods, and a creation of up to 6,000 American jobs,
36predominantly in agriculture and telecommunications; and
37
WHEREAS, In 2000, under the TSRA, Congress began to allow
38the sale of agricultural and medical products to Cuba. In four
39short years, United States exports to Cuba rose from less than $1
P3 1million to $392 million by 2004, with United States agricultural
2products capturing 42 percent of the Cuban market; and
3WHEREAS,begin insert According to a 2001 study sponsored by the Cuba
4Policy Foundation, the estimated economic impact of expanded
5agricultural exports under the TSRA is $3.6 billion.end insert According to
6the United States Chamber of Commerce, the embargo’s annual
7cost to thebegin delete U.S.end deletebegin insert United Statesend insert economybegin delete ranges fromend deletebegin insert isend insert $1.2begin delete to $3.6 begin insert
billion, and the embargoend insert disproportionately affects
8billion andend delete
9begin delete U.S.end deletebegin insert
United Statesend insert
small businessesbegin delete whoend deletebegin insert thatend insert lack the transportation
10and financial infrastructure to skirt the embargo; and
11WHEREAS, These restrictions result in real reductions in
12income and employment, negatively impacting U.S. small
13businesses; and
14
WHEREAS, Since 2008, Cuba has undertaken more than 300
15economic reforms designed to encourage enterprise with small
16businesses, and, in 2008, United States exports to Cuba reached
17$718 million, with corn exports estimated at $198 million, followed
18by meat and poultry at $152.6 million and wheat at $135 million;
19and
20WHEREAS, Allies of the United States have taken a
21disproportionate share of the market of an island that is only 90
22miles from our shores and is a natural market forbegin delete U.S.end deletebegin insert United Statesend insert
23 goods and services; and
24WHEREAS, California is currently the eighth largest economy
25in the world but exported only $122,000 in agricultural products
26to Cuba in 2013, approximately .00068 percent of the $18 billion
27of agricultural products exported from California each year; and
28
WHEREAS, According to the United States Department of
29Agriculture’s Economic Research Service data for 2013, each
30dollar of agricultural exports stimulated an additional $1.22 in
31business activity, thereby further highlighting the potential for
32creating American jobs through California agricultural exports;
33and
34WHEREAS, California’s agricultural growers face great
35opportunities by moving to Cuba to aid in the development of
36agricultural technology, innovation, and investment; and
37
WHEREAS, As Cuba raises its agricultural profile, Cuba will
38need food manufacturing technology and education on effective
39practices that Californian expertise can provide; and
P4 1
WHEREAS, California agricultural products will support
2economic mobility by exporting products for middle and rising
3middle classes in Cuba to consume; and
4
WHEREAS, As a growing middle class rises, Cuba’s crumbling
5infrastructure will no longer support these communities, and Cuba
6will look to California for construction expertise and equipment,
7which could lead to job growth in these California industries; and
8
WHEREAS, The expected growth of infrastructure will allow
9for the spread of telecommunication technology to advance in
10Cuba, where only 5 percent of Cubans have Internet access; and
11WHEREAS, California is the high-tech capital of the nation and
12is well positioned to export telecommunications infrastructure to
13Cuba; and
14WHEREAS, California pharmaceutical companies andbegin insert medicalend insert
15 devicemakers will be able to sell their products in Cuba, a new
16market hungry for its products; and
17
WHEREAS, Biotechnology firms will be able to partner with
18California companies on key ventures such as research and
19medical product development in areas focusing on diabetes and
20cancer treatment; and
21
WHEREAS, Cuba has already become a leader in the
22biopharmaceutical arena, and its vaccine industry will be able to
23ship more of its high-quality products to California to be
24distributed to underserved populations at lower costs; and
25WHEREAS, Californiabegin delete healthcareend deletebegin insert health careend insert providers can
26benefit immensely from renewed Cuban relationships; and
27
WHEREAS, California Latinos are an increasing part of the
28electorate, and increasing economic integration with Latin
29American countries is a natural evolution of who America is
30becoming; and
31WHEREAS, Acknowledging that thebegin delete embargo has not produced begin insert increase in trade
32any positive economic or political outcomes inend delete
33withend insert Cubabegin delete or the United States, and that lifting the embargoend delete will
34better serve California’s interests and improve the lives of Cubans
35and their families;begin delete now, therefore, be itend deletebegin insert andend insert
36
WHEREAS, California can benefit economically and culturally
37from direct air travel from the United States to Cuba, including
38direct flights from California; now, therefore, be it
39Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
40California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California
P5 1urges the Congress of the United States to support President
2Obama’s initiative to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba
3and to, with all deliberate speed, move forward with legislation to
4begin delete lift the economic embargo onend deletebegin insert help increase trade withend insert Cuba; and
5be it further
6Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
7of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
8States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
9Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, to the Majority
10Leader of the Senate,begin insert toend insert the Minority Leader of the Senate, and to
11each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress
12of the United States.
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