SRC-MWN S.C.R. 54 77(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   S.C.R. 54
By: Bernsen
Natural Resources
5/11/2001
Introduced


DIGEST 

The relationship between the United States and Cuba has long been marked by
tension and confrontation; further heightening this hostility is the
40-year-old U.S. trade embargo against the island nation that remains the
longest-standing embargo in modern history. Cuba imports nearly a billion
dollars' worth of food every year, including approximately 1,100,000 tons
of wheat, 420,000 tons of rice, 37,000 tons of poultry, and 60,000 tons of
dairy products; these amounts are expected to grow significantly in coming
years as Cuba slowly recovers from the severe economic recession it has
endured following the withdrawal of subsidies from the former Soviet Union
in the last decade. Agriculture is the second-largest industry in Texas,
and this state ranks among the top five states in overall value of
agricultural exports at more than $3 billion annually; thus, Texas is
ideally positioned to benefit from the market opportunities that free trade
with Cuba would provide. Rather than depriving Cuba of agricultural
products, the U.S. embargo succeeds only in driving sales to competitors in
other countries that have no such restrictions.  In recent years, Cuba has
developed important pharmaceutical products, namely, a new meningitis B
vaccine that has virtually eliminated the disease in Cuba; such products
have the potential to protect Americans against diseases that continue to
threaten large populations around the world.  Cuba's potential oil reserves
have attracted the interest of numerous other countries who have been
helping Cuba develop its existing wells and search for new reserves; Cuba's
oil output has increased more than 400 percent over the last decade.  The
United States' trade, financial, and travel restrictions against Cuba
hinder Texas' export of agricultural and food products, its ability to
import critical energy products, the treatment of illnesses experienced by
Texans, and the right of Texans to travel freely. 


PURPOSE

 As proposed, S.C.R. 54 submits the following resolutions:

That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby respectfully urges
the Congress of the United States to consider the removal of trade,
financial, and travel restrictions relating to Cuba. That the Texas
secretary of state forward official copies of this resolution to the
president of the United States, to the speaker of the house of
representatives and the president of the senate of the United States
Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to the congress
with the request that this resolution be officially entered in the
Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of
America.