WASHINGTON, D.C. – A provision in the appropriations bill that would allow family members to more frequently visit their relatives in Cuba is a victory for families in the Tampa Bay area, Congresswoman Kathy Castor said.

Our efforts will allow family members to visit Cuba once a year, rather than once every three years. The bill also reverses the Bush Administration regulatory impediments on the sale of food and medicine to Cuba.

“Many of our neighbors are barred from visiting their sick and dying loved ones because of these burdensome restrictions,” Castor said. “Loosening the restrictions will allow family members to travel during times of personal crisis.”

Castor has been aggressively pushing for these changes.

Castor wrote to then-President-elect Obama about travel and remittances to Cuba. Castor called for a lifting of the restrictions that limit family travel to Cuba and limit the amount of remittance that families can send to Cuba. The letter is attached.

“As Americans, we cannot allow our policies to bring more hardship to those we intend to help,” Castor wrote. “As Floridians, we cannot expect the Cuban people, many of whom are family to us, to endure more pain.”