Ros-Lehtinen to vote for omnibus despite Cuba provision

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), a leading Cuban-American lawmaker, said she might vote for the omnibus spending bill, despite the removal of a provision limiting travel to Cuba.

In the last-minute negotiations to reach an accord with the Senate and White House, leaders stripped a provision from the government-funding measure that would have reinstated travel restrictions to the communist island nation.

{mosads}Ros-Lehtinen, the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman who was born in Cuba, told The Hill that the battle would have to be fought another day.

She added that a provision that would have allowed agricultural goods to flow to Cuba was also removed from the nearly trillion-dollar spending bill.

Ros-Lehtinen called the omnibus “Cuba-neutral.”

Still, she made a point of talking with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Friday morning to express her disappointment that the travel ban was removed.

Earlier this year, the lawmaker criticized the Obama administration for lifting the Cuba travel provisions, saying it would “not help foster a pro-democracy environment in Cuba. These changes will not aid in ushering in respect for human rights. And they certainly will not help the Cuban people free themselves from the tyranny that engulfs them.”