• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 09 / 24 / 2010

---

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 12:16:37 -0400,jmcauliff@..., Subject: House Foreign Affairs Committee Schedules Mark-Up, [Note from John McAuliff:]

Thanks to Jake Colvin for passing on this important and frankly surprising news that the travel bill will be marked up next Wednesday. This will be the crucial test and our last chance to end travel restrictions for at least two years if the Republicans win the House.

Rep. Berman had said he would not bring the bill up if he did not have the votes. It may also be that a vote is the only way to get members off the fence. Constituent pressure matters most so if you know folks who live in the district of any member of the Committee, ask them to immediately make calls or fax to their Representative or use their on line message system. The crucial message is to approve the travel language as it is currently written.

The list of members, annotated by how much they received from the anti-travel PAC can be found at http://cubacampaign.blogspot.com/2010/08/house-committee-on-foreign-affa...

I will annotate soon whether they have endorsed one of the travel bills. If the bill is favorably reported from the Committee, it can go to the House floor,although that probably won't be until after the mid-term election. (see CQ article below)

The hearing will be simulcast. Go to the Committee web page for the link just before noon on the 29th. http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/

Spread the word. This is it! Vigils in front of district offices of swing members and opponents are in order. Local newspapers should be alerted to solicit editorials or to allow you to write an op ed.

Maybe the next thing will be the President, or at least the First Lady,accepting Alicia Alonso's invitation to attend the international ballet festival in Havana.

Source: //www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hKeeO6oat_ZAMsuSvGyg1N-W3_iw