Cuba farm export bill being readied

WASHINGTON, May 4 (UPI) -- A Democratic U.S. senator will soon introduce a bill to allow more agricultural imports to Cuba, legislative sources say.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., with the support of such fellow farm state senators as Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., is expected to announce the legislation this week to tap a market that American farmers view as lucrative and largely untapped, unnamed sources said in the Washington publication The Hill Monday.

Baucus told The Hill that while the bill is likely, he is not 100 percent certain that he would move it. The senator has introduced legislation aimed at allowing more agricultural exports to Cuba in previous years, the publication said.

"We expect to introduce something soon," said Dan Virkstis, a spokesman for Baucus and the Finance Committee. "It will be similar to the chairman's bill last Congress -- focused on opening trade and travel markets for U.S. farmers, ranchers and families."

As with past measures, the bill is likely to be opposed by Democratic Party backers of the current Cuba embargo policy, including as Sens. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Bill Nelson of Florida.