Helms-Burton Act

Helms–Burton Act

Other short titles	Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1995
Long title	An Act to seek international sanctions against the Castro government in Cuba, to plan for support of a transition government leading to a democratically elected government in Cuba, and for other purposes.
Acronyms (colloquial)	CLDSA, LIBERTAD
Nicknames	Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996
Enacted by	the 104th United States Congress
Effective	March 12, 1996
Citations
Public law	104-114
Statutes at Large	110 Stat. 785
Codification
Titles amended	22 U.S.C.: Foreign Relations and Intercourse
U.S.C. sections created	22 U.S.C. ch. 69a § 6021 et seq.
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 927 by Dan Burton (R–IN) on February 14, 1995 Committee consideration by House International Relations, House Ways and Means, House Judiciary, House Banking and Financial Services Passed the House on September 21, 1995 (294-130, Roll call vote 683, via Clerk.House.gov) Passed the Senate on October 19, 1995 (74-24, Roll call vote 494, via Senate.gov) Reported by the joint conference committee on March 1, 1996; agreed to by the Senate on March 5, 1996 (74-22, Roll call vote 22, via Senate.gov) and by the House on March 6, 1996 (336-86, Roll call vote 047, via Clerk.House.gov) Signed into law by President William J. Clinton on March 12, 1996

The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Libertad) Act of 1996 (Helms–Burton Act, Pub.L. 104–114, 110 Stat. 785, 22 U.S.C. §§ 6021–6091) is a United States federal law which strengthens and continues the United States embargo against Cuba. The act extended the territorial application of the initial embargo to apply to foreign companies trading with Cuba, and penalized foreign companies allegedly "trafficking" in property formerly owned by U.S. citizens but confiscated by Cuba after the Cuban revolution. The act also covers property formerly owned by Cubans who have since become U.S. citizens.

The Act is named for its original sponsors, Senator Jesse Helms, Republican of North Carolina, and Representative Dan Burton, Republican of Indiana.

The law was passed by the 104th United States Congress on March 6, 1996 and enacted into law by the 42nd President of the United States Bill Clinton on March 12, 1996. The bill, which had been tabled in late 1995 after Senator Helms was unable to overcome several Democratic filibusters, was reintroduced prompted by an episode that happened a month earlier. On February 24, 1996, Cuban fighter jets shot down two private planes operated by a Miami-based humanitarian international Search and Rescue support group called Brothers to the Rescue (Spanish: Hermanos al Rescate), which had been on a search and locate mission over international waters. Whether they were shot down over Cuban territory or international airspace is a matter of debate.

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