Draft of letter from travel professionals to their members of the House and Senate

The text should be modified to fit the style and interest of the sender. Copies can be mailed to district and state offices, but should be faxed to Washington offices. It is worth the extra trouble to send to both the local and Washington offices. If your home and office are in different Congressional districts, it is possible to write to both Representatives, adjusting the letter accordingly. Staff members who live in another Congressional districts should send their own letters.

We would appreciate it if a copy were sent as an e-mail attachment to cubanow@ffrd.org or by mail to Ad Hoc Coalition of Travel Professionals and Clients, 355 West 39^th Street, ground floor, New York, NY 10018

Addresses of state and district offices and the fax numbers in Washington can be obtained from http://capwiz.com/c-span/home/ or by a google search. If you need assistance, send an e-mail to cubanow@ffrd.org

Your Business Letterhead

Dear Representative or Senator,

I am writing to you [as a constituent who has resided in your district for ____ years] [because my office is located in your district]. I am the [title] of the [name of travel agency], a business that was founded in [year] and has [number] employees.

The reason for this letter is to inquire about your position on the issue of the right of US citizens to travel freely to Cuba. Are you in support of legislation to end travel restrictions? Did you or will you vote for or against amendments to the Treasury and Postal Appropriations bills to deny funding for enforcement of travel restrictions? If you are not already a member of the bipartisan Cuba Working Group with your colleagues, are you prepared to join? Can you help insure that the Congressional leadership respects the votes of members on this issue?

Recently I joined with hundreds of counterparts in signing a petition circulated by the Ad Hoc Coalition of Travel Professionals and Clients for Freedom to Travel to Cuba. It says

Restoring Cuba as a legal destination for every American will benefit our industry, an important sector of the nation’s economy which has suffered substantial losses since September 11, 2001. Our industry should be free to join with trade partners like Canada, Mexico and Europe that send nearly two million visitors to Cuba annually.

Two-thirds of Americans, most Cuban-Americans and a large majority of Members of Congress have already indicated their support for ending travel restrictions to Cuba. Freedom of travel is a fundamental constitutional right and an example of personal liberty that we need to share with the Cuban people and others around the world.

People-to-people contact is the best antidote to decades of misunderstanding and mistrust and the basis for building a new mutually beneficial relationship between Americans and Cubans.

I would be happy to discuss with your staff by phone or in person the likely benefits that will come to our own business and to the local economy if we are able to freely sell travel to Cuba.

Sincerely,