McGovern Introduces New Bill To Repeal U.S. Embargo Against Cuba

Rejects Six Decades of Failed Foreign Policy in Favor of Using Diplomacy & Engagement to Promote Democracy & Freedom

Washington, February 12, 2026

WASHINGTON—Today, in response to the Trump Administration’s actions to impose a total oil embargo on Cuba, Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA), Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee and Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, has introduced legislation to repeal the statutory basis for the U.S. embargo on Cuba. H.R. 7521, the United States-Cuba Trade Act, would repeal or amend several laws codified over decades that restrict trade, exchange, telecommunications, and travel with Cuba. A similar bill, S. 136, has been introduced in the United States Senate by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

“America has had an embargo against Cuba for sixty years. And for sixty years, we have been waiting for that embargo to do what politicians in Washington claim it will do—deliver freedom or democracy to the people of Cuba. It has failed,” said McGovern. “It’s time to throw away the old, obsolete, failed policies of the past and try something different. Let’s focus on the people of Cuba—and let’s treat them like human beings who want to live their lives in dignity and freedom. The Cuban people—not politicians in Washington—ought to decide their own leaders and their own future.”

McGovern previously worked with the Obama administration to free political prisoners and help loosen the embargo and promote U.S. diplomacy and engagement—an effort hailed by many experts as a step toward more freedom and democracy in Cuba. The Trump administration’s subsequent rollback of normalized relations was criticized even by Republican lawmakers as misguided and isolationist. A summary of Congressman McGovern's efforts to normalize relations with Cuba is available here.

“The Trump administration says they want to curtail migration, but their own hardline approach only incentivizes migration to the United States by making living conditions worse in Cuba,”continued McGovern. “Not only is the embargo absurdly ineffective—it is counterproductive, hurting the very people it purports to help. It’s not Cuban elites who are harmed by our policies—it’s regular people and families who are denied food, medicine, and basic goods. We ought to use diplomacy and engagement to achieve our goals.” 

A copy of the bill can be found HERE. A summary of its provisions is available HERE.