Baseball Diplomacy Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 198 To waive certain prohibitions with respect to nationals of Cuba coming to the United States to play organized professional baseball. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 5, 2021 Mr. COHEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To waive certain prohibitions with respect to nationals of Cuba coming to the United States to play organized professional baseball. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Baseball Diplomacy 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS. 6 (a) RESTRICTION ON EMBARGO AUTHORITY.—The 7 authorities of section 620(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Feb 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H198.IH H198 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 198 IH of 1961, those authorities under section 5(b) of the Trad- 1 ing with the Enemy Act that were being exercised with 2 respect to Cuba on July 1, 1977, as a result of a national 3 emergency declared before that date, and are being exer- 4 cised on the date of the enactment of this Act, and the 5 authorities of section 203 of the International Emergency 6 Economic Powers Act may not be exercised to regulate 7 or prohibit— 8 (1) those transactions permitted under section 9 515.571 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, by 10 or on behalf of a Cuban national who enters the 11 United States from Cuba on a visa issued under sec- 12 tion 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b) of the Immigration and 13 Nationality Act for the purpose of playing organized 14 professional baseball; and 15 (2) a Cuban national described in paragraph 16 (1) from returning to Cuba with the earnings made 17 in playing organized professional baseball. 18 (b) RESTRICTION ON IMMIGRATION AUTHORITY.— 19 The authority contained in section 212(f) of the Immigra- 20 tion and Nationality Act may not be used to deny a visa 21 described in subsection (a)(1) to a Cuban national for the 22 purpose of playing organized professional baseball. 23 (c) INAPPLICABILITY OF OTHER RESTRICTIONS.— 24 This section applies notwithstanding section 102(h) of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Feb 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H198.IH H198 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 198 IH Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) 1 Act of 1996. 2 SEC. 3. DURATION OF VISA. 3 A visa described in section 2(a)(1)— 4 (1) shall permit the alien to whom the visa is 5 issued to remain in the United States only for the 6 duration of the baseball season; and 7 (2) need not be renewed for subsequent entries 8 into the United States for the duration of a valid 9 contract entered into between the alien and the pro- 10 fessional baseball team with which the alien played 11 in the preceding baseball season. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Feb 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H198.IH H198 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS