http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/04/14/obama-removes-cuba-from-state-sponsor-terror-list/Obama to remove Cuba from state sponsor of terror list
Published April 14, 2015FoxNews.com
President Obama is removing Cuba from a list of countries that sponsor terrorism, the White House said Tuesday.
The president took the formal step of submitted to Congress the requisite report and certifications indicating the administration’s intent to rescind Cuba’s State Sponsor of Terrorism designation.
The president’s decision, a further step toward normalizing relations with the communist country, comes after his review of a State Department report on the matter.
A top Senate Democrat immediately hailed the move.
“The removal of Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list is a welcome move,” said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the chamber’s No. 2 Democrat. “ While no fan of the Castro regime, I continue to believe that opening up the island to American ideas, vibrancy, and trade is the most effective way to see a more open and tolerant Cuba.”
The official decision comes long after the United States stopped actively accusing Cuba of supporting terrorism.
Cuba was one of four countries on the U.S. list of nations accused of repeatedly supporting global terrorism. The countries still on the list are Iran, Syria and Sudan.
Obama announced in December that the U.S. and Cuba were ending a half-century of hostilities, which would allow travel between the countries.