House lawmaker seeks to block U.S.-Cuba flights

A House lawmaker is introducing legislation to block Cuba's airports from opening for flights to and from the United States, saying the risks are too high and that lawmakers have been stonewalled by Cuba and the Obama administration.

"Our job is to make sure it's safe, and we just don't have any confidence right now because we don't know," Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Subcommittee on Transportation Security, said at a roundtable for reporters on Tuesday.

Last month, Cuba denied visas for a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Katko, who were seeking to examine airport security in the country. The rejection took place through the standard administrative process, which does not require that a reason be provided for the rejection.

Katko's bill, the "Cuban Airport Security Act," would prevent as many as 110 daily flights from entering the U.S. from Cuba this fall.

"I think it's kind of curious, and I think ominous. ... If they really wanted us to come there and they didn't have any concerns, why would they deny us the visas?" Katko said. "When ISIS has stated again and again that they want to come to the United States ... and they've claimed responsibility for the bombings on [two] airlines ... we can't take a chance, and we have to do everything in our power to illuminate the issue.

"It may turn out there's nothing to worry about, but we don't know, and that's the concern that we have," Katko added.

Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C, said the Obama administration had contributed to the obstruction that lawmakers are experiencing. The island was designated as a state sponsor of terror until last year, but the administration has sought to normalize relations before the president leaves office.

"Their behavior hasn't changed much from where they were on the terrorist list," Hudson said. "[The Transportation Security Administration] is not allowed on the ground there. Air marshals are not allowed on the planes. We're being stonewalled not just by the Cubans, but by the TSA, when we ask questions."

"If there's no screening of baggage, you've got people making $5 a day screening the baggage, we don't know who they are, it doesn't take a whole lot of imagination to see a scenario where someone could put a bomb on these planes," Hudson added.