Legislation for a bill that would lift travel and some trade sanctions with Cuba is gaining popularity with some in Congress. The U.S.embargo, in place since 1962 following the communist takeover of the Caribbean island, is being challenged by a bipartisan group of lawmakers.

Representing a group including Human Rights Watch, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) maintains that the 47-year-old embargo has failed to achieve its stated purpose of bringing democracy to the island nation.

“Economic sanctions are a legitimate tool of U.S. foreign policy, and they have sometimes achieved their aims, as in the case of apartheid in South Africa,” said Lugar in a letter to President Obama citing the failure of the Cuban policy. “(But) it may have been used as a foil by the regime to demand further sacrifices from Cuba’s impoverished population.”

Embargo as a means to democratize the communist society remains a controversial issue.

“The embargo is illegal, it is essentially an act of war, and no war has been declared on Cuba,” said Assistant Professor of History Alvis Dunn. “If your goal is to open Cuban society, we should open ours. If our system is so wonderful, let them see it.”

President Obama recently overturned strict Bush administration travel restrictions limiting immediate family members to one two-week visit every three years. Extended families are now allowed to visit their Cuban relatives once a year.

Opposing the bill, Democrat Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, asserts that money invested from countries that have done business with Cuba have fueled the communist administration.

“If you want to change Cuba(n) policy, fine, let’s duke it out,” said Menendez. “Let’s know who’s for democracy and human rights and who wants to sell their stuff no matter how many people are in prison.”

Menendez may have hurt himself politically by not supporting his party’s legislation, especially in light of the fact that the bill is gaining popularity.

However, he is reflecting the sentiment of the displaced Cuban-American community in United States, some whose property was confiscated after the communist revolution.

“There is large portion of dispossessed Cubans, who refuse to have anything to do with Cuba until they’re compensated,” said Assistant Professor of Political Science Robert Duncan.

The bill has been defeated several times with the support of the Cuban-American community. If Obama lifts the travel restrictions for all, it will mark the first time in 47 years that a U.S. citizen could travel to Cuba.

“It’s sort of all over but the shouting, whether our country should maintain this embargo,” said Senate Democratic Policy chairman Byron Dorgan. “It’s pretty clear to everybody that this is a failed strategy and has been a failed strategy for a long time.”

However, the Obama administration maintains that it wants to keep the trade embargo in place to press for democratic reforms and force the government to improve their human rights record.

“The road to freedom for all Cubans must begin with justice for Cuba’s political prisoners, the right of free speech, a free press, freedom of assembly, and it must lead to elections that are free and fair,” said Obama on his campaign trail.

The proposal to allow travel may be the first step in reversing the almost half-century restriction. The proposed revisions to the trade embargo would open a market for agricultural sales providing much-needed revenue for Midwest farmers.

“The embargo was a poorly designed piece of legislation that has hurt us as a country economically,” said Duncan. “It prevents us from investing in Cuba or having any business relations. I think it’s about time to normalize relations and lift the sanctions.