Citing links to terrorism, State Rep. David Rivera announced a proposal to strip government benefits from Floridians who travel to Cuba, even if they do so legally.

BY LESLEY CLARK

A Miami Republican who prodded President Bush to get tougher on Fidel Castro is one-upping the president: He's proposing to strip food stamps and health insurance from those who travel to the island.

Dubbed the ''Travel and Commerce with Terrorist Nations Act,'' a bill proposed by State Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, would punish those who travel -- even legally -- to Cuba by cutting off access to Medicaid, food stamps and housing assistance for a year.

Rivera said the legislation is aimed at stopping recent arrivals who come to the United States, apply for benefits and then travel back to visit Cuba.

Though such travel is legal, Rivera argues that the money spent on the island only helps prop up Cuban leader Castro.

''It's an issue of gratitude,'' Rivera said at a news conference Tuesday. ``People are sick and tired of people living here, taking advantage of taxpayer generosity and then providing financial support to the Castro regime by traveling back to the island.''

Under the bill, anyone who has lived in Florida for less than five years and travels to any country the U.S. Department of State lists as a sponsor of terrorism would be ineligible for state services for at least a year.

Besides Cuba, the countries include Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Syria and Sudan. Because direct charter flights from Florida to any of the other nations are essentially nonexistent, the bill ultimately applies only to Cuba.

Activists who favor increased contact with the island accused Rivera of trying to rally support for the president's travel restrictions, which cut back exiles' trips to Cuba from once a year to once every three years.

''It's absolutely outrageous. It's penalizing the people and doing absolutely nothing to speed up any changes in Cuba,'' said Silvia Wilhelm, executive director of the Cuban American Commission for Family Rights. ``This has nothing to do with democracy in Cuba and everything to do with elections in the U.S.''

A POLITICAL TIGHTROPE

The proposal illustrates the complicated landscape Bush faces as he tries to bolster his standing among the voting bloc of Cuban Americans who are key to his re-election effort.

Polls suggest that new restrictions that limit travel and cash remittances to families have been embraced by hard-line exiles, who had urged Bush to take a stronger stance against Castro or risk losing Cuban-American support at the polls in November.

Rivera was among a dozen legislators who wrote to Bush last summer, warning him that Cuban Americans would be less than enthusiastic about his re-election if he didn't tighten sanctions on Castro. The new restrictions went into effect in late June.

But many younger Cuban Americans have decried the restrictions as too harsh, and Democrats have sought to court those voters, calling the restrictions harmful to families.

Several groups have vowed to launch voter registration drives to register younger Cuban Americans.

Bush is scheduled to visit Miami on Friday for a rally at the Miami Arena as part of his pre-Republican National Convention campaign swing through several of the most hotly contested battleground states. His campaign said he will be joined by Sen. Zell Miller, a Georgia Democrat who backs Bush and will serve as the convention's keynote speaker.

NOT A `CRITICISM'

By landing to Bush's right, Rivera's proposal could help Bush underscore Republican contentions that some Cuban Americans would eagerly embrace even tougher restrictions than those already enacted.

''I don't take his critics into account because I don't think there are that many,'' said Rivera, who said his proposal should be viewed as a ''complement,'' not a criticism, of Bush's policy.

''With this we're looking to combat the abuses,'' Rivera said. The president's ``changes were significant steps in the right direction, but that does not mean we should cease looking for ways to deny the Castro regime the hard currency it so desperately needs to sustain its oppressive system.''

Rivera contends the proposal is not entirely punitive: He would direct any money unspent on travelers to programs to purchase eyeglasses and hearing aids for the elderly -- and he notes that those under 18 or over 65, disabled or pregnant would not be affected by the legislation.

The proposal also would require all travelers to Cuba to register with the state -- and would slap a $10 per passenger fee on the charter airlines that fly to the island.

A similar bill cleared the House during the legislative session in the spring, but died in the Senate. A spokesman for incoming House Speaker Allan Bense said Bense hadn't yet seen the proposal, but was willing to consider it.