WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- With more Americans skirting the law
                 and making their way to Cuba's beaches, lawmakers and analysts
                 say U.S. President George W. Bush faces a political dilemma over
                 whether to ease 40-year-old sanction s on the communist-led island.

                 Democrats who hold the majority in the Senate on Thursday said they will
                 follow up on a vote by the Republican-led House of Representatives to
                 repeal the ban on Americans traveling to Cuba, and are pushing other
                 measures to relax the trade embargo such as easing restrictions on sales
                 of food and medicine.

                 "I think we will prevail on this issue this year, and whether he signs it or not,
                 that's up to President Bush," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat
                 who has pushed to ease the standoff with the island nation 90 miles off Florida.

                 Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said it was important
                 to make "this incremental move" to lift the travel ban, and that he expected the
                 Senate to act on it.

                 "I just sense that there is a growing momentum behind taking small actions like
                 this," Daschle told reporters.

                 Few expect a broad rollback of sanctions to clear Congress this year, and such
                 a move likely would meet a swift veto by Bush, analysts and lawmakers said.

                 While backers of full repeal picked up a few votes in the House over last year,
                 the measure failed on Wednesday 227-201.

                 White House digs in

                 The more modest step to lift the travel ban passed 240-186, with 67
                 Republicans and 172 Democrats backing it.

                 The White House immediately said it would not accept any easing of sanctions
                 which the influential Cuban exile community says must stay in place to punish
                 Fidel Castro's government.

                 "The president thinks it's important to send a strong message against oppression
                 in Cuba, and that is not a measure that the president would support," White
                 House spokesman Ari Fleischer said of Wednesday's House action.

                 But with growing sentiment in Congress to offer Americans a chance to see
                 Cuba for themselves and perhaps exert some influence during the aging Castro's
                 remaining time in power, analysts said Bush's position might be hard to
                 maintain.

                 He may be forced to agree to a fairly small step, such as lifting travel
                 restrictions or easing restrictions on food and medicine sales to Cuba, they said.

                 Even Senate Republican leader Trent Lott of Mississippi, a staunch supporter of
                 the trade sanctions, said the Senate may have to bow to reality and agree with
                 the House to lift at least the travel ban portion of the sanctions.

                 "What I've always opposed is just lifting the sanctions. People are traveling there
                 now," Lott told Reuters.

                 But relaxing the embargo could deal a setback for re-election hopes of both
                 Bush, and his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, in the state where outcomes can
                 be swayed by the Cuban community centered around Miami.

                 "With Florida remaining in play, they must re-elect Jeb for George's re-election,"
                 said an analyst at an economic institution who asked not to be identified. "Bush's
                 challenge is now he appears to be doing more for the people of south Florida
                 than for the country in general."

                 Polls show support for an end to the travel ban, with some of the strongest
                 support from a few conservative Republicans who argue the ban infringes on
                 the rights of U.S. citizens.

                 "Americans should be free to travel wherever they want," conservative
                 Republican Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona, who sponsored the travel ban repeal in
                 the House, said during the floor debate on Wednesday.

                 "What we've done is erect our own Berlin Wall preventing the free travel of
                 Americans," said Rep. William Delahunt, a Massachusetts Democrat. "It's time
                 to tear the wall down."

                 Under current restrictions, U.S. citizens must get a license from the Treasury
                 Department to travel to Cuba, and these are limited to journalists, academics,
                 government officials and people on humanitarian missions.

                 But Americans are finding ways to reach Cuba by traveling through third
                 countries, with an estimated 200,000 visiting there in 1999, up from about
                 120,000 the previous year.

                 Dorgan said in addition to lifting the travel ban, he will push to ease restrictions
                 on shipping and allow direct financing and other measures that enable U.S.
                 companies to sell food and medicine to Cuba.

                 Congress and former President Bill Clinton agreed to lift the embargo on food
                 and medicine, but Dorgan complained that Republicans made last minute
                 changes that rendered the agreement virtually meaningless.

                    Copyright 2001 Reuters.