WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Cuba has told the United States it is ready to talk
                  about migration issues between the two countries, the State Department said
                  Thursday.

                  Richard Boucher, a State Department spokesman, said the Cuban government
                  finally answered a diplomatic note the department sent on Monday, which
                  expressed U.S. concern over Cuban policies that prevent Cubans who hold U.S.
                  visas from migrating to the United States.

                  Normally, those concerns would be addressed at twice-a-year migration meetings
                  between the two countries. But the last such meeting was held last December in
                  Havana, and the Cubans had been refusing U.S. demands for a new set of talks.

                  In a response to the U.S. note, the Cuban government said it would be ready to
                  restart the talks.

                  But Boucher called the rest of the 15-page document "rhetoric."

                  "It contains the same tired old rhetoric of victimization that they've used since the
                  '60s," he said.

                  Cuban Adjustment Act criticized

                  Boucher said the note detailed Cuban criticism of the Cuban Adjustment Act, a
                  1966 law which allows Cuban migrants who reach U.S. shores to remain in the
                  U.S.

                  "We don't negotiate U.S. laws with the Cubans or anybody else," Boucher said.

                  On Monday, the Cuban government called the U.S. policy "criminal."

                  Roberto Garcia, a diplomat with the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, said
                  the Cuban Adjustment Act, "is responsible for the continued death of Cubans."

                  "They receive a lot of privileges when they reach the U.S.," he said.

                  But the State Department maintains that Cuba refuses to address U.S. concerns
                  about the rising number of Cubans illegally fleeing Cuba, trying to reach the
                  United States.

                  The note sent by the United States to the Cuban government details an expensive
                  and cumbersome process in Cuba to obtain an exit visa, including a $400 medical
                  test, a $50 passport fee and a $150 exit fee, the official said. The fees are
                  prohibitive for many Cuban workers, who earn an average salary of $10 per
                  month.

                  A 1994 agreement between the United States and Cuba calls for 20,000 U.S.
                  visas to be granted for Cuban migrants each year, although the quota is often
                  expanded to accommodate Cubans with families in the United States.

                  According to the note, 117 Cubans from 57 families, all holding valid U.S. visas,
                  were denied exit permits by the Cuban government over a recent 75-day period.

                  Havana acknowledges that 56 names on the list of 117 are being held back. But
                  Cuba's foreign ministry says delaying exit permits for doctors and other
                  professionals for a period of up to five years is justified because of the
                  investment Cuba makes in educating them.

                  As for dissidents and deserters, Havana says they deserve no special
                  consideration.

                  The Cuban government's continued prevention of legal migration, U.S. officials
                  said, has led to an increase in Cuban nationals leaving the country illegally.

                  'Desperate sea voyages'

                  The U.S. Coast Guard has been picking up growing numbers of Cuban migrants
                  in U.S. waters. Despite the fact many hold U.S. visas, protocol dictates that they
                  be returned to Cuba.

                  The recent deaths of two Cuban brothers in their 20s has led to increased
                  concern over the issue. Both were fleeing the island when they were attacked by
                  a shark.

                  The case "highlights the growing propensity of Cubans denied the means to
                  migrate in a safe, orderly and legal fashion to risk their lives in desperate sea
                  voyages," the note said

                  Boucher encouraged the Cuban government to "issue the exit permits right
                  away."

                  "If they haven't done it by the time we meet with them, we'll certainly make this
                  an issue," he said.

                         Havana Bureau Chief Lucia Newman contributed to this report.