By Jim Abrams
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON -- House lawmakers, contending that 40 years of isolating Cuba had failed to undermine the Castro government, voted to
ease restrictions on traveling to the island and sending money to Cuban households.

The Bush administration threatened to veto an $89.3 billion spending bill if the Cuba provisions were included.

``We shouldn't emulate Castro's heavy-handedness by curtailing the freedom of our own citizens,'' said Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., supporter of
the amendment, passed 227-188, to lift barriers on travel to the communist state.

The House defied the White House a second time by approving, 220-198, an amendment to put a hold on new administration rules to foster
more competition between the public and private sector for federal contracts.

The White House said blocking its ``competitive sourcing'' initiative, a top Bush priority, would also subject the bill to a veto. ``The administration seeks to improve
the performance of government services based on the common sense principle of competition,'' it said.

The White House similarly warned the Cuba votes would kill the bill because ``it is essential to maintain sanctions and travel restrictions to deny economic resources
to the brutal Castro regime.''

President Bush has yet to veto a bill coming out of Congress, and it is unclear if this bill will reach that stage. The Senate has yet to take up the legislation, funding
Transportation and Treasury Department programs for the budget year starting in October, and House-Senate negotiators could take out the controversial
provisions.

The Flake amendment would end a policy that has limited travel to Cuba to family visits and visits by educational, humanitarian, media or diplomatic groups.

The Treasury Department says about 160,000 Americans, half of them Cuban-Americans visiting family members, traveled to Cuba legally last year. Thousands
more visit illegally, by way of third countries, risking fines and imprisonment.

The Flake amendment, while passing, was 35 votes short of a similar amendment last year as lawmakers reacted to the recent crackdown on political dissent in
Cuba. House-Senate negotiators removed the language last year before the bill got to the president.

It's unconscionable after the arrest of close to 80 dissidents, said Cuban-American Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., ``to be here seeking to reward the dictatorship
for its deplorable action.''

Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., also won 222-196 approval of an amendment to lift the caps on remittances to families in Cuba. ``Dollars from American relatives
can make a huge difference in the quality of life for a Cuban family,'' he said.

Opponents argued that the Castro government siphoned off the money to bolster its repressive and anti-American policies.

Currently, Americans are limited to sending $300 every three months to a Cuban household. Visitors to Cuba can carry $300 each for up to 10 households.

In a third Cuba vote, Rep. Jim Davis, D-Fla., succeeded 246-173 in an amendment stopping the Treasury Department from implementing new rules to tighten
licensing for people-to-people educational tours. The administration said groups were abusing the educational label to promote pleasure trips to the island, but Davis
argued that the rules would hamper legitimate efforts to promote U.S. ideas and values in Cuba.

The Transportation-Treasury bill passed 381-39. It includes $33.8 billion for highway spending, $4.5 billion more than the president requested, and meets the
president's request of $900 million for Amtrak. It also includes a 4.1 percent cost-of-living raise for civilian and military federal employees, an action that in effect
also guarantees that members of Congress will receive a 2.2 percent raise to more than $158,000 a year.

The House also passed, by 210-206, a bill to fund District of Columbia programs. Final passage came after a tense 209-208 vote to approve a $10 million
private-school voucher program for D.C.

With the D.C. vote, the House completed work on all 13 spending bills it must pass to fund federal programs in fiscal 2004, starting Oct. 1. The Senate, however,
has passed only four of the bills, and, as in most years, Congress likely will have to approve stopgap measures to keep programs running after the fiscal year begins.
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The bill is H.R. 2989 On the Net: Congress: http:thomas.loc.gov/

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