remains intact. the obama administration signaled today they'll do everything they can administratively to push against it and they'd like to see it ended, but the reason they can't end it directly is because congress enshrined the economic embargo into u.s. law in 1996 right after cuba shot down two small planes, two cessna aircraft that were piloted by members of one of those anti-castro exile groups based in florida. after those planes were shot down, the helms/burton act made the economic embargo against cuba something that the president couldn't kidissolve o his own. it would take an act of congress to get rid of the economic embargo. is congress going to do that? is this congress going to do anything? i mean, substantively this congress is deeply split on this issue. it was a bipartisan and bicamera group of lawmakers that flew to cuba to bring alan gross home. chris van hollen, he's alan