their itinerary includes meetings with cuban government officials, a possible meeting with cardinal jaime ortega alamino, possible meetings with representatives of cuba's civil society, a visit to the u.s. interests section, and a meeting with other ambassadors to cuba. the delegation will travel to cuba on saturday, and return monday evening.









a spokesman for sen. richard durbin, an illinois democrat, tells cnn, the delegation will seek "clarity from cuba on what they envision normalization of relations to look like, and, "going beyond past rote responses such as 'end the embargo."









the spokesman says the congressional members, "hope to develop a sense of what cuba and united states are prepared to do to make a constructive relationship possible. " the delegation will also, "impress upon cuban leaders the importance of concrete results and positive momentum," and, "convey a sense of americans' expectations, and perceptions in congress." senator patrick leahy of vermont, who is heading the delegation looking forward to<u+00a0>#cuba<u+00a0>visit to discuss our relationship & potential collaboration w/<u+00a0>#ri's academic institutions<u+00a0>http://t.co/ao5r782ea0 <u+2014> sheldon whitehouse (@senwhitehouse) january 17, 2015
u.s. congressional delegation travels to cuba this weekend
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