"It is possible to use a different mix of policy measures to serve important
 American interests." -- EIGHT REPUBLICANS, in a joint policy statement
 
BY GEORGE GEDDA
 Associated Press

 WASHINGTON -- Declaring that U.S. policy toward Cuba is outmoded, eight
 prominent Republicans called Wednesday for an end to restrictions on the sale of
 food and medicine to Cuba and on travel by Americans to the island.

 They also recommended that a time limit, or ``sunset'' arrangement, be placed on
 a 1996 Cuba sanctions law so the next president and the new Congress could
 have ``an unfettered opportunity to determine how best to approach the Cuba
 issue.''

 The overall proposal amounts to a call for a partial lifting of the U.S. embargo
 against Cuba.

 Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush has advocated that the
 embargo be kept in place until Cuba holds free elections, permits free speech and
 releases political prisoners.

 Vice President Al Gore has said there cannot be normal relations with Cuba until
 there is a transition to democracy there.

 The policy shift was recommended by John Block, a former secretary of
 agriculture; Frank Carlucci, a former defense secretary and national security
 advisor; William Clark, also a former national security advisor; Carla Hills, former
 U.S. special trade representative; Illinois Gov. George Ryan; John Whitehead, a
 former deputy secretary of state; Clayton Yeutter, a former U.S. special trade
 representative, agriculture secretary and chairman of the Republican National
 Committee; and Jim Courter, a former New Jersey congressman who served on
 the House Armed Services Committee for 14 years. Most of the eight have
 campaigned against the embargo.

 The eight said in a statement that in the post-Cold War era, the policy of isolating
 Cuba no longer makes sense.

 ``Today, with the Soviet bloc gone and Cuban military capabilities vastly reduced,
 it is possible to use a different mix of policy measures to serve important
 American interests such as promoting human rights, assisting the Cuban people,
 and building contacts with the generation that will govern Cuba in the new
 century,'' the eight said.

 Their statement was released by the Lexington Institute, a nonpartisan public
 policy research organization.

 The House recently voted to lift restrictions on the sale of food and medicine to
 Cuba. The Senate has not taken a stand.

 The fate of the bill is expected to be decided shortly by House-Senate conferees
 as Congress moves toward adjournment.

 As for travel to Cuba, Americans who are students or have a professional interest
 in the island may go there, but general tourism by Americans is barred.