BY TIM JOHNSON

 WASHINGTON -- If Congress defies President Bush and insists on letting U.S. citizens travel freely to Cuba, the president may veto an entire $17 billion appropriations bill that includes the softer language, a White House office warned Thursday.

 The warning from Mitch Daniels, director of the Office of Management and Budget, signaled a clear raising of the stakes on U.S. policy toward Cuba.

 In a letter to eight key legislators, Daniels said the White House "strongly opposes''any initiative to soften pressure on Cuban leader Fidel Castro, including a
 House-approved proposal July 25 that would prohibit the Treasury Department from spending money to enforce restrictions on U.S. travel to the island.

 "If a bill is presented to the president with this provision, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill,'' Daniels wrote.

 For most of the past four decades, U.S. citizens have been barred from spending U.S. currency in Cuba, virtually blocking U.S. tourism to the island. Current law allows some U.S. citizens -- such as government officials, journalists, humanitarian workers and business owners -- to travel with a specific or general license.

 Illegal travel by U.S. citizens to Cuba has been on the upswing, however, and members of Congress have voted to abolish the federal travel restrictions for two consecutive years.

 Last year, language lifting the travel restrictions was stricken from a House-approved bill as the proposal passed through the Senate.

 This year, House members, voting 240-186, again sought to prevent the Treasury Department from spending money to enforce the travel restrictions. The amendment was attached to a huge Treasury appropriations bill, which later was approved by the Senate without the language. The spending plan is now before House-Senate conferees seeking to iron out different language in the two versions of the bill.

 Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Miami Republican, applauded the White House for maintaining a firm stance on Cuba and preventing tourist dollars from flowing to support Castro.

 "Our goal, as always, will be the denial of economic resources that would not only allow the Castro regime to continue oppressing its people,'' she said in a statement.

                                    © 2001