Senators will introduce legislation on Thursday ending restrictions on U.S. citizens' travel to Cuba.

According to Reuters, this would be the first effort in Congress toward ending the U.S. embargo in Cuba since President Obama's announcement last month to normalize relations with the island country.

The eight senators backing the bill are Republicans Jeff Flake, Jerry Moran, Michael Enzi and John Boozman and Democrats Patrick Leahy, Richard Durbin, Tom Udall and Sheldon Whitehouse.

Republican Rep. Mark Sanford and Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern will introduce a companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives by next week.

The proposed bill would end legal restrictions on travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens and legal residents and will end restrictions on travel-related banking transactions.

Although Obama announced the loosening of travel restrictions last month, Congress must vote to end the laws that putting them in place.

President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced in December plans to work towards normalizing relations between the U.S. and Cuba. This comes more than 50 years after Fidel Castro took power and began implementing communist rule in the country.

Anti-Castro Cuban-American lawmakers, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez have been vocal against ending the embargo against Cuba. Despite the senators' opposition, there have been no announcements for plans to introduce legislation preventing the new bill.

There will be hearings on Cuba next week in the Senate and the House.

According to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, six in 10 Americans approve of the nation's move toward diplomatic recognition of Cuba by the United States.

Despite the progress made between Obama and Castro, the Cuban president warned against too much U.S. involvement in the country. Castro's speech on Wednesday warned any U.S. interference in Cuba's internal affairs would make any effort to normalize relations between U.S. and Cuba meaningless.

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