The decision is another long stride in President Barack Obama's effort to normalize U.S.-Cuba relations.

"Reopening travel relations with Cuba is about more than just restoring the freedom to travel there for all Americans —it's about opening Cuba to new ideas, new values and improved human rights that our 50-year-old policy of isolation could not achieve," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

But Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, expressed doubts about the Cuban government's ability to prevent attacks by militants, saying the Obama administration is "in a mad rush to sign agreements" before "ensuring basic safeguards of security."