WASHINGTON - Montana and Wyoming legislators are moving forward with their quixotic efforts to open up trade between the United States and Cuba.

Senators Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., have received a promise that legislation permitting U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba will be debated soon, and Baucus and Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., will be leading a trade delegation to Cuba on Friday.

The minor victory and the trip to Cuba are not expected to move the Bush administration or powerful House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who are vehemently opposed to improving relations with the Caribbean nation.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind., has agreed to bring up Baucus and Enzi's bill. The bill has 28 cosponsors, and if approved by the committee, could win the support of a majority of the Senate.

"I have worked it so many times it is hard to tell," Enzi said in reference to his repeated efforts to pass the bill.

Baucus said the outcome depends on the amount of freedom that Republican senators have.

"If senators vote their conscience, yes, but they are under some pressure from the administration," Baucus said.

Rehberg is not optimistic about prospects for the legislation.

"I don't think they will end their opposition anytime soon," Rehberg said. "They are formidable."

In 1960, President Dwight Eisenhower responded to Cuban President Fidel Castro's nationalization of the property of U.S. companies by imposing a trade embargo that is still in place. In 1958, Eisenhower banned Americans from traveling to Cuba. After the Supreme Court ruled that the ban was unconstitutional, Eisenhower banned Americans from spending money in Cuba. That ban, like the embargo and Fidel Castro, remains in place.

Both Enzi and Rehberg say they believe Castro will attempt to sabotage any efforts to improve relations.

"If we get something done, Castro will go out and arrest some dissidents or do something else to cause problems," Enzi said.

Rehberg is constantly weighing Castro's actions against the benefits of improving relations. Other countries, including members of the European Union, trade with Cuba.

"It's always hard to balance Fidel Castro's government and the way he treats dissidents," Rehberg said. "I don't want to condone what he is doing, but we are hurting ourselves. Who are we hurting by beating our chests and saying we won't trade with Cuba? Our own producers."

In order to prompt action on the legislation, Baucus had blocked Robert F. Noriega's nomination to serve as assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs. Enzi opposed Baucus' decision to stymie action on the Bush administration nominee's appointment. Baucus said he would now permit the Senate to vote on Noriega's nomination.

The effort to open trade with Cuba may signal a warming of relations between Baucus and Rehberg, who squared off against each other in the 1996 Senate race. The contest was particularly nasty, and Rehberg lost by only about 40,000 votes. They both say they have put the bitterness of the election behind them.

"My job is to help Montanans and so is his," Baucus said. "We have a cordial relationship."

Like Baucus, Rehberg said he is focused on doing what is best for Montanans.

"There are only three of us serving Montana: Max, (Sen.) Conrad (Burns, R-Mont.), and me," Rehberg said. "It would not serve the people of Montana if we could not work together."

In talking about their relationship, both men also mentioned Rehberg's cashmere goats. After being elected to Congress in 2000, Rehberg worked out a business partnership with Baucus' brother John and sister-in-law Nina. They are taking care of Rehberg's goats on the Baucus family ranch outside of Helena and Rehberg shares the profits from the cashmere with them.