Bart Jansen

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – Cuba refused to approve visas for five House lawmakers who sought to visit that country to investigate airline passenger screening for flights recently approved by the Transportation Department, the lawmakers said Friday.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, and Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., who heads the transportation subcommittee, had planned to leave Friday to evaluate security screening for scheduled flights that are set to resume later this year for the first time in more than 50 years.

“At a time when the Obama administration is rolling out the red carpet for Havana, the Cuban government refuses to be open and transparent with the people's representatives,” McCaul said.

Any airport sending flights directly to the U.S. must meet Transportation Security Administration standards. McCaul and Katko have questioned whether Cuba’s airports meet those standards.

Katko said lawmakers still don’t know if Cuba has adequate body scanners and explosive-detection systems in place.

“This is a government that was only just removed as a state sponsor of terrorism list one year ago, and it is not enough to rely on the Castro regime’s word that these airports are secure,” Katko said.

Reps. Martha McSally, R-Ariz.; Richard Hudson, R-N.C.; and Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, were also scheduled to go on the four-day trip.

The lawmakers delivered their credentials and visa requests to the office of the U.S. Marines' liaison on June 16, and the office delivered the documents to the Cuban embassy. Cuban officials did not officially deny the visa requests, but they never responded, the lawmakers said.

U.S. airlines chosen for scheduled flights to Cuba

Airlines have provided charter service to the Communist country about 90 miles from Florida for decades. But U.S. and Cuban officials agreed in February to resume scheduled flights for the first time since shortly after the 1959 revolution.

The agreement called for 110 daily flights to start later this year, with 20 to Havana and 10 each to nine other cities.

The Transportation Department approved 155 weekly flights to the nine other cities on June 10. Airlines have begun selling tickets for fall flights.

Contributing: Erin Kelly.