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Visit America Act

Floor Speech

By: Jan Schakowsky

Date: Sept. 28, 2022

Location: Washington, DC

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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6965) to promote travel and tourism in the United States, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 6965

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Visit America Act''. SEC. 2. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR TRAVEL AND TOURISM.

Section 2(d) of the Reorganization Plan Numbered 3 of 1979 (93 Stat. 1382; 5 U.S.C. App.) is amended--

(1) by striking ``There shall be in the Department two additional Assistant Secretaries'' and inserting ``(1) There shall be in the Department 3 additional Assistant Secretaries, including the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism,''; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

``(2) The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism shall--

``(A) be appointed by the President, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate; and

``(B) report directly to the Under Secretary for International Trade.''. SEC. 3. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF COMMERCE FOR TRAVEL AND TOURISM.

(a) Visitation Goals.--The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism (referred to in this section as the ``Assistant Secretary''), appointed pursuant to section 2(d) of the Reorganization Plan Numbered 3 of 1979, as amended by section 2, shall--

(1) in consultation with relevant Federal agencies, establish an annual visitation goal, consistent with the goals of the travel and tourism strategy developed pursuant to section 4(1), for--

(A) the number of international visitors to the United States; and

(B) the value of travel and tourism commerce;

(2) develop recommendations for achieving the annual goals established pursuant to paragraph (1);

(3) ensure that travel and tourism policy is developed in consultation with--

(A) the Tourism Policy Council;

(B) the Secretary of State;

(D) the National Travel and Tourism Office;

(E) Brand USA;

(F) the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board; and

(G) travel industry partners, including public and private destination marketing organizations, travel and tourism suppliers, and labor representatives from these industries;

(4) establish short-, medium-, and long-term timelines for implementing the recommendations developed pursuant to paragraph (2);

(5) conduct Federal agency needs assessments, in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget and other relevant Federal agencies, to identify the resources, statutory or regulatory changes, and private sector engagement needed to achieve the annual visitation goals; and

(6) provide assessments and recommendations to--

(A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate;

(B) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives; and

(b) Domestic Travel and Tourism.--The Assistant Secretary, to the extent feasible, shall--

(1) evaluate, on an ongoing basis, domestic policy options for supporting competitiveness with respect to the strengths, weaknesses, and growth of the domestic travel industry;

(2) develop recommendations and goals to support and enhance domestic tourism, separated by business and leisure; and

(3) engage public and private stakeholders to support domestic tourism.

(1) consult with the Secretary of Labor to develop strategies and best practices for improving the timeliness and reliability of travel and tourism workforce data;

(2) work with the Secretary of Labor and the Bureau of Economic Analysis to improve travel and tourism industry data; and

(3) provide recommendations for policy enhancements and efficiencies.

(d) International Business Travel Facilitation.--The Assistant Secretary, in coordination with relevant Federal agencies, shall work to increase and facilitate international business travel to the United States and ensure competitiveness by engaging in, at a minimum--

(1) facilitating large meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions to be hosted in the United States;

(2) emphasizing rural and other destinations rich in cultural heritage or ecological tourism, among other uniquely American destinations, as locations for hosting international meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions in the United States; and

(3) facilitating sports and recreation events and activities, which shall be hosted in the United States.

(e) Recovery Strategy.--

(1) Initial recovery strategy.--Not later than 1 year after amounts are appropriated to accomplish the purposes of this section, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with public and private stakeholders identified in subsection (a)(3) and public health officials, shall develop and implement a COVID- 19 public health emergency recovery strategy to assist the United States travel and tourism industry to quickly recover from the pandemic.

(2) Future recovery strategies.--After assisting in the implementation of the strategy developed pursuant to paragraph (1), the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with appropriate public and private stakeholders, shall develop additional recovery strategies for the travel and tourism industry in anticipation of other unforeseen catastrophic events that would significantly affect the travel and tourism industry, such as hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, tornadoes, terrorist attacks, and pandemics.

(3) Cost-benefit analysis.--In developing the COVID-19 public health emergency recovery strategy under paragraph (1) and additional recovery strategies for the travel and tourism industry under paragraph (2), the Assistant Secretary shall conduct cost-benefit analyses that take into account the health and economic effects of public health mitigation measures on the travel and tourism industry.

(f) Reporting Requirements.--

(1) Assistant secretary.--The Assistant Secretary shall produce an annual forecasting report on the travel and tourism industry, to the extent feasible, which shall include current and anticipated--

(A) domestic employment needs;

(B) international inbound volume and spending, taking into account the lasting effects of the COVID-19 public health emergency and the impact of the recovery strategy implemented pursuant to subsection (e)(1); and

(2) Bureau of economic analysis.--The Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis should annually update, to the extent feasible, the Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts, including--

(A) State level travel and tourism spending data;

(B) travel and tourism workforce data for full-time and part-time employment; and

(3) National travel and tourism office.--The Director of the National Travel and Tourism Office--

(A) in partnership with the Bureau of Economic Analysis and other relevant Federal agencies, shall report international arrival and spending data on a regular monthly schedule, which shall be made available to the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board and to the public through a publicly available website; and

(B) shall include questions in the Survey of International Air Travelers regarding wait-times, visits to public lands, and State data, to the extent applicable. SEC. 4. TRAVEL AND TOURISM STRATEGY.

Not less frequently than once every 10 years, the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, the Tourism Policy Council, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall develop and submit to Congress a 10-year travel and tourism strategy, which shall include--

(1) the establishment of goals with respect to the number of annual international visitors to the United States and the annual value of travel and tourism commerce in the United States during such 10-year period;

(2) the resources needed to achieve the goals established pursuant to paragraph (1); and

(3) recommendations for statutory or regulatory changes that would be necessary to achieve such goals. SEC. 5. UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD.

Section 3 of the Act of July 19, 1940, entitled ``An Act to encourage travel in the United States, and for other purposes'' (15 U.S.C. 1546) is amended--

(1) by striking ``sec. 3'' and all that follows through ``The Secretary of the Interior is authorized'' and inserting the following: ``SEC. 3. UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD; ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

``(a) United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.--

``(1) In general.--There is established the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board (referred to in this subsection as the `Board'), the members of which shall be appointed by the Secretary of Commerce for 2-year terms from among companies and organizations in the travel and tourism industry.

``(2) Executive director.--The Assistant Secretary for Travel and Tourism shall serve as the Executive Director of the Board.

``(3) Executive secretariat.--The Director of the National Travel and Tourism Office of the International Trade Administration shall serve as the Executive Secretariat for the Board.

``(4) Functions.--The Board's Charter shall specify that the Board will--

``(A) serve as the advisory body to the Secretary of Commerce on matters relating to the travel and tourism industry in the United States;

``(B) advise the Secretary of Commerce on Government policies and programs that affect the United States travel and tourism industry;

``(C) offer counsel on current and emerging issues;

``(D) provide a forum for discussing and proposing solutions to problems related to the travel and tourism industry; and

``(E) provide advice regarding the domestic travel and tourism industry as an economic engine.

``(5) Recovery strategy.--The Board shall assist the Assistant Secretary in the development and implementation of the COVID-19 public health emergency recovery strategy required under section 3(e)(1) of the Visit America Act.

``(b) Advisory Committee for Promotion of Tourist Travel.-- The Secretary of Commerce is authorized''; and

(2) by striking ``the Secretary of the Interior to serve'' and inserting ``the Secretary of Commerce to serve''. SEC. 6. DATA ON DOMESTIC TRAVEL AND TOURISM.

The Secretary of Commerce, subject to the availability of appropriations, shall collect and make public aggregate data on domestic travel and tourism trends. SEC. 7. COMPLETION OF PROCEEDING.

If the Secretary of Commerce has, before the date of the enactment of this Act, taken action that in whole or in part implements this Act or the amendments made by this Act, the Secretary is not required to revisit such action, but only to the extent such action is consistent with this Act and the amendments made by this Act. SEC. 8. DEFINED TERM.

In this Act, the term ``COVID-19 public health emergency''--

(1) means the public health emergency first declared on January 31, 2020, by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) with respect to COVID-19; and

(2) includes any renewal of such declaration pursuant to such section 319.

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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. 6965.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 6965, the Visit America Act.

Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, America's travel and tourism industry has been seriously upended. The pandemic caused a 48 percent reduction for the industry in 2020. The bipartisan Visit America Act is the latest bill that the House has brought to the floor to help turn the tide for a sector that has not rebounded as quickly as some others.

While travel has certainly increased over the last year, it is still significantly lower than previously before the pandemic. As an example, business travel spending is on the rise, but it is still expected to be 50 percent below 2019 levels. In the meantime, the number of travelers visiting the United States from overseas fell by 79 percent in September 2021 as compared to that same month in 2019.

These are significant reductions that are impacting not only companies directly involved in the tourism and travel industry but small businesses all across the Nation that rely on travelers to keep them in business.

Today, the United States is the only G20 country not to have a high- ranking official focusing on the travel and tourism industry. This has prevented the industry from producing a coordinated approach to recovery of the industry and to make us more competitive with the rest of the world.

H.R. 6965 addresses this deficiency and provides the industry with a path forward for continuing recovery and growth in the future. This bill establishes the role of the assistant secretary of commerce for travel and tourism at the Department of Commerce. It also requires the assistant secretary to develop and implement a COVID-19 pandemic recovery strategy, as well as strategic plans for future disruptions that hopefully we aren't going to see.

The bill also requires the Department of Commerce to develop a 10- year travel and tourism strategy, as well as provides statutory authority for the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, which will aid the assistant secretary in developing and implementing these important strategies.

H.R. 6965 passed out of the Committee on Energy and Commerce last week unanimously, 56-0. I commend the tireless and passionate efforts put forth by Representative Titus, the author of this legislation. Without her and the good work done by Representatives Soto, Case, Kuster, and the late Don Young--God bless his heart--we would not have gotten this agenda done. I also thank Chairmen Nadler and Meeks for working with us to get this to the House floor today.

I know the Senate has also been working on travel and tourism legislation and is moving forward with a package of bills that includes the Visit America Act. Although there are some technical differences between the two bills, my hope is that we can get together and work together as quickly as possible and get this legislation passed.

House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, Washington, DC, September 23, 2022. Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr. Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Pallone: This letter is to advise you that the Committee on the Judiciary has now had an opportunity to review the provisions in H.R. 6965, the ``Visit America Act,'' that fall within our Rule X jurisdiction. I appreciate your consulting with us on those provisions. The Judiciary Committee is willing to forgo action on H.R. 6965, with the understanding that we do not thereby waive any future jurisdictional claim over those provisions or their subject matters.

In the event a House-Senate conference on this or similar legislation is convened, the Judiciary Committee reserves the right to request an appropriate number of conferees to address any concerns with these or similar provisions that may arise in conference.

Please place this letter into the Congressional Record during consideration of the measure on the House floor. Thank you for the cooperative spirit in which you have worked regarding this matter and others between our committees. Sincerely, Jerrold Nadler, Chairman. ____ House of Representatives, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Washington, DC, September 23, 2022. Hon. Jerrold Nadler, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Nadler: Thank you for consulting with the Committee on Energy and Commerce and agreeing to be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 6965, the ``Visit America Act,'' so that the bill may proceed expeditiously to the House floor.

I agree that your forgoing further action on this measure does not in any way diminish or alter the jurisdiction of your Committee or prejudice its jurisdictional prerogatives on this measure or similar legislation in the future. I would support your effort to seek appointment of an appropriate number of conferees from your committee to any House-Senate conference on this legislation.

I will place our letters into the Congressional Record during consideration of the measure on the House floor. I appreciate your cooperation regarding this legislation and look forward to continuing to work together as this measure moves through the legislative process. Sincerely, Frank Pallone, Jr., Chairman. ____ House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Washington, DC, September 26, 2022. Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr., Chair, Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Chair Pallone: In recognition of the desire to expedite consideration of H.R. 6965, the ``Visit America Act,'' the Committee on Foreign Affairs agrees to waive formal consideration of the bill as to provisions that fall within the rule X jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The Committee on Foreign Affairs takes this action with the mutual understanding that we do not waive any jurisdiction over the subject matter contained in this or similar legislation, and the Committee will be appropriately consulted and involved as the bill or similar legislation moves forward so that we may address any issues within our jurisdiction. I ask you to support the appointment of Committee on Foreign Affairs conferees during any House- Senate conference convened on this legislation.

Finally, thank you for agreeing to include a copy of our exchange of letters in the Congressional Record during floor consideration of H.R. 6965. Sincerely, Gregory W. Meeks, Chairman. House of Representatives, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Washington, DC, September 27, 2022. Hon. Gregory W. Meeks, Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Meeks: Thank you for consulting with the Committee on Energy and Commerce and agreeing to be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 6965, the ``Visit America Act,'' so that the bill may proceed expeditiously to the House floor.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I urge everyone to support this legislation because it is so important, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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