Providing For Concurrence By House With Amendment In Senate Amendment To H.R. 1035, Morris K. Udall Scholarship And Excellence In National Environmental Policy Amendments Act Of 2009

Floor Speech

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Udall Scholarship in Excellence in NEPA Act by Congressman Grijalva. As part of the act, the House will consider Senate bill 1023, the Travel Promotion Act, which is similar to H.R. 2935 by Representative Delahunt of Massachusetts, a bill of which I'm pleased to be an original cosponsor.

The Travel Promotion Act is a jobs bill. It's a vital economic development initiative to combat the economic downturn that we've been battling since the spring of 2008. The Travel Promotion Act establishes a nonprofit corporation for travel promotion to promote tourism in the United States and provide travel information to people around the world.

Tourism is particularly important to my home State of Florida. Florida is a top travel destination from across the globe. The millions and millions of tourists who travel to Florida support a $57 billion tourism industry and our economy. People come from every nation to visit our beautiful beaches, Busch Gardens, Disneyworld and Universal Studios, the Everglades and more, and the Florida economy thrives and families have good jobs in a clean industry because of tourism.

Having the beaches and attractions is not enough, however. Florida also communicates to the world about Florida vacations through the Visit Florida tourism Web site and outreach and advertising campaigns. But, you know, there is no similar initiative for the United States as a whole internationally. So the USA needs to get creative and create new jobs through growing tourism nationwide.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions out there that the United States is not a friendly place for international tourists. Other nations actively promote international tourism through advertising campaigns and outreach, but some say that we've allowed our image to become an unwelcoming one. Nations that project a welcoming image are reaping economic benefits, while we run the risk of being left behind. Overseas travel in the United States has declined by 10 percent in the first quarter of 2009.

Our travel bill would let world travelers know that we want them to visit America's great cities and natural wonders. We want the world to come and share our culture and experience the richness that is the United States of America. Therefore, I urge adoption of the Travel Promotion Act to get our economy moving and create jobs.

Mr. Speaker, I now recognize Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez of the Committee on Homeland Security.

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from Missouri for his support in all of his endeavors to promote travel and tourism in the United States of America.

My hat is also off to Congressman Delahunt from Massachusetts who certainly understands the importance of reviving our economy and bringing good, clean industry jobs in the tourism and travel sector to our great Nation.

We need the Travel Promotion Act now more than ever during this economic downturn. The Travel Promotion Act is a jobs bill. It is a vital economic development initiative to help us combat this horrendous economic downturn.

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