Statement on Bipartisan Effort to Reauthorize the Brand USA Program

Statement

Today, the Energy and Commerce Committee approved H.R. 4450, the Travel Promotion, Enhancement, and Modernization Act. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who played an important role in amending the bill, issued the following statement on the Committee's action:

I am a strong supporter of H.R. 4450, which reauthorizes the Brand USA program, an excellent public-private partnership that attracts foreign visitors to the United States. I have heard from many individuals in my district and all across the Chicago area about the importance of foreign tourism to the local economy, and the particular value of Brand USA in driving travel to the U.S.

I would like to thank the bill's sponsors, Rep. Gus Bilirakis and Rep. Peter Welch, for moving this important legislation forward and also accepting language I proposed which will make sure that dollars are spent wisely to sustain the Brand USA program. My language ensures that there will be greater transparency in Brand USA's operations, stipulates that the program's progress will be evaluated through new benchmarks, and requires that the travel and tourism industry will put more of its own capital into the program. Those changes will improve the success and viability of Brand USA long into the future.

I am very pleased by the strong bipartisan result we have achieved today, and I look forward to swift passage of H.R. 4450 on the floor of the House.

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