OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Travel Promotion, Enhancement, and Modernization Act of 2014

Floor Speech

Date: July 22, 2014
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Arts, Entertainment, and History

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Ms. TITUS. I thank my friend from Illinois for yielding and for visiting my district whenever she can.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4450, the Travel Promotion, Enhancement, and Modernization Act of 2014. I am an original cosponsor of this legislation, and I thank my friend from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) for his leadership on this issue.

During the 111th Congress, I was proud to be an original cosponsor of the first Travel Promotion Act, which actually established Brand USA. Prior to the passage of that act, the United States was one of the only countries in the world that did not promote its unique destination to foreign visitors.

Since its creation, Brand USA has played a critical role in bringing foreign visitors to destinations throughout the United States, including my district of Las Vegas.

Through innovative, targeted, and effective marketing campaigns, Brand USA has directly connected foreign visitors with world-famous destinations in Nevada's First Congressional District, including the fabulous strip; the new arts district; and the hip, edgy downtown section of Las Vegas.

Foreign visitors to the United States are critical for the success of the travel and tourism industry. Average foreign visitors stay 17 days in the United States and spend $4,500 during their visit. This certainly creates jobs in Las Vegas and around the country.

Brand USA has been very effective in bringing more of these visitors to the United States. For example, as you have heard, in 2013, Brand USA was directly

responsible for a million new visits, generating $3.4 billion in new visitor spending and supporting 53,000 U.S. jobs, and this is all without spending a dime of taxpayer dollars.

Today, we have a chance to reauthorize the work that began with the Travel Promotion Act and remains so critical to our economy still today.

I look forward to continuing my work with Brand USA to support the travel and tourism industry, to bring more visitors to Las Vegas and to other destinations around the country, from the Grand Canyon to Niagara Falls, Chicago, and even Nebraska, so I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4450.

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