[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2579 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2579

   To establish the National Tourism Board and the National Tourism 
Organization to promote international travel and tourism to the United 
                                States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 2, 1995

   Mr. Roth (for himself, Mr. Skelton, Mr. Clement, Mr. Petri, Mrs. 
Morella, Mr. Frazer, Mr. Gejdenson, Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. 
    Oxley, Mrs. Vucanovich, Mr. Zeliff, Mr. Boehlert, Mr. Burton of 
  Indiana, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. Dixon, Mr. Roemer, Mrs. Seastrand, Mr. 
   McCollum, Mr. Pickett, Mr. Oberstar, and Mr. Farr of California) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
                        the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To establish the National Tourism Board and the National Tourism 
Organization to promote international travel and tourism to the United 
                                States.

    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 ``Travel and Tourism Partnership Act 
of 1995''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL TOURISM BOARD.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established the National Tourism Board 
to--
            (1) utilize a private-public partnership for travel and 
        tourism policymaking;
            (2) develop a national travel and tourism strategy for 
        increasing travel and tourism to and within the United States;
            (3) to advise the President, the Congress, and the travel 
        and tourism industry on the implementation of such national 
        strategy and on other matters affecting travel and tourism; and
            (4) to provide guidance to the National Tourism 
        Organization established under section 3.
    (b) Composition.--The Board shall consist of 36 members appointed 
by the President as follows--
            (1) 27 members shall be appointed from individuals who 
        represent all the ranges of the travel and tourism industry;
            (2) 6 members shall be appointed from State, regional, and 
        Federal agencies related to travel and tourism;
            (3) 1 member shall be appointed from the Senate and 1 
        member shall be appointed from the House of Representatives; 
        and
            (4) a chairman shall be appointed by and with the advice of 
        the Senate.
In making appointments to the Board, the President shall take into 
account recommendations made by organizations representing the travel 
and tourism industry. The chairman shall be accountable to the 
President and the Congress for the operations of the Board.
    (c) Terms.--The members and chairman of the Board shall be 
appointed for terms of 3 years, except that of the members first 
appointed--
            (1) 12 members shall be appointed for a term of 1 year;
            (2) 12 members shall be appointed for a term of 2 years; 
        and
            (3) 11 members and the chairman shall be appointed for a 
        term of 3 years,
as determined by the President as of the date of the first 
appointments. A member may be reappointed to serve on the Board.
    (d) Authority.--
            (1) Non-federal status.--The Board is not a Federal agency 
        and is not subject to any Federal law, including the Federal 
        Advisory Commission Act and personnel and budget laws.
            (2) Executive director.--The chairman of the Board may 
        appoint an executive director and establish the compensation 
        and the duties of the executive director.
            (3) Meetings.--The Board shall meet at least semi-annually. 
        The meetings shall be open to the public and appropriate notice 
        shall be given for the meeting dates.
            (4) Compensation and expenses.--The chairman and members of 
        the Board shall serve without compensation but may be 
        compensated for expenses incurred in carrying out the duties of 
        the Board.
            (5) Testimony, reports, and support.--The Board may present 
        testimony to the Congress and to legislatures of the States and 
        issue reports on its findings and recommendations.
            (6) Contributions.--The Board may accept financial 
        contributions from the private sector to cover the expenses of 
        the Board.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL TOURISM ORGANIZATION.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established with a Federal charter the 
National Tourism Organization. The Organization shall be a non-for-
profit organization. The Organization is not a Federal agency and shall 
not be subject to any Federal law.
    (b) Duties.--The Organization shall--
            (1) seek to, and work for, an increase in the share of the 
        United States in the global tourism market;
            (2) implement the national travel and tourism strategy 
        developed by the National Tourism Board under section 2(a)(2);
            (3) operate travel and tourism promotion programs outside 
        the United States in partnership with the travel and tourism 
        industry in the United States;
            (4) conduct market research necessary for effective 
        promotion of the travel and tourism market;
            (5) establish a Travel-Tourism Data Bank, collect 
        international market data for the Bank, and disseminate such 
        data to the travel and tourism industry in the United States; 
        and
            (6) promote United States travel and tourism at 
        international trade shows.
    (c) Board of Directors.--The Organization shall be governed by a 
Board of Directors (hereinafter in this section ``Board''), which shall 
have 45 members. The Board shall be accountable to the National Tourism 
Board for the operations of the Organization. The President shall 
appoint the initial members of the Board, taking into account 
recommendations made by organizations representing the travel and 
tourism industry so that all the ranges of the travel and tourism 
industry are represented on the Board. By majority vote, members of the 
Board shall select one member to be chairman and shall adopt bylaws, 
policies and procedures to govern the duties of the chairman, the term 
of service of members of the Board, the functioning of the Board and 
the operations of the Organization. The Board shall appoint new members 
to fill any vacancy on the Board.
    (d) Staff.--The Board shall appoint a president of the Organization 
and such other staff as the Board determines is necessary. The Board 
shall establish the duties of the staff and set the compensation of the 
staff. The president of the Organization shall serve as a member of the 
Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee.
    (e) Funding.--The Organization may accept financial contributions. 
Within one year of the date of the enactment of this Act, the Board 
shall develop a plan for long-term financing and, if necessary, make 
recommendations to the Congress and the President for legislation.

SEC. 4. UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT COOPERATION.

    (a) Secretary of State.--The Secretary of State shall--
            (1) place a priority on implementing recommendations by the 
        National Tourism Board; and
            (2) cooperate with the National Tourism Organization in 
        carrying out its duties.
    (b) Director of the United States Information Agency.--The Director 
of the United States Information Agency shall--
            (1) place a priority on implementing recommendations by the 
        National Tourism Board; and
            (2) cooperate with the National Tourism Organization in 
        carrying out its duties.

SEC. 5. TRANSITION FROM THE UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM 
              ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) Staff.--The President may transfer up to 25 members of the 
staff of the United States Travel and Tourism Administration 
established under section 301 of the International Travel Act of 1961 
(22 U.S.C. 2124) to the Foreign Service or the Commercial Service for 2 
years. Such staff members shall assist the Organization in its start-up 
activities.
    (b) Files and Other Resources.--The files and other non-financial 
resources of the United States Travel and Tourism Administration are 
transferred to the United States Foreign and Commercial Service.

SEC. 6. TRADE PROMOTION COORDINATING COMMITTEE.

    Section 2312 of the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4727) 
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c) by adding at the end thereof:
            ``(6) reflect recommendations by the National Tourism 
        Board.''
        and
            (2) in paragraph (d)(1) by striking ``and'' in ``(L)'', by 
        redesignating ``(M)'' as ``(N)'', and by inserting the 
        following:
                    ``(M) the President of the National Tourism 
                Organization; and''.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act, the term ``Organization'' means the 
National Tourism Organization established under section 3.
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