[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2412 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2412

 To create employment opportunities and to promote economic growth by 
  establishing a public-private partnership between the United States 
 travel and tourism industry and every level of government to work to 
 make the United States the premiere travel and tourism destination in 
                   the world, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 31, 1998

Mr. Burns (for himself and Mr. Hollings) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To create employment opportunities and to promote economic growth by 
  establishing a public-private partnership between the United States 
 travel and tourism industry and every level of government to work to 
 make the United States the premiere travel and tourism destination in 
                   the world, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Value in Supporting International 
Tourism in the United States Act of 1998'' or the ``Visit USA Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) through an effective public-private partnership, 
        Federal, State, and local governments and the travel and 
        tourism industry can successfully market the United States as 
        the premiere international tourist destination in the world;
            (2) in 1997, the travel and tourism industry made a 
        substantial contribution to the health of the Nation's economy, 
        as follows:
                    (A) The industry is one of the Nation's largest 
                employers, directly employing 7,000,000 Americans, 
                throughout every region of the country, heavily 
                concentrated among small businesses, and indirectly 
                employing an additional 9,200,000 Americans, for a 
                total of 16,200,000 jobs.
                    (B) The industry ranks as the first, second, or 
                third largest employer in 32 States and the District of 
                Columbia, generating a total tourism-related annual 
                payroll of $127,900,000,000.
                    (C) The industry has become the Nation's third-
                largest retail sales industry, generating a total of 
                $489,000,000,000 in total expenditures.
                    (D) The industry generated $71,700,000,000 in tax 
                revenues for Federal, State, and local governments;
            (3) the more than $98,000,000,000 spent by foreign visitors 
        in the United States in 1997 generated a trade services surplus 
        of more than $26,000,000,000;
            (4) the private sector, States, and cities currently spend 
        more than $1,000,000,000 annually to promote particular 
        destinations within the United States to international 
        visitors;
            (5) because other nations are spending hundreds of millions 
        of dollars annually to promote the visits of international 
        tourists to their countries, the United States will miss a 
        major marketing opportunity if it fails to aggressively compete 
        for an increased share of international tourism expenditures as 
        they continue to increase over the next decade;
            (6) a well-funded, well-coordinated international marketing 
        effort--combined with additional public and private sector 
        efforts--would help small and large businesses, as well as 
        State and local governments, share in the anticipated 
        phenomenal growth of the international travel and tourism 
        market in the 21st century;
            (7) by making permanent the successful visa waiver pilot 
        program, Congress can facilitate the increased flow of 
        international visitors to the United States;
            (8) Congress can increase the opportunities for attracting 
        international visitors and enhancing their stay in the United 
        States by--
                    (A) improving international signage at airports, 
                seaports, land border crossings, highways, and bus, 
                train, and other public transit stations in the United 
                States;
                    (B) increasing the availability of multilingual 
                tourist information; and
                    (C) creating a toll-free, private-sector operated, 
                telephone number, staffed by multilingual operators, to 
                provide assistance to international tourists coping 
                with an emergency;
            (9) by establishing a satellite system of accounting for 
        travel and tourism, the Secretary of Commerce could provide 
        Congress and the President with objective, thorough data that 
        would help policymakers more accurately gauge the size and 
        scope of the domestic travel and tourism industry and its 
        significant impact on the health of the Nation's economy; and
            (10) having established the United States National Tourism 
        Organization under the United States National Tourism 
        Organization Act of 1996 (22 U.S.C. 2141 et seq.) to increase 
        the United States share of the international tourism market by 
        developing a national travel and tourism strategy, Congress 
        should support a long-term marketing effort and other important 
        regulatory reform initiatives to promote increased travel to 
        the United States for the benefit of every sector of the 
        economy.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are to provide 
international visitor initiatives and an international marketing 
program to enable the United States travel and tourism industry and 
every level of government to benefit from a successful effort to make 
the United States the premiere travel destination in the world.

               TITLE I--INTERNATIONAL VISITOR INITIATIVES

SEC. 102. INTERNATIONAL VISITOR ASSISTANCE TASK FORCE.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than 9 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall establish an 
Intergovernmental Task Force for International Visitor Assistance 
(hereafter in this section referred to as the ``Task Force'').
    (b) Duties.--The Task Force shall examine--
            (1) signage at facilities in the United States, including 
        airports, seaports, land border crossings, highways, and bus, 
        train, and other public transit stations, and shall identify 
        existing inadequacies and suggest solutions for such 
        inadequacies, such as the adoption of uniform standards on 
        international signage for use throughout the United States in 
        order to facilitate international visitors' travel in the 
        United States;
            (2) the availability of multilingual travel and tourism 
        information and means of disseminating, at no or minimal cost 
        to the Government, of such information; and
            (3) facilitating the establishment of a toll-free, private-
        sector operated, telephone number, staffed by multilingual 
        operators, to provide assistance to international tourists 
        coping with an emergency.
    (c) Membership.--The Task Force shall be composed of the following 
members:
            (1) The Secretary of Commerce.
            (2) The Secretary of State.
            (3) The Secretary of Transportation.
            (4) The Chair of the Board of Directors of the United 
        States National Tourism Organization.
            (5) Such other representatives of other Federal agencies 
        and private-sector entities as may be determined to be 
        appropriate to the mission of the Task Force by the Chairman.
    (d) Chairman.--The Secretary of Commerce shall be Chairman of the 
Task Force. The Task Force shall meet at least twice each year. Each 
member of the Task Force shall furnish necessary assistance to the Task 
Force.
    (e) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Chairman of the Task Force shall submit to 
the President and to Congress a report on the results of the review, 
including proposed amendments to existing laws or regulations as may be 
appropriate to implement such recommendations.

SEC. 103. TRAVEL AND TOURISM INDUSTRY SATELLITE SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTING.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Commerce shall complete, as soon 
as may be practicable, a satellite system of accounting for the travel 
and tourism industry.
    (b) Funding.--To the extent any costs or expenditures are incurred 
under this section, they shall be covered to the extent funds are 
available to the Department of Commerce for such purpose.

               TITLE II--INTERNATIONAL MARKETING PROGRAM

SEC. 201. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) Authorization.--Subject to subsection (b), there are authorized 
to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for the purpose of 
funding international promotional activities by the United States 
National Tourism Organization to help brand, position, and promote the 
United States as the premiere travel and tourism destination in the 
world.
    (b) Restrictions on Use of Funds.--None of the funds appropriated 
under subsection (a) may be used for purposes other than marketing, 
research, outreach, or any other activity designed to promote the 
United States as the premiere travel and tourism destination in the 
world, except that the general and administrative expenses of operating 
the United States National Tourism Organization shall be borne by the 
private sector through such means as the Board of Directors of the 
Organization shall determine.
    (c) Report to Congress.--Not later than March 30 of each year in 
which funds are made available under subsection (a), the Secretary 
shall submit to Committee on Commerce of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
Senate a detailed report setting forth--
            (1) the manner in which appropriated funds were expended;
            (2) changes in the United States market share of 
        international tourism in general and as measured against 
        specific countries and regions;
            (3) an analysis of the impact of international tourism on 
        the United States economy, including, as specifically as 
        practicable, an analysis of the impact of expenditures made 
        pursuant to this section;
            (4) an analysis of the impact of international tourism on 
        the United States trade balance and, as specifically as 
        practicable, an analysis of the impact on the trade balance of 
        expenditures made pursuant to this section; and
            (5) an analysis of other relevant economic impacts as a 
        result of expenditures made pursuant to this section.
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