[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1530 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1530

     To prohibit an agency or department of the United States from 
  establishing or implementing an internal policy that discourages or 
  prohibits the selection of a resort or vacation destination as the 
      location for a conference or event, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 29, 2009

   Mr. Reid (for himself, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. Ensign, and Mr. 
   Martinez) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To prohibit an agency or department of the United States from 
  establishing or implementing an internal policy that discourages or 
  prohibits the selection of a resort or vacation destination as the 
      location for a conference or event, 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 ``Protecting Resort Cities from 
Discrimination Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Tourism, including conventions and meetings, is an 
        important part of the United States economy that generates 
        billions of dollars in tax revenues for many localities.
            (2) Analysts estimate that approximately 90 percent of 
        employers in the travel industry are small businesses and more 
        than 12 percent of United States employees are employed by the 
        travel industry.
            (3) Many local economies around the country have developed 
        into destinations for vacationers and conventioneers alike, and 
        those local economies depend on the travel industry to support 
        local employment, create new jobs, and generate tax revenues 
        for critical public services.
            (4) These same destinations are home to large and small 
        businesses that have unique skills, amenities, and resources 
        for planning and facilitating meetings and conventions for all 
        purposes and, consequently, may deliver value and convenience 
        for individuals and organizations in need of a location for an 
        official event.
            (5) Locating an official event in such a city frequently 
        may save taxpayer dollars, as compared to other locations.
            (6) Agencies and departments of the United States have a 
        responsibility to find ways to maximize taxpayer dollars in 
        conducting official business, including planning and conducting 
        official meetings attended by Federal employees.
            (7) In deciding where to locate an official government 
        meeting by applying this principle of maximizing taxpayer 
        dollars, government officials often will conclude that many 
        locations known as resort destinations also will provide the 
        best value and convenience for official meetings and business.
            (8) Resort and vacation destination cities tend to be 
        affected disproportionally during economic downturns and, 
        therefore, are especially vulnerable to discrimination by 
        meeting and convention planners, which could exacerbate 
        unemployment and related demands on United States taxpayers.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON CERTAIN TRAVEL AND CONFERENCES POLICIES OF 
              AGENCIES OF THE UNITED STATES.

    No agency or department of the United States may establish or 
implement an internal policy regarding travel, event, meeting, or 
conference locations that discourages or prohibits the selection of 
such a location because the location is perceived to be a resort or 
vacation destination.
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