[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3039 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3039

To promote job creation in the United States by directing the Secretary 
 of State to address inefficiencies in the visa processing system that 
 discourage overseas business and leisure travel to the United States, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 23, 2011

Mr. Heck (for himself, Mr. Mack, Mr. Amodei, Ms. Berkley, Mr. Wilson of 
South Carolina, and Mr. Posey) introduced the following bill; which was 
  referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the 
     Committee on Foreign Affairs, 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 promote job creation in the United States by directing the Secretary 
 of State to address inefficiencies in the visa processing system that 
 discourage overseas business and leisure travel to the United States, 
                        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 ``Welcoming Business Travelers and 
Tourists to America Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) International travel to the United States generates 
        more than $134 billion annually in exports and supports 1.8 
        million United States jobs.
            (2) Each overseas visitor spends an average of $4,000 at 
        hotels, restaurants, and other United States businesses.
            (3) As an industry sector, travel and tourism creates one 
        of the country's only balance-of-trade surpluses, valued at 
        $31.7 billion in 2010.
            (4) Global travel spending is expected to double over the 
        next decade, reaching $2.1 trillion.
            (5) While world-wide long-haul international travel grew by 
        40 percent between 2000 and 2010, the United States market 
        share of long-haul travel dropped from 17 percent in 2000 to 12 
        percent during the same timeframe.
            (6) Over that decade, the United States lost the 
        opportunity to welcome 78 million visitors and generate $606 
        billion in direct and downstream spending.
            (7) The volume of travel to the United States, as compared 
        with other global destinations, is particularly uncompetitive 
        from emerging markets with fast growing demand.
            (8) Lagging overseas arrivals result in large part from a 
        United States visa application process that is perceived by 
        potential business and leisure travelers as inefficient, time 
        consuming, and inaccessible.
            (9) The Government Accountability Office has reported that 
        the Department of State's efforts to address staffing, 
        facilities, and other consular constraints are generally 
        temporary, unsustainable, and insufficient to meet expected 
        increases in demand for nonimmigrant visa applications.
            (10) Instituting new procedures to make the visa process 
        more efficient without reducing security protocols and 
        developing longer-term plans that accurately meet increasing 
        workload demand can systemically address visa application 
        backlogs and inefficiencies.
            (11) By regaining 17 percent of the long-haul travel market 
        in 2015 and sustaining it through 2020, the United States can 
        attract 98 million more visitors, create 1.3 million additional 
        jobs, and generate $859 billion in United States economic 
        output by 2020.
            (12) Increased international travel to the United States 
        also achieves United States foreign policy objectives by 
        introducing foreign visitors the United States and to 
        Americans, who are the United States best goodwill ambassadors.
            (13) The Department of State recently implemented some 
        reforms to accelerate visa application processing in China and 
        Brazil, laying the foundation to increase capacity, but still 
        requires additional reforms to meet demand on a permanent, 
        systemic basis.
            (14) Removing the self-imposed barriers in the visa 
        application process that currently discourage inbound 
        international travel to the United States would yield 
        significant economic and public diplomacy benefits for the 
        United States.

SEC. 3. VISA PROCESSING.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of State 
shall set a visa processing standard of 12 or fewer calendar days at 
United States diplomatic and consular missions in China, Brazil, and 
India, and use machine readable nonimmigrant visa fees to hire a 
sufficient number of Foreign Service officers and limited non-career 
appointment consular officers to meet and maintain such standard 
throughout the year.

SEC. 4. VISA VIDEO-CONFERENCING.

    (a) Pilot Program.--The Secretary of State shall conduct a two-year 
pilot program for the processing of nonimmigrant visas using secure 
remote video-conferencing technology as a method for conducting visa 
interviews of applicants, and shall work with other Federal agencies 
that use such secure communications to help ensure security of the 
video-conferencing transmission and encryption.
    (b) Rulemaking.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall initiate a 
rulemaking process to establish the pilot program described in 
subsection (a), criteria for participation in such program, and the fee 
for such program in accordance with subsection (d).
    (c) Participation.--The Secretary of State shall ensure that the 
pilot program described in subsection (a) includes as many visa 
applicants as practicable by--
            (1) establishing a reasonable cost of enrollment;
            (2) providing such applicants with clear and consistent 
        eligibility guidelines; and
            (3) making program enrollment convenient and easily 
        accessible.
    (d) Fees.--The Secretary of State may impose a fee for the pilot 
program described in subsection (a). Such fee may not exceed the 
aggregate costs associated with such program and shall be credited to 
the Department of State for purposes of carrying out such program. 
Amounts so credited shall remain available until expended.
    (e) Report.--Not later than one year after initiating the pilot 
program described in subsection (a) and again not later than 90 days 
after the conclusion of the two-year period referred to in such 
subsection, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on such pilot program. Each 
such report shall assess the efficacy of using secure remote video-
conferencing technology as a method for conducting visa interviews of 
applicants, including any effect such method may have on an 
interviewer's ability to determine an applicant's credibility and 
uncover fraud, and shall include recommendations on whether such 
program should be continued, broadened, or modified.

SEC. 5. DATA ON VISA INTERVIEW WAIT TIMES.

    The Secretary of State shall post on the Web site of the Department 
of State the following data relating to nonimmigrant visas for each 
United States diplomatic and consular mission:
            (1) The monthly median wait times measured in calendar days 
        for the past 12 months for a nonimmigrant visa interview 
        appointment.
            (2) The monthly median wait times measured in calendar days 
        for the past 12 months for a nonimmigrant visa to be processed.

SEC. 6. VISA SYSTEM PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT.

    The Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of the Senate a report that includes the following:
            (1) An annual forecast of demand through 2020 for 
        nonimmigrant visas in the key high-growth markets of Brazil, 
        China, and India.
            (2) A description of the methodology used to determine the 
        annual demand forecasts in accordance with paragraph (1) for 
        nonimmigrant visas in Brazil, China, and India, including--
                    (A) details on the internal and external studies 
                utilized to prepare such forecasts; and
                    (B) details on whether such methodology utilizes 
                the Department of Commerce's analysis of visitor 
                arrival projections.
            (3) A comparison of the Department of State's nonimmigrant 
        visa demand projections and the Department of Commerce's yearly 
        visitor arrival projections for Brazil, China, and India 
        through 2020 and details on whether the Department of State's 
        workload projections for each such country align with the 
        Department of Commerce's yearly visitor arrival projections.
            (4) A description of the practices and procedures currently 
        used by each United States diplomatic and consular mission in 
        Brazil, China, and India to manage nonimmigrant visa workload.
            (5) Information on short- and long-term plans developed to 
        meet the forecasted demand for nonimmigrant visas through 2020 
        in Brazil, China, and India, including facility expansion 
        needs.
            (6) The total number of limited non-career appointment 
        (LNA) consular officers the Department of State would need to 
        hire annually through 2020 to maintain a 12 or fewer calendar 
        day nonimmigrant visa processing standard in Brazil, China, and 
        India, in accordance with section 3.
            (7) Information on the strategies the Department of State 
        will use to maximize existing consular and embassy space to 
        accommodate the new LNA personnel referred to in paragraph (6).

SEC. 7. VISA VALIDITY PERIOD.

    If the Secretary of State can demonstrate no adversarial effects to 
the United States, the Secretary may modify or enter into agreements 
with certain countries on a non-reciprocal basis to allow for longer 
visa validity periods than the periods with such countries that are in 
existence as of the date of the enactment of this Act.
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