[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1947 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1947
To authorize the position of Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel
and Tourism, to statutorily establish the United States Travel and
Tourism Advisory Board, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 27, 2021
Mr. Sullivan (for himself, Mr. Schatz, Mr. King, Ms. Cortez Masto, and
Ms. Murkowski) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the position of Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel
and Tourism, to statutorily establish the United States Travel and
Tourism Advisory Board, 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 ``Visit America Act''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to support the travel and tourism industry, which
produces economic impacts that are vital our national economy;
(2) to address the recent decline in the percentage of
international travelers who visit the United States; and
(3) to establish national goals for international visitors
to the United States, including--
(A) recommendations for achieving such goals and
timelines for implementing such recommendations;
(B) coordination between Federal and State
agencies;
(C) the resources needed by each Government agency
to achieve such goals; and
(D) national travel export goals.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the national goal for international visitors referred
to in section 2(3) should reach 116,000,000 per year by 2028;
(2) the national goal for travel exports referred to in
section 2(3)(D) should reach $445,000,000,000 by 2028;
(3) the travel industry is an essential part of the United
States services exports with respect to both business travel
and leisure travel;
(4) the promotion of travel and visitation by Brand USA is
vital to increasing visitation and articulating the visitation
laws of the United States; and
(5) there is an urgent need for a coordinated travel and
tourism industry response and strategy in the event of
unforeseen circumstances leading to a decline in travel or
tourism.
SEC. 4. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR TRAVEL AND TOURISM.
Section 2(d) of the Reorganization Plan Numbered 3 of 1979 (93
Stat. 1382; 5 U.S.C. App.) is amended--
(1) by striking ``There shall be in the Department two
additional Assistant Secretaries'' and inserting ``(1) There
shall be in the Department 3 additional Assistant Secretaries,
including the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and
Tourism,''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism
shall--
``(A) be appointed by the President, subject to the advice
and consent of the Senate; and
``(B) report directly to the Under Secretary for
International Trade.''.
SEC. 5. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF COMMERCE FOR
TRAVEL AND TOURISM.
(a) Visitation Goals.--The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Travel and Tourism (referred to in this section as the ``Assistant
Secretary''), appointed pursuant to section 2(d) of the Reorganization
Plan Numbered 3 of 1979, as amended by section 4, shall--
(1) establish an annual goal for--
(A) the number of international visitors to the
United States; and
(B) travel exports;
(2) develop recommendations for achieving the visitation
goals established pursuant to paragraph (1);
(3) ensure coordination between--
(A) the Department of Commerce, the Department of
Homeland Security, the Department of State, the
Department of Transportation, the Department of Labor
for policy development and recommendations for
utilizing:
(i) the National Travel and Tourism Office;
(ii) Brand USA;
(iii) the United States Travel and Tourism
Advisory Board;
(iv) the Task Force on Travel and Tourism
established by Executive Order 13597 of January
19, 2012; and
(v) travel industry partners, including
public and private destination marketing
organizations and travel and tourism suppliers;
(4) establish short, medium, and long-term timelines for
implementing the recommendations developed pursuant to
paragraph (2); and
(5) conduct Federal agency needs assessments to identify
the resources, statutory or regulatory changes, and private
sector engagement needed to achieve the annual visitation
goals.
(b) Visa Adjudication.--The Assistant Secretary, in consultation
with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security,
shall--
(1) provide support for improving visitor visa processing
with respect to--
(A) the maximum time for processing visas, by
visitation type;
(B) regulatory and policy changes needed to meet
the visa processing goals referred to in subparagraph
(A), including changes regarding technology, processing
centers, and training; and
(C) streamlining visa applications and
adjudications, including application design and data
collection procedures; and
(2) explore opportunities to establish pilot programs to
integrate technology into the visitor visa adjudication
process, including video conferencing and biometrics.
(c) Domestic Travel.--The Assistant Secretary shall--
(1) conduct a study to better understand domestic policy
options for supporting competitiveness with respect to the
strengths, weaknesses, and growth of the domestic travel
industry;
(2) develop recommendations and goals to support domestic
tourism, separated by business and leisure; and
(3) engage public and private stakeholders to support
domestic tourism.
(d) Workforce.--The Assistant Secretary--
(1) in coordination with the Secretary of Labor, shall
provide timely and reliable workforce data regarding workforce
and labor market needs;
(2) shall work to improve tourism industry data collection
by the Bureau of Economic Analysis; and
(3) shall provide recommendations for policy enhancements
and streamlining.
(e) Travel Export Promotion.--The Assistant Secretary, in
coordination with the Director General of the United States and Foreign
Commercial Service, shall work to promote and facilitate travel exports
abroad and ensure competitiveness by--
(1) participating in and organizing meetings, incentives,
conferences, and exhibitions;
(2) emphasizing rural and other destinations rich in
cultural heritage or ecological tourism, among other uniquely
American destinations; and
(3) promoting sports and recreation events and activities.
(f) Travel Security.--The Assistant Secretary shall investigate and
provide recommendations regarding utilizing and expanding existing
security programs to better meet the needs of the United States travel
and tourism industry, including--
(1) the Visa Waiver Program authorized under section 217 of
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187);
(2) preclearance operations;
(3) the Trusted Traveler Program;
(4) the biometric entry-exit control system required under
section 110 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996 (division C of Public Law 104-208; 8
U.S.C. 1221 note); and
(5) the establishment of a system to provide increased
resilience to travel during pandemics.
(g) Recovery Strategy.--
(1) Initial recovery strategy.--Not later than 60 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant
Secretary, in consultation with the United States Travel and
Tourism Advisory Board and travel industry partners, shall
develop and implement a COVID-19 pandemic recovery strategy to
assist in the United States travel and tourism industry to
quickly recover from the travel restrictions necessitated by
the pandemic.
(2) Future recovery strategies.--After assisting in the
implementation of the strategy developed pursuant to paragraph
(1), the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the entities
referred to in such paragraph, shall develop additional
recovery strategies for the travel and tourism industry in
anticipation of other unforeseen catastrophic events that would
significantly affect the travel and tourism industry, such as
hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, tornadoes, or pandemics.
(h) Reporting Requirements.--
(1) Assistant secretary.--The Assistant Secretary shall
produce an annual forecasting report on the travel and tourism
industry, which shall include current and anticipated--
(A) domestic employment needs;
(B) international inbound volume and spending,
taking into account the lasting effects of the COVID-19
pandemic and the impact of the recovery strategy
implemented pursuant to subsection (g)(1); and
(C) domestic volume and spending, including Federal
and State public land travel and tourism data.
(2) Bureau of economic analysis.--The Director of the
Bureau of Economic Analysis should update the Travel and
Tourism Satellite Accounts quarterly, including--
(A) State level travel and tourism export data;
(B) travel and tourism workforce data for full-time
and part-time employment; and
(C) Federal and State public lands visitation and
spending data.
(3) National travel and tourism office.--The Director of
the National Travel and Tourism Office shall--
(A) report international arrival and spending data
on a regular monthly schedule; and
(B) shall include questions in the Survey of
International Air Travelers regarding wait-times,
visits to public lands, and State data, to the extent
applicable.
SEC. 6. TRAVEL AND TOURISM STRATEGY.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with
the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, shall develop and
submit to Congress a 10-year travel and tourism strategy, which shall
include--
(1) the establishment of goals with respect to the number
of annual international visitors to the United States and the
annual amount of travel exports during such 10-year period;
(2) the resources needed to achieve the goals established
pursuant to paragraph (1); and
(3) recommendations for statutory or regulatory changes
that would be necessary to achieve such goals.
(b) Interagency Coordination.--The Secretary of Commerce shall
coordinate an interagency strategy with the Secretary of State and the
Secretary of Homeland Security for--
(1) identify impediments to reaching the goals referred to
in subsection (a)(1); and
(2) recommends solutions for overcoming such impediments.
SEC. 7. UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD.
Section 3 of the Act entitled ``An Act to encourage travel in the
United States, and for other purposes'' (15 U.S.C. 1546) is amended--
(1) by amending the section heading to read as follows:
``united states travel and tourism advisory board; advisory
committee for promotion of tourist travel''; and
(2) by striking ``The Secretary of Commerce is authorized''
and inserting the following:
``(a) United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.--
``(1) In general.--There is established the United States
Travel and Tourism Advisory Board (referred to in this
subsection as the `Board'), which shall be composed of not more
than 32 members, who shall be appointed by the Secretary of
Commerce for 2-year terms from among companies and
organizations in the travel and tourism industry.
``(2) Executive director.--The Assistant Secretary for
Travel and Tourism shall serve as the Executive Director of the
Board.
``(3) Executive secretariat.--The National Travel and
Tourism Office of the International Trade Administration shall
serve as the Executive Secretariat for the Board.
``(4) Functions.--The Board shall comply with its Charter,
including--
``(A) serving as the advisory body to the Secretary
of Commerce on matters relating to the travel and
tourism industry in the United States;
``(B) advising the Secretary of Commerce on
government policies and programs that affect the United
States travel and tourism industry;
``(C) offering counsel on current and emerging
issues;
``(D) providing a forum for discussing and
proposing solutions to problems related to the travel
and tourism industry; and
``(E) examining the domestic travel and tourism
industry as an economic engine.
``(5) Recovery strategy.--The Board shall assist the
Assistant Secretary in the development and implementation of
the COVID-19 pandemic recovery strategy required under section
5(g)(1) of the Visit America Act.
``(b) Advisory Committee for Promotion of Tourist Travel.--The
Secretary of Commerce is authorized''.
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