[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 70 (Friday, May 17, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5267-S5268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. MURKOWSKI:
  S. 1771. A bill to amend the Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act 
of 1985 to clarify that the fee for providing customs services in 
connection with passengers arriving on commercial vessels making a 
single voyage may be collected only one time for each passenger, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.


                     customs service passenger fee

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, when Congress passed the North American 
Free-Trade Agreement [NAFTA] it imposed a $6.50 fee for the arrival of 
each passenger aboard a commercial vessel or aircraft coming in from 
outside the customs territory of the United States. NAFTA also imposed 
a $6.50 fee on passengers arriving in the United States from The 
Caribbean, Mexico, and Canada.

[[Page S5268]]

  The language of the NAFTA implementing language relating to this fee 
was drafted inappropriately with the result that the Customs Service 
claims authority to collect the fee each time a cruise ship enters a 
port during the course of a single journey. I believe this 
interpretation was never intended by the drafters of NAFTA and the 
legislation I am introducing today would correct this error.
  The Customs Service interpretation is particularly harmful to one of 
Alaska's most important industries--tourism. Many visitors to my State 
often book cruises that visit some of the most scenic places in the 
world. For example, during the course of an Alaska voyage, a vessel may 
call in Ketchikan, Juneau, Valdez, Seward, and Sitka, and may sail 
outside the customs territory of the United States between each of 
these Alaska ports. Even though this a single continuous journey, under 
the Customs Service interpretation, the fee would have to be collected 
three, four, or even five times. This was not Congress' intent.
  My legislation makes clear that the passenger fee can only be imposed 
a single time when a cruise ship is traveling in and out of U.S. waters 
on its way along a journey as I described earlier. So long as the ship 
does not make a stop at a foreign port, there is no reason to burden 
passengers with this fee.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of my bill be included in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1771

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. FEES FOR CERTAIN CUSTOMS SERVICES.

       (A) In General.--Section 13031(a)(5) of the Consolidated 
     Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 
     58c(a)(5)) is amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``a place'' after 
     ``aircraft from''; and
       (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``subsection 
     (b)(1)(A)'' and inserting ``subsection (b)(1)(A)(i)''.
       (b) Limitation on Fees.--Section 13031(b)(1) of the 
     Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 
     U.S.C. 58c(b)(1)) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(b) Limitations on Fees.--(1)(A) No fee may be charged 
     under subsection (a) of this section for customs services 
     provided in connection with--
       ``(i) the arrival of any passenger whose journey--
       ``(I) originated in--
       ``(aa) Canada,
       ``(bb) Mexico,
       ``(cc) a territory or possession of the United States, or
       ``(dd) any adjacent island (within the meaning of section 
     101(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
     1101(b)(5))), or
       ``(II) originated in the United States and was limited to--
       ``(aa) Canada,
       ``(bb) Mexico,
       ``(cc) territories and possessions of the United States, 
     and
       ``(dd) such adjacent islands;
       ``(ii) the arrival of any railroad car the journey of which 
     originates and terminates in the same country, but only if no 
     passengers board or disembark from the train and no cargo is 
     loaded or unloaded from such car while the car is within any 
     country other than the country in which such car originates 
     and terminates;
       ``(iii) the arrival of any ferry; or
       ``(iv) the arrival of any passenger on board a commercial 
     vessel traveling only between ports which are within the 
     customs territory of the United States.
       ``(B) The exemption provided for in subparagraph (A) shall 
     not apply in the case of the arrival of any passenger on 
     board a commercial vessel whose journey originates and 
     terminates at the same place in the United States if there 
     are no intervening stops.
       ``(C) The exemption provided for in subparagraph (A)(i) 
     shall not apply to fiscal years 1994, 1995, 1996, and 
     1997.''.
       (c) Fee Assessed Only Once.--Section 13031(b)(40 of the 
     Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 
     U.S.C. 58c(b)(4)) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses 
     (i) and (ii), respectively;
       (2) by striking ``No fee'' and inserting ``(A) No fee''; 
     and
       (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
       ``(B) In the case of a commercial vessel making a single 
     voyage involving 2 or more United States ports with respect 
     to which the passengers would otherwise be charged a fee 
     pursuant to subsection (a)(5), such fee shall be charged only 
     1 time for each passenger.''.
       (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall take effect as if included in the amendments made by 
     section 521 of the North American Free Trade Agreement 
     Implementation Act.
                                 ______