[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 23, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1216]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      TRAVEL PROMOTION, ENHANCEMENT, AND MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2014

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 22, 2014

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 
4450, the ``Travel Promotion, Enhancement, and Modernization Act of 
2014.''
  I am pleased that the Energy and Commerce Committee made important 
enhancements to H.R. 4450 during its recent markup, significantly 
improving the bill before us today.
  Specifically, H.R. 4450 now includes a provision to enhance 
accountability of the program by requiring Brand USA to establish 
performance metrics to assess the effectiveness of its marketing 
efforts; whether increases in visitors are due to Brand USA's efforts 
or outside factors; and any cost or benefit to the U.S. economy.
  It also includes a provision requiring the Secretary of Commerce to 
establish formal procedures for revising the policy governing in-kind 
contributions or resolving disputes about the value of in-kind 
contributions with Brand USA.
  These provisions are responsive to findings in a July 2013 report by 
the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report entitled ``Brand USA 
Needs Plans for Measuring Performance and Updated Policy on Private 
Sector Contributions.''
  Given my strong desire to stimulate new tourism to the United States, 
I requested GAO to examine the effectiveness of Brand USA so that 
Congress could be informed as to whether the corporation was positioned 
to achieve its mission.
  In that report, GAO concluded that Brand USA has taken some steps to 
measure its performance but has not yet developed a plan to monitor and 
evaluate whether its efforts are increasing travel to, and travelers' 
spending in, the U.S.
  GAO also found that there were possible problems with current 
valuation methodologies for in-kind contributions and cited disputes 
between the Commerce Department and Brand USA about whether certain 
types of in-kind contributions are allowed under the law.
  For the Federal government's part, the resources that are provided to 
Brand USA are derived from a fee assessed to foreign travelers that 
Customs and Border Protection collects. Given the well-documented 
resource challenges within CBP, I have no doubt that CBP would welcome 
the opportunity to retain more of these funds for its own traveler 
facilitation programs and operations but, as a policy matter, Congress 
has said it must go to this corporation to advertise and promote travel 
to the U.S.
  For its part, it falls to Brand USA to show us that we made the right 
call by delivering data showing how the ad campaigns and media efforts 
undertaken by this corporation have impacted travel and the overall 
economy.
  The bill being considered today will help ensure Brand USA addresses 
deficiencies found by the GAO and utilizes its funding in the most 
effective and efficient manner possible, as we extend authorization for 
the program through 2020.
  Because of these improvements to the bill, I urge my colleagues to 
support H.R. 4450, the Travel Promotion, Enhancement, and Modernization 
Act of 2014.

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