Visit America Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8480 To authorize the position of Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism, to statutorily establish the United States Travel and Tour- ism Advisory Board, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 1, 2020 Mr. CASE (for himself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Ms. TITUS, Mr. YOUNG, Ms. SHALALA, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. CA´RDENAS, and Mr. PETERS) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, and the Judiciary, 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 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Visit America Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 5 The purposes of this Act are— 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8480.IH H8480 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8480 IH (1) to support the travel and tourism industry, 1 which produces economic impacts that are vital our 2 national economy; 3 (2) to address the recent decline in the percent- 4 age of international travelers who visit the United 5 States; and 6 (3) to establish national goals for international 7 visitors to the United States, including— 8 (A) recommendations for achieving such 9 goals and timelines for implementing such rec- 10 ommendations; 11 (B) coordination between Federal and 12 State agencies; 13 (C) assessing the resources needed by each 14 Government agency to achieve such goals; 15 (D) setting national travel export goals; 16 and 17 (E) setting national domestic travel goals. 18 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 19 It is the sense of Congress that— 20 (1) the national goal for international visitors 21 referred to in section 2(3) should reach 116,000,000 22 per year by 2028; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8480.IH H8480 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8480 IH (2) the national goal for travel exports referred 1 to in section 2(3)(D) should reach $445,000,000,000 2 by 2028; 3 (3) the travel industry is an essential part of 4 the United States services exports with respect to 5 both business travel and leisure travel; 6 (4) the promotion of travel and visitation by 7 Brand USA is vital to increasing visitation and ar- 8 ticulating the visitation laws of the United States; 9 and 10 (5) there is an urgent need for a coordinated 11 travel and tourism industry response and strategy in 12 the event of unforeseen circumstances leading to a 13 decline in travel or tourism. 14 SEC. 4. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR TRAVEL AND TOURISM. 15 Section 2(d) of the Reorganization Plan Numbered 16 3 of 1979 (93 Stat. 1382; 5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 17 (1) by striking ‘‘There shall be in the Depart- 18 ment two additional Assistant Secretaries’’ and in- 19 serting ‘‘(1) There shall be in the Department 3 ad- 20 ditional Assistant Secretaries, including the Assist- 21 ant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tour- 22 ism,’’; and 23 (2) by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8480.IH H8480 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8480 IH ‘‘(2) The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel 1 and Tourism shall— 2 ‘‘(A) be appointed by the President, subject to 3 the advise and consent of the Senate; and 4 ‘‘(B) report directly to the Under Secretary for 5 International Trade.’’. 6 SEC. 5. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY 7 OF COMMERCE FOR TRAVEL AND TOURISM. 8 (a) VISITATION GOALS.—The Assistant Secretary of 9 Commerce for Travel and Tourism (referred to in this sec- 10 tion as the ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’), appointed pursuant to 11 section 2(d) of the Reorganization Plan Numbered 3 of 12 1979, as amended by section 4, shall— 13 (1) establish an annual goal for— 14 (A) the number of international visitors to 15 the United States, which shall reach 16 116,000,000 by 2028; and 17 (B) travel exports, which shall reach 18 $445,000,000,000 by 2028; 19 (2) develop recommendations for achieving such 20 visitation goal; 21 (3) ensure coordination between— 22 (A) the Department of Commerce, the De- 23 partment of Homeland Security, the Depart- 24 ment of State, the Department of Transpor- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8480.IH H8480 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8480 IH tation, the Department of Labor for policy de- 1 velopment and recommendations for utilizing— 2 (B) the National Travel and Tourism Of- 3 fice; 4 (C) Brand USA; 5 (D) the United States Travel and Tourism 6 Advisory Board; 7 (E) the Task Force on Travel and Tourism 8 established by Executive Order 13597 of Janu- 9 ary 19, 2012; and 10 (F) travel industry partners, including 11 public and private destination marketing orga- 12 nizations and travel and tourism suppliers; 13 (4) establish short-, medium-, and long-term 14 timelines for implementing the recommendations de- 15 veloped pursuant to paragraph (2); and 16 (5) conduct Federal agency needs assessments 17 to identify the resources, statutory or regulatory 18 changes, and private sector engagement needed to 19 achieve the annual visitation goals. 20 (b) VISA ADJUDICATION.—The Assistant Sec- 21 retary— 22 (1) in coordination with the Secretary of State 23 and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall pro- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8480.IH H8480 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8480 IH vide support for improving visitor visa processing 1 with respect to— 2 (A) the maximum time for processing 3 visas, by visitation type; 4 (B) recommending regulatory and policy 5 changes needed to meet such visa processing 6 goals, including technology, processing centers, 7 and training; and 8 (C) a plan for streamlining visa applica- 9 tions and adjudications, including application 10 design and data collection procedures; and 11 (2) shall explore opportunities to establish pilot 12 programs to integrate technology into the visitor visa 13 adjudication process, including video conferencing 14 and biometrics. 15 (c) DOMESTIC TRAVEL.—The Assistant Secretary 16 shall— 17 (1) conduct a study to identify domestic com- 18 petitiveness with respect to— 19 (A) the strengths and weaknesses of the 20 domestic travel industry; and 21 (B) the external opportunities and chal- 22 lenges to domestic tourism; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8480.IH H8480 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8480 IH (2) develop recommendations and goals to sup- 1 port domestic tourism, separated by business and 2 leisure; and 3 (3) engage public and private stakeholders to 4 support domestic tourism. 5 (d) WORKFORCE.—The Assistant Secretary— 6 (1) in coordination with the Secretary of Labor, 7 shall provide timely and reliable workforce data re- 8 garding workforce and labor market needs; 9 (2) shall work to improve tourism industry data 10 collection by the Bureau of Economic Analysis; and 11 (3) shall provide recommendations for policy en- 12 hancements and streamlining. 13 (e) TRAVEL EXPORT PROMOTION.—The Assistant 14 Secretary, in coordination with the Director General of the 15 United States and Foreign Commercial Service, shall work 16 to promote and facilitate travel exports abroad and ensure 17 competitiveness by— 18 (1) participating in and organizing meetings, 19 incentives, conferences, and exhibitions; 20 (2) monitor visa adjudications; 21 (3) emphasizing rural and other destinations 22 rich in cultural heritage or ecological tourism, 23 among other uniquely American destinations; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8480.IH H8480 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8480 IH (4) promoting sports and recreation events and 1 activities. 2 (f) TRAVEL SECURITY.—The Assistant Secretary 3 shall investigate and provide recommendations regarding 4 utilizing and expanding existing security programs to bet- 5 ter meet the needs of the United States travel and tourism 6 industry, including— 7 (1) the Visa Waiver Program authorized under 8 section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 9 (8 U.S.C. 1187); 10 (2) preclearance operations; 11 (3) the Trusted Traveler Program; and 12 (4) the biometric entry-exit control system re- 13 quired under section 110 of the Illegal Immigration 14 Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 15 (division C of Public Law 104–208; 8 U.S.C. 1221 16 note). 17 (g) RECOVERY STRATEGY.— 18 (1) INITIAL RECOVERY STRATEGY.—Not later 19 than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this 20 Act, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with 21 the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory 22 Board and travel industry partners, shall develop 23 and implement a COVID–19 pandemic recovery 24 strategy to assist in the United States travel and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8480.IH H8480 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8480 IH tourism industry to quickly recover from the travel 1 restrictions necessitated by the pandemic. 2 (2) FUTURE RECOVERY STRATEGIES.—After 3 assisting in the implementation of the strategy de- 4 veloped pursuant to paragraph (1), the Assistant 5 Secretary, in consultation with the entities referred 6 to in such paragraph, shall develop additional recov- 7 ery strategies for the travel and tourism industry in 8 anticipation of other unforeseen catastrophic events 9 that would significantly affect the travel and tourism 10 industry, such as hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, tor- 11 nadoes, or pandemics. 12 (h) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 13 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The Assistant 14 Secretary shall produce an annual forecasting report 15 on the travel and tourism industry, which shall in- 16 clude current and anticipated— 17 (A) domestic employment needs; 18 (B) international inbound volume and 19 spending, taking into account the lasting effects 20 of the COVID–19 pandemic and the impact of 21 the recovery strategy implemented pursuant to 22 subsection (g)(1); and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8480.IH H8480 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8480 IH (C) domestic volume and spending, includ- 1 ing Federal and State public land travel and 2 tourism data. 3 (2) BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS.—The Di- 4 rector of the Bureau of Economic Analysis should 5 update the Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts 6 quarterly, including— 7 (A) State level travel and tourism export 8 data; 9 (B) travel and tourism workforce data for 10 full-time and part-time employment; and 11 (C) Federal and State public lands visita- 12 tion and spending data. 13 (3) NATIONAL TRAVEL AND TOURISM OF- 14 FICE.—The Director of the National Travel and 15 Tourism Office shall— 16 (A) report international arrival and spend- 17 ing data on a regular monthly schedule; and 18 (B) shall include questions in the Survey 19 of International Air Travelers regarding wait- 20 times, visits to public lands, and State data, to 21 the extent applicable. 22 SEC. 6. TRAVEL AND TOURISM STRATEGY. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce, in 24 consultation with the United States Travel and Tourism 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8480.IH H8480 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8480 IH Advisory Board, shall develop and submit to Congress a 1 10-year travel and tourism strategy, which shall include— 2 (1) the feasibility of achieving— 3 (A) 116,000,000 annual international visi- 4 tors to the United States by 2028; and 5 (B) $445,000,000,000 in travel exports by 6 2028; 7 (2) the resources needed to achieve the goals 8 set forth in paragraph (1); and 9 (3) recommendations for statutory or regulatory 10 changes that would be necessary to achieve such 11 goals. 12 (b) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—The Secretary 13 of Commerce shall coordinate an interagency strategy with 14 the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Se- 15 curity for— 16 (1) identify impediments to reaching the goals 17 referred to in subsection (a)(1); and 18 (2) recommends solutions for overcoming such 19 impediments. 20 SEC. 7. UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM ADVISORY 21 BOARD. 22 Section 3 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to encourage 23 travel in the United States, and for other purposes’’ (15 24 U.S.C. 1546) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8480.IH H8480 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8480 IH (1) by amending the section heading to read as 1 follows: ‘‘UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM 2 ADVISORY BOARD; ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR 3 PROMOTION OF TOURIST TRAVEL’’; and 4 (2) by striking ‘‘The Secretary of Commerce is 5 authorized’’ and inserting the following: 6 ‘‘(a) UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM ADVI- 7 SORY BOARD.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established the 9 United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board 10 (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Board’), which 11 shall be composed of not more than 32 members, 12 who shall be appointed by the Secretary of Com- 13 merce for 2-year terms from among companies and 14 organizations in the travel and tourism industry. 15 ‘‘(2) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The Assistant 16 Secretary for Travel and Tourism shall serve as the 17 Executive Director of the Board. 18 ‘‘(3) EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT.—The National 19 Travel and Tourism Office of the International 20 Trade Administration shall serve as the Executive 21 Secretariat for the Board. 22 ‘‘(4) FUNCTIONS.—The Board shall comply 23 with its Charter, as established in 2003, including— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8480.IH H8480 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 8480 IH ‘‘(A) serving as the advisory body to the 1 Secretary of Commerce on matters relating to 2 the travel and tourism industry in the United 3 States; 4 ‘‘(B) advising the Secretary of Commerce [Text truncated for display. 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