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Bill
Notes

H.R. 6965 — what changed

Visit America Act

From Introduced in House to Reported in House. 7 sections amended and 1 removed between Introduced in House and Reported in House.

Sec. 2 Assistant Secretary for Travel and Tourism

changed The purposes Section 2(d) of this Act are—the Reorganization Plan Numbered 3 of 1979 (93 Stat. 1382; 5 U.S.C. App.) is amended—

(1)
changed to support by striking “There shall be in the travel Department two additional Assistant Secretaries” and tourism industry, which produces economic impacts that are vital to our national economy; inserting “(1) There shall be in the Department 3 additional Assistant Secretaries, including the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism,”; and
(2)
changed to establish national goals for international visitors to by adding at the United States, including—end the following:

added “(2) The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism shall—

added “(A) be appointed by the President, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate; and

added “(B) report directly to the Under Secretary for International Trade.”

(A)
removed recommendations for achieving such goals and timelines for implementing such recommendations;
(B)
removed coordination between Federal and State agencies;
(C)
removed the resources needed by each Government agency to achieve such goals; and
(D)
removed the number of international visitors and the value of national travel exports.

Sec. 3 Responsibilities of the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism

(a)
added 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 2, shall—
(1)
added establish an annual visitation goal, consistent with the goals of the travel and tourism strategy developed pursuant to section 4(1), for—
(A)
added the number of international visitors to the United States; and
(B)
added the value of travel and tourism commerce;
(2)
added develop recommendations for achieving the annual goals established pursuant to paragraph (1);
(3)
added ensure that travel and tourism policy is developed in consultation with—
(A)
added the Tourism Policy Council;
(B)
added the Secretary of Homeland Security;
(C)
added the National Travel and Tourism Office;
(D)
added Brand USA;
(E)
added the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board; and
(F)
added travel industry partners, including public and private destination marketing organizations, travel and tourism suppliers, and labor representatives from these industries;
(4)
added establish short-, medium-, and long-term timelines for implementing the recommendations developed pursuant to paragraph (2);
(5)
added conduct Federal agency needs assessments, in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget, to identify the resources, statutory or regulatory changes, and private sector engagement needed to achieve the annual visitation goals; and
(6)
added provide assessments and recommendations to—
(A)
added the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate;
(B)
added the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives; and
(C)
added the public through a publicly accessible website.

removed It is the sense of Congress that—

(b)
changed Visa adjudication— setting a national goal for The Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the number Secretary of international visitors to the United States is vital for aligning Federal tourism policy to support American jobs State and economic growth;the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall—
(1)
added explore strategies for improving visitor visa processing with respect to—
(A)
added the maximum time for processing visas, by visitation type;
(B)
added 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)
added streamlining visa applications and adjudications, including application design and data collection procedures; and
(2)
added explore opportunities to establish pilot programs to integrate technology into the visitor visa adjudication process, including video conferencing and biometrics.
(c)
changed Domestic travel and tourism— setting a national goal for travel exports is vital for aligning Federal tourism policy The Assistant Secretary, to support American jobs, increase travel exports, and improve our Nation’s balance of trade;the extent feasible, shall—
(1)
added evaluate, on an ongoing basis, domestic policy options for supporting competitiveness with respect to the strengths, weaknesses, and growth of the domestic travel industry;
(2)
added develop recommendations and goals to support and enhance domestic tourism, separated by business and leisure; and
(3)
added engage public and private stakeholders to support domestic tourism.
(d)
changed Workforce— the travel industry is an essential part of the United States services exports with respect to business, education, medical, and leisure travel;The Assistant Secretary shall—
(1)
added consult with the Secretary of Labor to develop strategies and best practices for improving the timeliness and reliability of travel and tourism workforce data;
(2)
added work with the Secretary of Labor and the Bureau of Economic Analysis to improve travel and tourism industry data; and
(3)
added provide recommendations for policy enhancements and efficiencies.
(e)
changed International business travel facilitation— the promotion of travel The Assistant Secretary, in coordination with relevant Federal agencies, shall work to increase and visitation by the Corporation for Travel Promotion (doing facilitate international business as “Brand USA”) is vital travel to increasing visitation and articulating the visitation laws of the United States; andStates and ensure competitiveness by engaging in, at a minimum—
(1)
added facilitating large meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions to be hosted in the United States;
(2)
added emphasizing rural and other destinations rich in cultural heritage or ecological tourism, among other uniquely American destinations, as locations for hosting international meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions in the United States; and
(3)
added facilitating sports and recreation events and activities, which shall be hosted in the United States.
(f)
added Recovery strategy—
(1)
added Initial recovery strategy— Not later than 1 year after amounts are appropriated to accomplish the purposes of this section, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with public and private stakeholders identified in subsection (a)(3) and public health officials, shall develop and implement a COVID–19 public health emergency recovery strategy to assist the United States travel and tourism industry to quickly recover from the pandemic.
(2)
added Future recovery strategies— After assisting in the implementation of the strategy developed pursuant to paragraph (1), the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with appropriate public and private stakeholders, 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, terrorist attacks, and pandemics.
(3)
added Cost-benefit analysis— In developing the COVID–19 public health emergency recovery strategy under paragraph (1) and additional recovery strategies for the travel and tourism industry under paragraph (2), the Assistant Secretary shall conduct cost-benefit analyses that take into account the health and economic effects of public health mitigation measures on the travel and tourism industry.
(g)
added Reporting requirements—
(1)
added Assistant secretary— The Assistant Secretary shall produce an annual forecasting report on the travel and tourism industry, to the extent feasible, which shall include current and anticipated—
(A)
added domestic employment needs;
(B)
added international inbound volume and spending, taking into account the lasting effects of the COVID–19 public health emergency and the impact of the recovery strategy implemented pursuant to subsection (f)(1); and
(C)
added domestic volume and spending, including Federal and State public land travel and tourism data.
(2)
added Bureau of economic analysis— The Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis should annually update, to the extent feasible, the Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts, including—
(A)
added State level travel and tourism spending data;
(B)
added travel and tourism workforce data for full-time and part-time employment; and
(C)
added Federal and State public lands outdoor recreational activity and tourism spending data.
(3)
added National travel and tourism office— The Director of the National Travel and Tourism Office—
(A)
added in partnership with the Bureau of Economic Analysis, shall report international arrival and spending data on a regular monthly schedule, which shall be made available to the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board and to the public through a publicly available website; and
(B)
added shall include questions in the Survey of International Air Travelers regarding wait-times, visits to public lands, and State data, to the extent applicable.
(5)
removed there is an urgent need for a coordinated travel and tourism industry response and strategy to respond to the current state of such industry and future unforeseen circumstances that may impact the travel and tourism industry.

Sec. 4 Travel and tourism strategy

changed Section 2(d) Not less frequently than once every 10 years, the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Reorganization Plan Numbered 3 United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, the Tourism Policy Council, and the Secretary of 1979 (93 Stat. 1382; 5 U.S.C. App.) is amended—Homeland Security, shall develop and submit to Congress a 10-year travel and tourism strategy, which shall include—

(1)
changed by striking “There shall be in the Department two additional Assistant Secretaries” and inserting “(1) There shall be in establishment of goals with respect to the Department 3 additional Assistant Secretaries, including number of annual international visitors to the Assistant Secretary United States and the annual value of Commerce for Travel travel and Tourism,”; andtourism commerce in the United States during such 10-year period;
(2)
changed by adding at the end resources needed to achieve the following:goals established pursuant to paragraph (1); and
(3)
added recommendations for statutory or regulatory changes that would be necessary to achieve such goals.

removed “(2) The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism shall—

removed “(A) be appointed by the President, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate; and

removed “(B) report directly to the Under Secretary for International Trade.”

Sec. 5 United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board

added Section 3 of the Act of July 19, 1940, entitled “An Act to encourage travel in the United States, and for other purposes” (15 U.S.C. 1546) is amended—

(a)
removed 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)
removed establish an annual goal, consistent with the goals of the travel and tourism strategy developed pursuant to section 6(1), for—
(A)
removed the number of international visitors to the United States; and
(B)
removed the value of travel exports;
(2)
removed develop recommendations for achieving the annual goals established pursuant to paragraph (1);
(3)
removed ensure that travel and tourism policy is developed in consultation with—
(A)
removed the Tourism Policy Council;
(B)
removed the Secretary of Homeland Security;
(C)
removed the National Travel and Tourism Office;
(D)
removed Brand USA;
(E)
removed the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board; and
(F)
removed travel industry partners, including public and private destination marketing organizations, travel and tourism suppliers, and labor representatives from these industries;
(4)
removed establish short-, medium-, and long-term timelines for implementing the recommendations developed pursuant to paragraph (2);
(5)
removed conduct Federal agency needs assessments, in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget, to identify the resources, statutory or regulatory changes, and private sector engagement needed to achieve the annual visitation goals; and
(6)
removed provide assessments and recommendations to—
(A)
removed the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate;
(B)
removed the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives; and
(C)
removed the public through a publicly accessible website.
(1)
changed Visa adjudication— The Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the by striking “Sec. 3.” and all that follows through “The Secretary of State the Interior is authorized” and inserting the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall—following:

added “3. United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board; Advisory committee

added “(a) United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board

added “(1) In general—There is established the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board (referred to in this subsection as the “Board”), the members of which shall be appointed by the Secretary of Commerce for 2-year terms from among companies and organizations in the travel and tourism industry.

added “(2) Executive director—The Assistant Secretary for Travel and Tourism shall serve as the Executive Director of the Board.

added “(3) Executive secretariat—The Director of the National Travel and Tourism Office of the International Trade Administration shall serve as the Executive Secretariat for the Board.

added “(4) Functions—The Board’s Charter shall specify that the Board will—

added “(A) serve as the advisory body to the Secretary of Commerce on matters relating to the travel and tourism industry in the United States;

added “(B) advise the Secretary of Commerce on Government policies and programs that affect the United States travel and tourism industry;

added “(C) offer counsel on current and emerging issues;

added “(D) provide a forum for discussing and proposing solutions to problems related to the travel and tourism industry; and

added “(E) provide advice regarding the domestic travel and tourism industry as an economic engine.

added “(5) Recovery strategy—The Board shall assist the Assistant Secretary in the development and implementation of the COVID–19 public health emergency recovery strategy required under section 3(f)(1) of the Visit America Act.

added “(b) Advisory committee for promotion of tourist travel—The Secretary of Commerce is authorized”

(1)
removed explore strategies for improving visitor visa processing with respect to—
(A)
removed the maximum time for processing visas, by visitation type;
(B)
removed 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)
removed streamlining visa applications and adjudications, including application design and data collection procedures; and
(2)
removed explore opportunities to establish pilot programs to integrate technology into the visitor visa adjudication process, including video conferencing and biometrics.
(2)
changed Domestic travel and tourism— The Assistant Secretary, to by striking “the Secretary of the extent feasible, shall—Interior to serve” and inserting “the Secretary of Commerce to serve”.
(1)
removed evaluate, on an ongoing basis, domestic policy options for supporting competitiveness with respect to the strengths, weaknesses, and growth of the domestic travel industry;
(2)
removed develop recommendations and goals to support and enhance domestic tourism, separated by business and leisure; and
(3)
removed engage public and private stakeholders to support domestic tourism.
(d)
removed Workforce— The Assistant Secretary shall—
(1)
removed consult with the Secretary of Labor to develop strategies and best practices for improving the timeliness and reliability of travel and tourism workforce data;
(2)
removed work with the Secretary of Labor and the Bureau of Economic Analysis to improve travel and tourism industry data; and
(3)
removed provide recommendations for policy enhancements and efficiencies.
(e)
removed Travel export promotion— The Assistant Secretary, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets and the Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service, shall work to promote and facilitate travel exports abroad and ensure competitiveness by engaging in, at a minimum—
(1)
removed promoting meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions;
(2)
removed emphasizing rural and other destinations rich in cultural heritage or ecological tourism, among other uniquely American destinations; and
(3)
removed promoting sports and recreation events and activities, which shall be hosted in the United States.
(f)
removed Recovery strategy—
(1)
removed Initial recovery strategy— Not later than 1 year after amounts are appropriated to accomplish the purposes of this section, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with public and private stakeholders identified in subsection (a)(3) and public health officials, shall develop and implement a COVID–19 public health emergency recovery strategy to assist the United States travel and tourism industry to quickly recover from the pandemic.
(2)
removed Future recovery strategies— After assisting in the implementation of the strategy developed pursuant to paragraph (1), the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with appropriate public and private stakeholders, 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, terrorist attacks, and pandemics.
(3)
removed Cost-benefit analysis— In developing the COVID–19 public health emergency recovery strategy under paragraph (1) and additional recovery strategies for the travel and tourism industry under paragraph (2), the Assistant Secretary shall conduct cost-benefit analyses that take into account the health and economic effects of public health mitigation measures on the travel and tourism industry.
(g)
removed Reporting requirements—
(1)
removed Assistant secretary— The Assistant Secretary shall produce an annual forecasting report on the travel and tourism industry, to the extent feasible, which shall include current and anticipated—
(A)
removed domestic employment needs;
(B)
removed international inbound volume and spending, taking into account the lasting effects of the COVID–19 public health emergency and the impact of the recovery strategy implemented pursuant to subsection (f)(1); and
(C)
removed domestic volume and spending, including Federal and State public land travel and tourism data.
(2)
removed Bureau of economic analysis— The Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis should annually update, to the extent feasible, the Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts, including—
(A)
removed State level travel and tourism spending data;
(B)
removed travel and tourism workforce data for full-time and part-time employment; and
(C)
removed Federal and State public lands spending data.
(3)
removed National travel and tourism office— The Director of the National Travel and Tourism Office—
(A)
removed in partnership with the Bureau of Economic Analysis, shall report international arrival and spending data on a regular monthly schedule, which shall be made available to the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board and to the public through a publicly available website; and
(B)
removed 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 Data on domestic travel and tourism

changed Not less frequently than once every 10 years, the The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, the Tourism Policy Council, and subject to the Secretary availability of Homeland Security, appropriations, shall develop collect and submit to Congress a 10-year make public aggregate data on domestic travel and tourism strategy, which shall include—trends.

(1)
removed the establishment of goals with respect to the number of annual international visitors to the United States and the annual value of travel exports during such 10-year period;
(2)
removed the resources needed to achieve the goals established pursuant to paragraph (1); and
(3)
removed recommendations for statutory or regulatory changes that would be necessary to achieve such goals.

Sec. 7 Completion of proceeding

changed Section 3 If the Secretary of Commerce has, before the Act entitled “An date of the enactment of this Act, taken action that in whole or in part implements this Act or the amendments made by this Act, the Secretary is not required to encourage travel in revisit such action, but only to the United States, and for other purposes” (15 U.S.C. 1546) extent such action is amended—consistent with this Act and the amendments made by this Act.

(1)
removed by amending the section heading to read as follows: “united states travel and tourism advisory board; advisory committee”; and
(2)
removed by striking “The Secretary of Commerce is authorized” and inserting the following:

removed “(a) United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board

removed “(1) In general—There is established the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board (referred to in this subsection as the “Board”), the members of which shall be appointed by the Secretary of Commerce for 2-year terms from among companies and organizations in the travel and tourism industry.

removed “(2) Executive director—The Assistant Secretary for Travel and Tourism shall serve as the Executive Director of the Board.

removed “(3) Executive secretariat—The Director of the National Travel and Tourism Office of the International Trade Administration shall serve as the Executive Secretariat for the Board.

removed “(4) Functions—The Board’s Charter shall specify that the Board will—

removed “(A) serve as the advisory body to the Secretary of Commerce on matters relating to the travel and tourism industry in the United States;

removed “(B) advise the Secretary of Commerce on Government policies and programs that affect the United States travel and tourism industry;

removed “(C) offer counsel on current and emerging issues;

removed “(D) provide a forum for discussing and proposing solutions to problems related to the travel and tourism industry; and

removed “(E) provide advice regarding the domestic travel and tourism industry as an economic engine.

removed “(5) Recovery strategy—The Board shall assist the Assistant Secretary in the development and implementation of the COVID–19 public health emergency recovery strategy required under section 5(f)(1) of the Visit America Act.

removed “(b) Advisory committee for promotion of tourist travel—The Secretary of Commerce is authorized”

Sec. 8 Defined term

changed The Secretary of Commerce, subject to In this Act, the availability of appropriations, shall collect and make term “COVID–19 public aggregate data on domestic travel and tourism trends by individuals traveling between points within the United States.health emergency”—

(1)
added means the public health emergency first declared on January 31, 2020, by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) with respect to COVID–19; and
(2)
added includes any renewal of such declaration pursuant to such section 319.

Sec. 9 Defined term

removed

removed In this Act, the term “COVID–19 public health emergency”—

(1)
removed means the public health emergency first declared on January 31, 2020, by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) with respect to COVID–19; and
(2)
removed includes any renewal of such declaration pursuant to such section 319.