I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3732 

To prohibit an agency or department of the United States from establishing 

or implementing an internal policy that discourages or prohibits the 

selection of a resort or vacation destination as the location for a conference or event, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 6, 2009 

Mr. MITCHELL (for himself and Mr. HELLER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To prohibit an agency or department of the United States 

from establishing or implementing an internal policy that 

discourages or prohibits the selection of a resort or vacation destination as the location for a conference or event, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Resort Cit5 ies from Discrimination Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Tourism, including conventions and meet2 ings, is an important part of the United States econ3 omy that generates billions of dollars in tax revenues 

4 for many localities. 

5 (2) Analysts estimate that approximately 90 

6 percent of employers in the travel industry are small 

7 businesses and more than 12 percent of United 

8 States employees are employed by the travel indus9 try. 

10 (3) Many local economies around the country 

11 have developed into destinations for vacationers and 

12 conventioneers alike, and those local economies de13 pend on the travel industry to support local employ14 ment, create new jobs, and generate tax revenues for 

15 critical public services. 

16 (4) These same destinations are home to large 

17 and small businesses that have unique skills, amen18 ities, and resources for planning and facilitating 

19 meetings and conventions for all purposes and, con20 sequently, may deliver value and convenience for in21 dividuals and organizations in need of a location for 

22 an official event. 

23 (5) Locating an official event in such a city fre24 quently may save taxpayer dollars, as compared to 

25 other locations. 


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1 (6) Agencies and departments of the United 

2 States have a responsibility to find ways to maximize 

3 taxpayer dollars in conducting official business, in4 cluding planning and conducting official meetings 

5 attended by Federal employees. 

6 (7) In deciding where to locate an official gov7 ernment meeting by applying this principle of maxi8 mizing taxpayer dollars, government officials often 

9 will conclude that many locations known as resort 

10 destinations also will provide the best value and con11 venience for official meetings and business. 

12 (8) Resort and vacation destination cities tend 

13 to be affected disproportionally during economic 

14 downturns and, therefore, are especially vulnerable 

15 to discrimination by meeting and convention plan16 ners, which could exacerbate unemployment and re17 lated demands on United States taxpayers. 

18 SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON CERTAIN TRAVEL AND CON19 FERENCES POLICIES OF AGENCIES OF THE 

20 UNITED STATES. 

21 No agency or department of the United States may 

22 establish or implement an internal policy regarding travel, 

23 event, meeting, or conference locations that discourages 


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1 or prohibits the selection of such a location because the 

2 location is perceived to be a resort or vacation destination. 

Æ 


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