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 Tourism 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) introduced 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. 

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 ‘‘Visit America Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

6 The purposes of this Act are— 


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1 (1) to support the travel and tourism industry, 

2 which produces economic impacts that are vital our 

3 national economy; 

4 (2) to address the recent decline in the percent5 age of international travelers who visit the United 

6 States; and 

7 (3) to establish national goals for international 

8 visitors to the United States, including— 

9 (A) recommendations for achieving such 

10 goals and timelines for implementing such rec11 ommendations; 

12 (B) coordination between Federal and 

13 State agencies; 

14 (C) assessing the resources needed by each 

15 Government agency to achieve such goals; 

16 (D) setting national travel export goals; 

17 and 

18 (E) setting national domestic travel goals. 

19 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

20 It is the sense of Congress that— 

21 (1) the national goal for international visitors 

22 referred to in section 2(3) should reach 116,000,000 

23 per year by 2028; 


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1 (2) the national goal for travel exports referred 

2 to in section 2(3)(D) should reach $445,000,000,000 

3 by 2028; 

4 (3) the travel industry is an essential part of 

5 the United States services exports with respect to 

6 both business travel and leisure travel; 

7 (4) the promotion of travel and visitation by 

8 Brand USA is vital to increasing visitation and ar9 ticulating the visitation laws of the United States; 

10 and 

11 (5) there is an urgent need for a coordinated 

12 travel and tourism industry response and strategy in 

13 the event of unforeseen circumstances leading to a 

14 decline in travel or tourism. 

15 SEC. 4. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR TRAVEL AND TOURISM. 

16 Section 2(d) of the Reorganization Plan Numbered 

17 3 of 1979 (93 Stat. 1382; 5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘There shall be in the Depart19 ment two additional Assistant Secretaries’’ and in20 serting ‘‘(1) There shall be in the Department 3 ad21 ditional Assistant Secretaries, including the Assist22 ant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tour23 ism,’’; and 

24 (2) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(2) The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel 

2 and Tourism shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) be appointed by the President, subject to 

4 the advise and consent of the Senate; and 

5 ‘‘(B) report directly to the Under Secretary for 

6 International Trade.’’. 

7 SEC. 5. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY 

8 OF COMMERCE FOR TRAVEL AND TOURISM. 

9 (a) VISITATION GOALS.—The Assistant Secretary of 

10 Commerce for Travel and Tourism (referred to in this sec11 tion as the ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’), appointed pursuant to 

12 section 2(d) of the Reorganization Plan Numbered 3 of 

13 1979, as amended by section 4, shall— 

14 (1) establish an annual goal for— 

15 (A) the number of international visitors to 

16 the United States, which shall reach 

17 116,000,000 by 2028; and 

18 (B) travel exports, which shall reach 

19 $445,000,000,000 by 2028; 

20 (2) develop recommendations for achieving such 

21 visitation goal; 

22 (3) ensure coordination between— 

23 (A) the Department of Commerce, the De24 partment of Homeland Security, the Depart25 ment of State, the Department of TransporVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8480.IH H8480

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1 tation, the Department of Labor for policy de2 velopment and recommendations for utilizing— 

3 (B) the National Travel and Tourism Of4 fice; 

5 (C) Brand USA; 

6 (D) the United States Travel and Tourism 

7 Advisory Board; 

8 (E) the Task Force on Travel and Tourism 

9 established by Executive Order 13597 of Janu10 ary 19, 2012; and 

11 (F) travel industry partners, including 

12 public and private destination marketing orga13 nizations and travel and tourism suppliers; 

14 (4) establish short-, medium-, and long-term 

15 timelines for implementing the recommendations de16 veloped pursuant to paragraph (2); and 

17 (5) conduct Federal agency needs assessments 

18 to identify the resources, statutory or regulatory 

19 changes, and private sector engagement needed to 

20 achieve the annual visitation goals. 

21 (b) VISA ADJUDICATION.—The Assistant Sec22 retary— 

23 (1) in coordination with the Secretary of State 

24 and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall proVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8480.IH H8480

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1 vide support for improving visitor visa processing 

2 with respect to— 

3 (A) the maximum time for processing 

4 visas, by visitation type; 

5 (B) recommending regulatory and policy 

6 changes needed to meet such visa processing 

7 goals, including technology, processing centers, 

8 and training; and 

9 (C) a plan for streamlining visa applica10 tions and adjudications, including application 

11 design and data collection procedures; and 

12 (2) shall explore opportunities to establish pilot 

13 programs to integrate technology into the visitor visa 

14 adjudication process, including video conferencing 

15 and biometrics. 

16 (c) DOMESTIC TRAVEL.—The Assistant Secretary 

17 shall— 

18 (1) conduct a study to identify domestic com19 petitiveness with respect to— 

20 (A) the strengths and weaknesses of the 

21 domestic travel industry; and 

22 (B) the external opportunities and chal23 lenges to domestic tourism; 


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1 (2) develop recommendations and goals to sup2 port domestic tourism, separated by business and 

3 leisure; and 

4 (3) engage public and private stakeholders to 

5 support domestic tourism. 

6 (d) WORKFORCE.—The Assistant Secretary— 

7 (1) in coordination with the Secretary of Labor, 

8 shall provide timely and reliable workforce data re9 garding workforce and labor market needs; 

10 (2) shall work to improve tourism industry data 

11 collection by the Bureau of Economic Analysis; and 

12 (3) shall provide recommendations for policy en13 hancements and streamlining. 

14 (e) TRAVEL EXPORT PROMOTION.—The Assistant 

15 Secretary, in coordination with the Director General of the 

16 United States and Foreign Commercial Service, shall work 

17 to promote and facilitate travel exports abroad and ensure 

18 competitiveness by— 

19 (1) participating in and organizing meetings, 

20 incentives, conferences, and exhibitions; 

21 (2) monitor visa adjudications; 

22 (3) emphasizing rural and other destinations 

23 rich in cultural heritage or ecological tourism, 

24 among other uniquely American destinations; and 


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1 (4) promoting sports and recreation events and 

2 activities. 

3 (f) TRAVEL SECURITY.—The Assistant Secretary 

4 shall investigate and provide recommendations regarding 

5 utilizing and expanding existing security programs to bet6 ter meet the needs of the United States travel and tourism 

7 industry, including— 

8 (1) the Visa Waiver Program authorized under 

9 section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

10 (8 U.S.C. 1187); 

11 (2) preclearance operations; 

12 (3) the Trusted Traveler Program; and 

13 (4) the biometric entry-exit control system re14 quired under section 110 of the Illegal Immigration 

15 Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 

16 (division C of Public Law 104–208; 8 U.S.C. 1221 

17 note). 

18 (g) RECOVERY STRATEGY.— 

19 (1) INITIAL RECOVERY STRATEGY.—Not later 

20 than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this 

21 Act, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with 

22 the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory 

23 Board and travel industry partners, shall develop 

24 and implement a COVID–19 pandemic recovery 

25 strategy to assist in the United States travel and 


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1 tourism industry to quickly recover from the travel 

2 restrictions necessitated by the pandemic. 

3 (2) FUTURE RECOVERY STRATEGIES.—After 

4 assisting in the implementation of the strategy de5 veloped pursuant to paragraph (1), the Assistant 

6 Secretary, in consultation with the entities referred 

7 to in such paragraph, shall develop additional recov8 ery strategies for the travel and tourism industry in 

9 anticipation of other unforeseen catastrophic events 

10 that would significantly affect the travel and tourism 

11 industry, such as hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, tor12 nadoes, or pandemics. 

13 (h) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

14 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The Assistant 

15 Secretary shall produce an annual forecasting report 

16 on the travel and tourism industry, which shall in17 clude current and anticipated— 

18 (A) domestic employment needs; 

19 (B) international inbound volume and 

20 spending, taking into account the lasting effects 

21 of the COVID–19 pandemic and the impact of 

22 the recovery strategy implemented pursuant to 

23 subsection (g)(1); and 


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1 (C) domestic volume and spending, includ2 ing Federal and State public land travel and 

3 tourism data. 

4 (2) BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS.—The Di5 rector of the Bureau of Economic Analysis should 

6 update the Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts 

7 quarterly, including— 

8 (A) State level travel and tourism export 

9 data; 

10 (B) travel and tourism workforce data for 

11 full-time and part-time employment; and 

12 (C) Federal and State public lands visita13 tion and spending data. 

14 (3) NATIONAL TRAVEL AND TOURISM OF15 FICE.—The Director of the National Travel and 

16 Tourism Office shall— 

17 (A) report international arrival and spend18 ing data on a regular monthly schedule; and 

19 (B) shall include questions in the Survey 

20 of International Air Travelers regarding wait21 times, visits to public lands, and State data, to 

22 the extent applicable. 

23 SEC. 6. TRAVEL AND TOURISM STRATEGY. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce, in 

25 consultation with the United States Travel and Tourism 


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1 Advisory Board, shall develop and submit to Congress a 

2 10-year travel and tourism strategy, which shall include— 

3 (1) the feasibility of achieving— 

4 (A) 116,000,000 annual international visi5 tors to the United States by 2028; and 

6 (B) $445,000,000,000 in travel exports by 

7 2028; 

8 (2) the resources needed to achieve the goals 

9 set forth in paragraph (1); and 

10 (3) recommendations for statutory or regulatory 

11 changes that would be necessary to achieve such 

12 goals. 

13 (b) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—The Secretary 

14 of Commerce shall coordinate an interagency strategy with 

15 the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Se16 curity for— 

17 (1) identify impediments to reaching the goals 

18 referred to in subsection (a)(1); and 

19 (2) recommends solutions for overcoming such 

20 impediments. 

21 SEC. 7. UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM ADVISORY 

22 BOARD. 

23 Section 3 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to encourage 

24 travel in the United States, and for other purposes’’ (15 

25 U.S.C. 1546) is amended— 


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1 (1) by amending the section heading to read as 

2 follows: ‘‘UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM

3 ADVISORY BOARD; ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR

4 PROMOTION OF TOURIST TRAVEL’’; and 

5 (2) by striking ‘‘The Secretary of Commerce is 

6 authorized’’ and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(a) UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM ADVI8 SORY BOARD.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established the 

10 United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board 

11 (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Board’), which 

12 shall be composed of not more than 32 members, 

13 who shall be appointed by the Secretary of Com14 merce for 2-year terms from among companies and 

15 organizations in the travel and tourism industry. 

16 ‘‘(2) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The Assistant 

17 Secretary for Travel and Tourism shall serve as the 

18 Executive Director of the Board. 

19 ‘‘(3) EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT.—The National 

20 Travel and Tourism Office of the International 

21 Trade Administration shall serve as the Executive 

22 Secretariat for the Board. 

23 ‘‘(4) FUNCTIONS.—The Board shall comply 

24 with its Charter, as established in 2003, including— 


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1 ‘‘(A) serving as the advisory body to the 

2 Secretary of Commerce on matters relating to 

3 the travel and tourism industry in the United 

4 States; 

5 ‘‘(B) advising the Secretary of Commerce 

6 on government policies and programs that af7 fect the United States travel and tourism indus8 try; 

9 ‘‘(C) offering counsel on current and 

10 emerging issues; 

11 ‘‘(D) providing a forum for discussing and 

12 proposing solutions to problems related to the 

13 travel and tourism industry; and 

14 ‘‘(E) examining the domestic travel and 

15 tourism industry as an economic engine. 

16 ‘‘(5) RECOVERY STRATEGY.—The Board shall 

17 assist the Assistant Secretary in the development 

18 and implementation of the COVID–19 pandemic re19 covery strategy required under section 5(g)(1) of the 

20 Visit America Act. 

21 ‘‘(b) ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR PROMOTION OF

22 TOURIST TRAVEL.—The Secretary of Commerce is au23 thorized’’. 

Æ 


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