I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5624 

To require the Secretary of State to take such actions as may be necessary 

for the United States to rejoin the Bureau of International Expositions, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 5, 2016 

Mr. EMMER of Minnesota (for himself and Ms. MCCOLLUM) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of State to take such actions as 

may be necessary for the United States to rejoin the 

Bureau of International Expositions, 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 ‘‘U.S. Wants to Com5 pete for a World Expo Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Bureau of International Expositions 

2 (BIE) is a treaty-based organization, with 169 mem3 ber-states, responsible for governing World Fairs 

4 and International Expositions since the signing of 

5 the Convention Concerning International Expositions 

6 on November 22, 1928. The United States is a party 

7 to the Convention. 

8 (2) The United States withdrew from member9 ship in the BIE in 2001 in response to congressional 

10 limitations on the expenditure of funds for United 

11 States participation. 

12 (3) The United States and other non-members 

13 of the BIE face significantly higher costs to host 

14 and to participate in international expositions be15 cause of their non-member status. 

16 (4) The bid of a United States city, region, or 

17 State to host an international exposition is unlikely 

18 to be successful if the United States is not a mem19 ber of the BIE, because BIE rules require that 

20 members receive a preference over non-members for 

21 all such bids. 

22 (5) Since the United States was previously a 

23 member of the BIE, and has already acceded to the 

24 Convention, no formal congressional action is nec25 essary for the United States to rejoin the BIE. 


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1 (6) The United States regularly enters into 

2 international legal agreements with other countries 

3 or international organizations, that are binding on 

4 the United States as a matter of international law. 

5 Under United States law, such agreements may take 

6 the form of treaties or executive agreements. 

7 (7) The President may enter into an inter8 national agreement on matters within his constitu9 tional authority to the extent that the agreement is 

10 not inconsistent with enacted legislation. The United 

11 States is currently a party to approximately 900 

12 treaties and 5,000 executive agreements. 

13 (8) Section 1(a) of Public Law 91–269 (22 

14 U.S.C. 2801(a)) found that ‘‘international expo15 sitions . . . have a significant impact on the eco16 nomic growth of the region surrounding the expo17 sition and . . . are important instruments of na18 tional policy’’. 

19 (9) Although section 204 of the Admiral James 

20 W. Nance and Meg Donovan Foreign Relations Au21 thorization Act, Fiscal Years 2000 and 2001 (22 

22 U.S.C. 2452b) prohibits ‘‘the expenditure of funds 

23 appropriated to the Department of State for a 

24 United States pavilion or other major exhibit at any 

25 international exposition or world’s fair registered by 


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1 the Bureau of International Expositions in excess of 

2 amounts expressly authorized and appropriated for 

3 such purposes’’, the section neither prohibits nor re4 stricts the United States from being a member of 

5 the BIE. 

6 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 

8 (1) there are no statutory provisions that pro9 hibit the United States from rejoining the BIE; 

10 (2) the United States should rejoin the BIE im11 mediately to promote public diplomacy, global brand12 ing, and tourism to the United States; and 

13 (3) the Secretary of State, in partnership with 

14 the Secretary of Commerce, State and local govern15 ments, and private and nonprofit entities, should 

16 take all necessary steps to facilitate the timely sub17 mission of a request to rejoin the BIE. 

18 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 

21 shall take such actions as may be necessary for the United 

22 States to rejoin the BIE, notwithstanding any prohibitions 

23 under section 204 of the Admiral James W. Nance and 

24 Meg Donovan Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal 

25 Years 2000 and 2001 (22 U.S.C. 2452b). 


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1 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary of State shall inform 

2 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep3 resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

4 the Senate upon submitting a request to rejoin the BIE. 

Æ 


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