II 

Calendar No. 48 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 534 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 26, 2017 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

MAY 3, 2017 

Reported by Mr. CORKER, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

AN ACT 

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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•HR 534 RS

1 (1) The Bureau of International Expositions 

2 (BIE) is the organization responsible for governing 

3 World Fairs and International Expositions. 

4 (2) Section 1(a) of Public Law 91–269 (22 

5 U.S.C. 2801(a)) found that ‘‘international expo6 sitions * * * have a significant impact on the eco7 nomic growth of the region surrounding the expo8 sition and * * * are important instruments of na9 tional policy’’. 

10 (3) The United States has not been an active 

11 member of the BIE since 2001. 

12 (4) State and local governments and private en13 tities in the United States have continued to partici14 pate in international expositions held in foreign 

15 countries as a means of promoting United States ex16 ports and creating jobs, but face significantly higher 

17 costs for such participation because the United 

18 States is not an active member. 

19 (5) State and local governments and private en20 tities in the United States have expressed interest in 

21 an international exposition being hosted in the 

22 United States, but the bid of a United States city, 

23 region, or State to host an international exposition 

24 is unlikely to be successful if the United States is 

25 not a member of the BIE. 


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•HR 534 RS

1 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) the United States should rejoin the BIE im4 mediately to promote domestic job creation, global 

5 branding, and tourism to the United States; 

6 (2) the Secretary of State, in partnership with 

7 the Secretary of Commerce, State and local govern8 ments, and private and non-profit entities, should 

9 take all necessary steps to facilitate the timely sub10 mission of a request to rejoin the BIE; and 

11 (3) funding for the participation of the United 

12 States in international expositions or other events 

13 facilitated by the BIE should continue to be pri14 vately solicited and sourced, in accordance with ex15 isting law. 

16 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State is author18 ized to take such actions as the Secretary determines nec19 essary for the United States to rejoin and maintain mem20 bership in the BIE. 

21 (b) AUTHORIZATION TO ACCEPT PRIVATE CON22 TRIBUTIONS.—In addition to funds otherwise available to 

23 the Secretary to carry out this section, the Secretary is 

24 authorized to accept contributions for such purpose. 

25 (c) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary of State shall no26 tify the Committees on Foreign Affairs and AppropriaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 May 03, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\H534.RS H534

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•HR 534 RS

1 tions of the House of Representatives and the Committees 

2 on Foreign Relations and Appropriations of the Senate 

3 upon taking any action under subsection (a). 

4 SEC. 5. CONTINUATION OF PROHIBITION ON USE OF FED5 ERAL FUNDS FOR WORLD’S FAIR PAVILIONS 

6 AND EXHIBITS. 

7 Nothing in this Act may be construed to authorize 

8 any obligation or expenditure prohibited by section 204 

9 of the Admiral James W. Nance and Meg Donovan For10 eign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2000 and 

11 2001 (22 U.S.C. 2452b) (relating to limitations on the 

12 obligation or expenditure of funds by the Department of 

13 State for a United States pavilion or exhibit at an inter14 national exposition or world’s fair registered by the BIE). 

15 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

16 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘U.S. Wants to Compete 

17 for a World Expo Act’’. 

18 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

19 Congress finds the following: 

20 (1) The Bureau of International Expositions 

21 (BIE) is the organization responsible for governing 

22 World Fairs and International Expositions. 

23 (2) Section 1(a) of Public Law 91–269 (22 

24 U.S.C. 2801(a)) found that ‘‘international expositions 

25 . . . have a significant impact on the economic growth 


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•HR 534 RS

1 of the region surrounding the exposition and . . . are 

2 important instruments of national policy’’. 

3 (3) The United States has not been an active 

4 member of the BIE since 2001. 

5 (4) State and local governments and private en6 tities in the United States have continued to partici7 pate in international expositions held in foreign 

8 countries as a means of promoting United States ex9 ports and creating jobs, but face significantly higher 

10 costs for such participation because the United States 

11 is not an active member. 

12 (5) State and local governments and private en13 tities in the United States have expressed interest in 

14 an international exposition being hosted in the 

15 United States, but the bid of a United States city, re16 gion, or State to host an international exposition is 

17 unlikely to be successful if the United States is not a 

18 member of the BIE. 

19 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

20 It is the sense of Congress that— 

21 (1) the United States should rejoin the BIE im22 mediately to promote domestic job creation, global 

23 branding, and tourism to the United States; and 

24 (2) the Secretary of State, in partnership with 

25 the Secretary of Commerce, State and local governVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 May 03, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H534.RS H534

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•HR 534 RS

1 ments, and private and non-profit entities, should 

2 take all necessary steps to facilitate the timely sub3 mission of a request to rejoin the BIE. 

4 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State is author6 ized to take such actions as the Secretary determines nec7 essary for the United States to rejoin and maintain mem8 bership in the BIE. 

9 (b) AUTHORIZATION TO ACCEPT PRIVATE CONTRIBU10 TIONS.—In addition to funds otherwise available to the Sec11 retary to carry out this section, the Secretary is authorized 

12 to accept contributions for such purpose. 

13 (c) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary of State shall notify 

14 the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Appropriations of 

15 the House of Representatives and the Committees on For16 eign Relations and Appropriations of the Senate upon tak17 ing any action under subsection (a). 

18 SEC. 5. CONTINUATION OF PROHIBITION ON USE OF FED19 ERAL FUNDS FOR WORLD’S FAIR PAVILIONS 

20 AND EXHIBITS. 

21 (a) CONTINUATION OF PROHIBITION.—Nothing in this 

22 Act may be construed to authorize any obligation or ex23 penditure prohibited by section 204 of the Admiral James 

24 W. Nance and Meg Donovan Foreign Relations Authoriza25 tion Act, Fiscal Years 2000 and 2001 (22 U.S.C. 2452b) 


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•HR 534 RS

1 (relating to limitations on the obligation or expenditure of 

2 funds by the Department of State for a United States pavil3 ion or exhibit at an international exposition or world’s fair 

4 registered by the BIE). 

5 (b) PROHIBITION ON SOLICITATION OF FUNDS.—Sec6 tion 204(b)(1)(C) of the Admiral James W. Nance and Meg 

7 Donovan Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 

8 2000 and 2001 (22 U.S.C. 2452b(b)(1)(C)) is amended by 

9 inserting after ‘‘expositions’’ the following: ‘‘, except that 

10 no employees of the Department of State may, in their offi11 cial capacity, solicit funds to pay expenses for a United 

12 States pavilion or other major exhibit at any international 

13 exposition or world’s fair registered by the Bureau of Inter14 national Expositions’’. 


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Calendar No. 48 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 534 

AN ACT 

To require the Secretary of State to take such acsitions, and for other purposes. to rejoin the Bureau of International Expo- tions as may be necessary for the United States 

MAY 3, 2017 

Reported with an amendment 


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