IB 

Union Calendar No. 382 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6965 

[Report No. 117–508, Part I] 

To promote travel and tourism in the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2022 

Ms. TITUS (for herself, Mr. CASE, and Mr. YOUNG) 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 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2022 

Additional sponsors: Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. PHILLIPS, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. DEMINGS, 

Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. HIGGINS of New 

York, and Mr. SOTO

SEPTEMBER 28, 2022 

Reported from the Committee on Energy and Commerce with an amendment 

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

SEPTEMBER 28, 2022 

Committees on Foreign Affairs and the Judiciary discharged; committed to 

the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


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[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 7, 2022] 

A BILL 

To promote travel and tourism in the United States, and 

for other purposes. 


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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. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR TRAVEL AND TOURISM. 

6 Section 2(d) of the Reorganization Plan Numbered 3 

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

8 (1) by striking ‘‘There shall be in the Depart9 ment two additional Assistant Secretaries’’ and in10 serting ‘‘(1) There shall be in the Department 3 addi11 tional Assistant Secretaries, including the Assistant 

12 Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism,’’; 

13 and 

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

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

16 and Tourism shall— 

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

18 advice and consent of the Senate; and 

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

20 International Trade.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY 

22 OF COMMERCE FOR TRAVEL AND TOURISM. 

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

24 Commerce for Travel and Tourism (referred to in this sec25 tion as the ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’), appointed pursuant to 


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

2 1979, as amended by section 2, shall— 

3 (1) establish an annual visitation goal, con4 sistent with the goals of the travel and tourism strat5 egy developed pursuant to section 4(1), for— 

6 (A) the number of international visitors to 

7 the United States; and 

8 (B) the value of travel and tourism com9 merce; 

10 (2) develop recommendations for achieving the 

11 annual goals established pursuant to paragraph (1); 

12 (3) ensure that travel and tourism policy is de13 veloped in consultation with— 

14 (A) the Tourism Policy Council; 

15 (B) the Secretary of Homeland Security; 

16 (C) the National Travel and Tourism Of17 fice; 

18 (D) Brand USA; 

19 (E) the United States Travel and Tourism 

20 Advisory Board; and 

21 (F) travel industry partners, including pub22 lic and private destination marketing organiza23 tions, travel and tourism suppliers, and labor 

24 representatives from these industries; 


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

2 timelines for implementing the recommendations de3 veloped pursuant to paragraph (2); 

4 (5) conduct Federal agency needs assessments, in 

5 consultation with the Office of Management and 

6 Budget, to identify the resources, statutory or regu7 latory changes, and private sector engagement needed 

8 to achieve the annual visitation goals; and 

9 (6) provide assessments and recommendations 

10 to— 

11 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

12 and Transportation of the Senate; 

13 (B) the Committee on Energy and Com14 merce of the House of Representatives; and 

15 (C) the public through a publicly accessible 

16 website. 

17 (b) VISA ADJUDICATION.—The Assistant Secretary, in 

18 consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary 

19 of Homeland Security, shall— 

20 (1) explore strategies for improving visitor visa 

21 processing with respect to— 

22 (A) the maximum time for processing visas, 

23 by visitation type; 

24 (B) regulatory and policy changes needed to 

25 meet the visa processing goals referred to in subVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Sep 29, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H6965.RH H6965

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1 paragraph (A), including changes regarding 

2 technology, processing centers, and training; and 

3 (C) streamlining visa applications and ad4 judications, including application design and 

5 data collection procedures; and 

6 (2) explore opportunities to establish pilot pro7 grams to integrate technology into the visitor visa ad8 judication process, including video conferencing and 

9 biometrics. 

10 (c) DOMESTIC TRAVEL AND TOURISM.—The Assistant 

11 Secretary, to the extent feasible, shall— 

12 (1) evaluate, on an ongoing basis, domestic pol13 icy options for supporting competitiveness with re14 spect to the strengths, weaknesses, and growth of the 

15 domestic travel industry; 

16 (2) develop recommendations and goals to sup17 port and enhance domestic tourism, separated by 

18 business and leisure; and 

19 (3) engage public and private stakeholders to 

20 support domestic tourism. 

21 (d) WORKFORCE.—The Assistant Secretary shall— 

22 (1) consult with the Secretary of Labor to de23 velop strategies and best practices for improving the 

24 timeliness and reliability of travel and tourism work25 force data; 


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1 (2) work with the Secretary of Labor and the 

2 Bureau of Economic Analysis to improve travel and 

3 tourism industry data; and 

4 (3) provide recommendations for policy enhance5 ments and efficiencies. 

6 (e) INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TRAVEL FACILITA7 TION.—The Assistant Secretary, in coordination with rel8 evant Federal agencies, shall work to increase and facilitate 

9 international business travel to the United States and en10 sure competitiveness by engaging in, at a minimum— 

11 (1) facilitating large meetings, incentives, con12 ferences, and exhibitions to be hosted in the United 

13 States; 

14 (2) emphasizing rural and other destinations 

15 rich in cultural heritage or ecological tourism, among 

16 other uniquely American destinations, as locations for 

17 hosting international meetings, incentives, con18 ferences, and exhibitions in the United States; and 

19 (3) facilitating sports and recreation events and 

20 activities, which shall be hosted in the United States. 

21 (f) RECOVERY STRATEGY.— 

22 (1) INITIAL RECOVERY STRATEGY.—Not later 

23 than 1 year after amounts are appropriated to ac24 complish the purposes of this section, the Assistant 

25 Secretary, in consultation with public and private 


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1 stakeholders identified in subsection (a)(3) and public 

2 health officials, shall develop and implement a 

3 COVID–19 public health emergency recovery strategy 

4 to assist the United States travel and tourism indus5 try to quickly recover from the pandemic. 

6 (2) FUTURE RECOVERY STRATEGIES.—After as7 sisting in the implementation of the strategy devel8 oped pursuant to paragraph (1), the Assistant Sec9 retary, in consultation with appropriate public and 

10 private stakeholders, shall develop additional recovery 

11 strategies for the travel and tourism industry in an12 ticipation of other unforeseen catastrophic events that 

13 would significantly affect the travel and tourism in14 dustry, such as hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, torna15 does, terrorist attacks, and pandemics. 

16 (3) COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS.—In developing the 

17 COVID–19 public health emergency recovery strategy 

18 under paragraph (1) and additional recovery strate19 gies for the travel and tourism industry under para20 graph (2), the Assistant Secretary shall conduct cost21 benefit analyses that take into account the health and 

22 economic effects of public health mitigation measures 

23 on the travel and tourism industry. 

24 (g) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The Assistant Sec2 retary shall produce an annual forecasting report on 

3 the travel and tourism industry, to the extent feasible, 

4 which shall include current and anticipated— 

5 (A) domestic employment needs; 

6 (B) international inbound volume and 

7 spending, taking into account the lasting effects 

8 of the COVID–19 public health emergency and 

9 the impact of the recovery strategy implemented 

10 pursuant to subsection (f)(1); and 

11 (C) domestic volume and spending, includ12 ing Federal and State public land travel and 

13 tourism data. 

14 (2) BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS.—The Di15 rector of the Bureau of Economic Analysis should an16 nually update, to the extent feasible, the Travel and 

17 Tourism Satellite Accounts, including— 

18 (A) State level travel and tourism spending 

19 data; 

20 (B) travel and tourism workforce data for 

21 full-time and part-time employment; and 

22 (C) Federal and State public lands outdoor 

23 recreational activity and tourism spending data. 


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1 (3) NATIONAL TRAVEL AND TOURISM OFFICE.— 

2 The Director of the National Travel and Tourism Of3 fice— 

4 (A) in partnership with the Bureau of Eco5 nomic Analysis, shall report international ar6 rival and spending data on a regular monthly 

7 schedule, which shall be made available to the 

8 Travel and Tourism Advisory Board and to the 

9 public through a publicly available website; and 

10 (B) shall include questions in the Survey of 

11 International Air Travelers regarding wait12 times, visits to public lands, and State data, to 

13 the extent applicable. 

14 SEC. 4. TRAVEL AND TOURISM STRATEGY. 

15 Not less frequently than once every 10 years, the Sec16 retary of Commerce, in consultation with the United States 

17 Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, the Tourism Policy 

18 Council, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall de19 velop and submit to Congress a 10-year travel and tourism 

20 strategy, which shall include— 

21 (1) the establishment of goals with respect to the 

22 number of annual international visitors to the United 

23 States and the annual value of travel and tourism 

24 commerce in the United States during such 10-year 

25 period; 


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1 (2) the resources needed to achieve the goals es2 tablished pursuant to paragraph (1); and 

3 (3) recommendations for statutory or regulatory 

4 changes that would be necessary to achieve such goals. 

5 SEC. 5. UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM ADVISORY 

6 BOARD. 

7 Section 3 of the Act of July 19, 1940, entitled ‘‘An 

8 Act to encourage travel in the United States, and for other 

9 purposes’’ (15 U.S.C. 1546) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘SEC. 3.’’ and all that follows 

11 through ‘‘The Secretary of the Interior is authorized’’ 

12 and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 3. UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM ADVISORY 

14 BOARD; ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

15 ‘‘(a) UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM ADVI16 SORY BOARD.— 

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

18 United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board 

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

20 members of which shall be appointed by the Secretary 

21 of Commerce for 2-year terms from among companies 

22 and organizations in the travel and tourism industry. 

23 ‘‘(2) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The Assistant Sec24 retary for Travel and Tourism shall serve as the Ex25 ecutive Director of the Board. 


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1 ‘‘(3) EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT.—The Director of 

2 the National Travel and Tourism Office of the Inter3 national Trade Administration shall serve as the Ex4 ecutive Secretariat for the Board. 

5 ‘‘(4) FUNCTIONS.—The Board’s Charter shall 

6 specify that the Board will— 

7 ‘‘(A) serve as the advisory body to the Sec8 retary of Commerce on matters relating to the 

9 travel and tourism industry in the United 

10 States; 

11 ‘‘(B) advise the Secretary of Commerce on 

12 Government policies and programs that affect the 

13 United States travel and tourism industry; 

14 ‘‘(C) offer counsel on current and emerging 

15 issues; 

16 ‘‘(D) provide a forum for discussing and 

17 proposing solutions to problems related to the 

18 travel and tourism industry; and 

19 ‘‘(E) provide advice regarding the domestic 

20 travel and tourism industry as an economic en21 gine. 

22 ‘‘(5) RECOVERY STRATEGY.—The Board shall as23 sist the Assistant Secretary in the development and 

24 implementation of the COVID–19 public health emerVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Sep 29, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H6965.RH H6965

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1 gency recovery strategy required under section 3(f)(1) 

2 of the Visit America Act. 

3 ‘‘(b) ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR PROMOTION OF

4 TOURIST TRAVEL.—The Secretary of Commerce is author5 ized’’; and 

6 (2) by striking ‘‘the Secretary of the Interior to 

7 serve’’ and inserting ‘‘the Secretary of Commerce to 

8 serve’’. 

9 SEC. 6. DATA ON DOMESTIC TRAVEL AND TOURISM. 

10 The Secretary of Commerce, subject to the availability 

11 of appropriations, shall collect and make public aggregate 

12 data on domestic travel and tourism trends. 

13 SEC. 7. COMPLETION OF PROCEEDING. 

14 If the Secretary of Commerce has, before the date of 

15 the enactment of this Act, taken action that in whole or 

16 in part implements this Act or the amendments made by 

17 this Act, the Secretary is not required to revisit such action, 

18 but only to the extent such action is consistent with this 

19 Act and the amendments made by this Act. 

20 SEC. 8. DEFINED TERM. 

21 In this Act, the term ‘‘COVID–19 public health emer22 gency’’— 

23 (1) means the public health emergency first de24 clared on January 31, 2020, by the Secretary of 

25 Health and Human Services under section 319 of the 


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1 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) with re2 spect to COVID–19; and 

3 (2) includes any renewal of such declaration 

4 pursuant to such section 319. 


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Union Calendar No. 382 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6965 

[Report No. 117–508, Part I] 

A BILL 

To promote travel and tourism in the United 

States, and for other purposes. 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2022 

Reported from the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

with an amendment 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2022 

Committees on Foreign Affairs and the Judiciary disprinted House on the State of the Union and ordered to be charged; committed to the Committee of the Whole 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS