II 

Calendar No. 514 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1661 

[Report No. 110–233] 

To communicate United States travel policies and improve marketing and 

other activities designed to increase travel in the United States from abroad. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 19, 2007 

Mr. DORGAN (for himself, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. SMITH, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. KERRY, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mrs. 

FEINSTEIN, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. COLEMAN, Mr. CONRAD, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. 

KENNEDY, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. VITTER, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. 

DOMENICI, Mr. BINGAMAN, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. ENZI, Mr. 

SCHUMER, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. HATCH, Mr. SPECTER, 

and Mr. BOND) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

NOVEMBER 27 (legislative day, NOVEMBER 16), 2007 

Reported under authority of the order of the Senate of November 16, 2007, 

by Mr. INOUYE, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To communicate United States travel policies and improve 

marketing and other activities designed to increase travel 

in the United States from abroad. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Travel Promotion Act of 2007.’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS—The table of contents for 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. The Corporation for Travel Promotion. 

Sec. 3. Accountability measures. 

Sec. 4. Matching public and private funding. 

Sec. 5. Travel promotion program funding. 

Sec. 5. Electronic travel authorization system. 

Sec. 6. Assessment authority. 

Sec. 7. Under Secretary of Commerce for Travel Promotion. 

Sec. 8. Research program. 

Sec. 9. Definitions. 

Sec. 9. Model ports of entry. 

Sec. 10. Definitions. 

6 SEC. 2. THE CORPORATION FOR TRAVEL PROMOTION. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Corporation for Travel 

8 Promotion is established as a nonprofit corporation. The 

9 Corporation shall not be an agency or establishment of 

10 the United States Government. The Corporation shall be 

11 subject to the provisions of the District of Columbia Non12 profit Corporation Act (D.C. Code, section 29–1001 et 

13 seq.), to the extent that such provisions are consistent 

14 with this section, and shall have the powers conferred 

15 upon a nonprofit corporation by that Act to carry out its 

16 purposes and activities. 

17 (b) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall have 

19 a board of directors of 14 15 members, appointed by 

20 the Secretary of Commerce, who are United States 


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1 citizens with professional expertise and experience in 

2 the fields of travel, international travel promotion, 

3 and marketing and broadly represent various regions 

4 of the Nation, of whom— 

5 (A) 1 shall represent hotel accommodations 

6 providers; 

7 (B) 2 shall represent restaurant and retail 

8 businesses; 

9 (C) 2 shall represent attractions and recre10 ation businesses; 

11 (D) 1 shall represent the passenger air 

12 transportation business; 

13 (E) 1 shall represent the car rental busi14 ness; 

15 (F) 3 shall represent State and local of16 fices from disparate regions of the country; 

17 (G) 1 shall be a Federal employee (as de18 fined in section 2105 of title 5, United States 

19 Code); 

20 (H) 1 shall represent the higher education 

21 community; and 

22 (I) 2 shall represent the small business 

23 community. community; and 

24 (J) 1 shall respresent the intercity passenger 

25 railroad business. 


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1 (2) INCORPORATION.—The members of the ini2 tial board of directors shall serve as incorporators 

3 and shall take whatever actions are necessary to es4 tablish the Corporation under the District of Colum5 bia Nonprofit Corporation Act (D.C. Code, section 

6 29–1001 et seq.). 

7 (3) TERM OF OFFICE.—The term of office of 

8 each member of the board appointed by the Sec9 retary shall be 3 years, except that, of the members 

10 first appointed— 

11 (A) 3 shall be appointed for terms of 1 

12 year; 

13 (B) 4 shall be appointed for terms of 2 

14 years; and 

15 (C) 4 shall be appointed for terms of 3 

16 years. 

17 (4) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the board 

18 shall not affect its power, but shall be filled in the 

19 manner required by this section. Any member whose 

20 term has expired may serve until the member’s suc21 cessor has taken office, or until the end of the cal22 endar year in which the member’s term has expired, 

23 whichever is earlier. Any member appointed to fill a 

24 vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term 

25 for which that member’s predecessor was appointed 


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1 shall be appointed for the remainder of the prede2 cessor’s term. No member of the board shall be eligi3 ble to serve more than 2 consecutive full terms. 

4 (5) ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIR5 MAN.—Members of the board shall annually elect 

6 one of their members to be Chairman and elect 1 or 

7 more of their members as a Vice Chairman or Vice 

8 Chairmen. 

9 (6) STATUS AS FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Not10 withstanding any provision of law to the contrary, 

11 no member of the board may be considered to be a 

12 Federal employee of the United States by virtue of 

13 his or her service as a member of the board. 

14 (7) COMPENSATION; EXPENSES.—No member 

15 shall receive any compensation from the Federal 

16 government for serving on the Council. Board. Each 

17 member of the Council Board shall be paid actual 

18 travel expenses and per diem in lieu of subsistence 

19 expenses when away from his or her usual place of 

20 residence, in accordance with section 5703 of title 5, 

21 United States Code. 

22 (c) OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall have 

24 a President, and such other officers as may be 

25 named and appointed by the board for terms and at 


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1 rates of compensation fixed by the board. No indi2 vidual other than a citizen of the United States may 

3 be an officer of the Corporation. The corporation 

4 may hire and fix the compensation of such employ5 ees as may be necessary to carry out its purposes. 

6 No officer or employee of the Corporation may re7 ceive any salary or other compensation (except for 

8 compensation for services on boards of directors of 

9 other organizations that do not receive funds from 

10 the Corporation, on committees of such boards, and 

11 in similar activities for such organizations) from any 

12 sources other than the Corporation for services ren13 dered during the period of his or her employment by 

14 the Corporation. Service by any officer on boards of 

15 directors of other organizations, on committees of 

16 such boards, and in similar activities for such orga17 nizations shall be subject to annual advance ap18 proval by the board and subject to the provisions of 

19 the Corporation’s Statement of Ethical Conduct. All 

20 officers and employees shall serve at the pleasure of 

21 the board. 

22 (2) NONPOLITICAL NATURE OF APPOINT23 MENT.—No political test or qualification shall be 

24 used in selecting, appointing, promoting, or taking 


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1 other personnel actions with respect to officers, 

2 agents, or employees of the Corporation. 

3 (d) NONPROFIT AND NONPOLITICAL NATURE OF

4 CORPORATION.— 

5 (1) STOCK.—The Corporation shall have no 

6 power to issue any shares of stock, or to declare or 

7 pay any dividends. 

8 (2) PROFIT.—No part of the income or assets 

9 of the Corporation shall inure to the benefit of any 

10 director, officer, employee, or any other individual 

11 except as salary or reasonable compensation for 

12 services. 

13 (3) POLITICS.—The Corporation may not con14 tribute to or otherwise support any political party or 

15 candidate for elective public office. 

16 (e) DUTIES AND POWERS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall de18 velop and execute a plan— 

19 (A) to provide useful information to for20 eign tourists and others interested in travelling 

21 to the United States, including the distribution 

22 of material provided by the Federal government 

23 concerning entry requirements, required docu24 mentation, fees, and processes, to prospective 

25 travelers, travel agents, tour operators, meeting 


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1 planners, foreign governments, travel media and 

2 other international stakeholders; 

3 (B) to counter and correct misperceptions 

4 regarding United States travel policy around 

5 the world; 

6 (C) to maximize the economic and diplo7 matic benefits of travel to the United States by 

8 promoting the United States of America to 

9 world travelers through the use of, but not lim10 ited to, all forms of advertising, outreach to 

11 trade shows, and other appropriate promotional 

12 activities; 

13 (D) to ensure that international travel ben14 efits all States and the District of Columbia, in15 cluding areas not traditionally visited by inter16 national travelers.; and 

17 (E) to give priority to the Corporation’s ef18 forts in terms of countries and populations 

19 most likely to travel to the United States. 

20 (2) SPECIFIC POWERS.—In order to carry out 

21 the purposes of this section, the Corporation may— 

22 (A) obtain grants from and make contracts 

23 with individuals and private companies, State, 

24 and Federal agencies, organizations, and insti25 tutions; 


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1 (B) hire or accept the voluntary services of 

2 consultants, experts, advisory boards, and pan3 els to aid the Corporation in carrying out its 

4 purposes; and 

5 (C) take such other actions as may be nec6 essary to accomplish the purposes set forth in 

7 this section. 

8 (f) OPEN MEETINGS.—Meetings of the board of di9 rectors of the Corporation, including any committee of the 

10 board, shall be open to the public. The board may, by ma11 jority vote, close any such meeting only for the time nec12 essary to preserve the confidentiality of commercial or fi13 nancial information that is privileged or confidential, to 

14 discuss personnel matters, or to discuss legal matters af15 fecting the Corporation, including pending or potential liti16 gation. 

17 (g) MAJOR CAMPAIGNS.—The board may not author18 ize the Corporation to obligate or expend more than 

19 $25,000,000 on any advertising campaign, promotion, or 

20 related effort unless— 

21 (1) the obligation or expenditure is approved by 

an affirmative vote of at least 2 22 ⁄3 of the members of 

23 the board present at the meeting; 

24 (2) at least 8 members of the board are present 

25 at the meeting at which it is approved; and 


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1 (3) each member of the board has been given 

2 at least 3 days advance notice of the meeting at 

3 which the vote is to be taken and the matters to be 

4 voted upon at that meeting. 

5 (h) FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY. 

6 (1) FISCAL YEAR.—The Corporation shall es7 tablish as its fiscal year the 12-month period begin8 ning on October 1. 

9 (2) BUDGET.—The Corporation shall adopt a 

10 budget for each fiscal year. 

11 (3) ANNUAL AUDITS.—The Corporation shall 

12 engage an independent accounting firm to conduct 

13 an annual financial audit of the Corporation’s oper14 ations and shall publish the results of the audit. The 

15 Comptroller General shall have full and complete ac16 cess to the books and records of the Corporation. 

17 SEC. 3. ACCOUNTABILITY MEASURES. 

18 (a) OBJECTIVES.—The Board shall establish annual 

19 objectives for the Corporation for each fiscal year subject 

20 to approval by the Secretary. The Corporation shall estab21 lish a marketing plan for each fiscal year not less than 

22 60 days before the beginning of that year and provide a 

23 copy of the plan, and any revisions thereof, to the Sec24 retary. 


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1 (b) BUDGET.—The board shall transmit a copy of the 

2 Corporation’s budget for the forthcoming fiscal year to the 

3 Secretary no later than August 16 immediately preceding 

4 that fiscal year, together with an explanation of any ex5 penditure provided for by the budget in excess of 

6 $5,000,000 for the fiscal year. The Corporation shall 

7 make a copy of the budget and the explanation available 

8 to the public and shall provide public access to the budget 

9 and explanation on the Corporation’s website. 

10 (c) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Corpora11 tion shall submit an annual report for the preceding fiscal 

12 year to the Secretary of Commerce for transmittal to the 

13 Congress on or before the 15th day of May of each year. 

14 The report shall include— 

15 (1) a comprehensive and detailed report of the 

16 Corporation’s operations, activities, financial condi17 tion, and accomplishments under this Act; 

18 (2) a comprehensive and detailed inventory of 

19 amounts obligated or expended by the Corporation 

20 during the preceding fiscal year; 

21 (3) an objective and quantifiable measurement 

22 of its progress, on an objective-by-objective basis, in 

23 meeting the objectives established by the board; 

24 (4) an explanation of the reason for any failure 

25 to achieve an objective established by the board; and 


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1 (5) such recommendations as the Corporation 

2 deems appropriate. 

3 SEC. 4. MATCHING PUBLIC AND PRIVATE FUNDING. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRAVEL PROMOTION

5 FUND.—There is hereby established in the Treasury a 

6 fund which shall be known as the Travel Promotion Fund. 

7 (b) FUNDING.— 

8 (1) FIRST YEAR.—For fiscal year 2008, the 

9 Corporation may borrow from the Treasury begin10 ning on October 1, 2007, such sums as may be nec11 essary, but not to exceed $10,000,000, to cover its 

12 initial expenses and activities under this Act. Before 

13 October 1, 2012, the Corporation shall reimburse 

14 the Treasury, without interest, Treasury for any 

15 such amounts borrowed from the Treasury, using 

16 funds deposited in the Fund from non-Federal 

17 sources. Amounts borrowed from the Treasury shall 

18 bear interest at a rate determined appropriate by the 

19 Secretary of Treasury, taking into consideration the 

20 average interest rate on all interest bearing obliga21 tions of the United States then forming a part of the 

22 public debt, computed at the end of the fiscal year 

23 next preceding the date on which the borrowing occurs, adjusted to the nearest 1 24 ⁄8 of 1 percent. Amounts 

25 reimbursed to the Treasury shall be treated as 


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1 matching funds from non-Federal sources for pur2 poses of subsection (c) in the fiscal year in which 

3 such reimbursements are made. 

4 (2) SUBSEQUENT YEARS.—For each of fiscal 

5 years 2009 through 2012, from amounts deposited 

6 in the general fund of the Treasury during the pre7 ceding fiscal year from fees under section 5 of this 

8 Act, section 217(h)(3)(B)(iii) of the Immigration and 

9 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(h)(B)(iii)), the Sec10 retary of the Treasury shall transfer not more than 

11 $100,000,000 to the Fund, which shall be made 

12 available to the Corporation, subject to subsection 

13 (c) of this section, to carry out its functions under 

14 this Act. Transfers shall be made at least quarterly 

15 on the basis of estimates by the Secretary, and prop16 er adjustments shall be made in amounts subse17 quently transferred to the extent prior estimates 

18 were in excess or less than the amounts required to 

19 be transferred. 

20 (c) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—No amounts may be made 

22 available to the Corporation under this section after 

23 fiscal year 2008, except to the extent that— 

24 (A) for fiscal year 2009, the Corporation 

25 provides matching funds from non-Federal 


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1 sources equal in the aggregate to 50 percent or 

2 more of the amount transferred to the Fund 

3 under subsection (b); and 

4 (B) for any fiscal year after fiscal year 

5 2009, the Corporation provides matching funds 

6 from non-Federal sources equal in the aggre7 gate to 100 percent of the amount transferred 

8 to the Fund under subsection (b) for the fiscal 

9 year. 

10 (2) GOODS AND SERVICES.—For the purpose of 

11 determining the amount of matching funds, other 

12 than money, available to the Corporation— 

13 (A) the fair market value of goods and 

14 services (including advertising) contributed to 

15 the Corporation for use under this Act may be 

16 included in the determination; but 

17 (B) the fair market value of such goods 

18 and services may not account for more than 80 

19 percent of the matching requirement for the 

20 Corporation in any fiscal year. 

21 (3) RIGHT OF REFUSAL.—The Corporation may 

22 decline to accept any contribution in kind that it de23 termines to be inappropriate, not useful, or commer24 cially worthless. 


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1 (4) CARRYFORWARD.—The amount of any 

2 matching funds received by the Corporation in fiscal 

3 year 2009, 2010, or 2011 that cannot be used as 

4 matching funds in the fiscal year in which received 

5 may be carried forward and treated as having been 

6 received in the succeeding fiscal year for purposes of 

7 meeting the matching requirement of paragraph (1) 

8 in such succeeding fiscal year. 

9 SEC. 5. TRAVEL PROMOTION FUND FEES. 

10 If a fully automated electronic traveler authorization 

11 system to collect basic biographical information in order 

12 to determine, in advance of travel, the eligibility of an 

13 alien to travel to the United States is implemented, the 

14 United States Government may charge a fee to an appli15 cant for the use of the system. The amount of any such 

16 fee initially shall be at least $10, plus such amounts as 

17 may be necessary to cover the cost of operating such a 

18 system, but may be reduced thereafter if that amount is 

19 not necessary to ensure that the Corporation is fully fund20 ed. 

21 SEC. 5. ELECTRONIC TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION SYSTEM. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 217(h) of the Immigration 

23 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(h)) is amended by add24 ing at the end thereof the following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) ELECTRONIC TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION SYS2 TEM.— 

3 ‘‘(A) SYSTEM.—The Secretary of Homeland 

4 Security, in consultation with the Secretary of 

5 State, is authorized to develop and implement a 

6 fully automated electronic travel authorization 

7 system to collect such basic biographical infor8 mation as the Secretary of Homeland Security 

9 determines to be necessary to determine, in ad10 vance of travel, the eligibility of an alien to trav11 el to the United States under the visa waiver 

12 program. 

13 ‘‘(B) FEES.—The Secretary of Homeland 

14 Security may charge a fee for the use of the sys15 tem, which shall be— 

16 ‘‘(i) set at a level that will ensure re17 covery of the full costs of providing and ad18 ministering the system; 

19 ‘‘(ii) available to pay the costs in20 curred to administer the system; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) include an amount, initially not 

22 more than $10, for transfer to the Travel 

23 Promotion Fund established by section 4 of 

24 the Travel Promotion Act of 2007 necessary 

25 to ensure that the Corporation for Travel 


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1 Promotion established by section 2 of that 

2 Act is fully funded. 

3 ‘‘(C) VALIDITY.— 

4 ‘‘(i) PERIOD.—The Secretary of Home5 land Security, in consultation with the Sec6 retary of State shall prescribe regulations 

7 that provide for a period, not to exceed 3 

8 years, during which a determination of eli9 gibility to travel under the program will be 

10 valid. Notwithstanding any other provision 

11 under this section, the Secretary of Home12 land Security may revoke any such deter13 mination at any time and for any reason. 

14 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—A determination 

15 that an alien is eligible to travel to the 

16 United States under the visa waiver pro17 gram is not a determination that the alien 

18 is admissible to the United States. 

19 ‘‘(iii) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Notwith20 standing any other provision of law, no 

21 court shall have jurisdiction to review an 

22 eligibility determination under the system. 

23 ‘‘(D) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days be24 fore publishing notice regarding the implementa25 tion of the system in the Federal Register, the 


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1 Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a 

2 report regarding the implementation of the sys3 tem to the Congress.’’. 

4 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

5 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec6 essary to carry out the amendment made by subsection (a). 

7 SEC. 6. ASSESSMENT AUTHORITY. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in 

9 this section, the Corporation may impose an annual as10 sessment on United States members of the international 

11 travel and tourism industry (other than those described 

12 in section 2(b)(1)(D), (H), or (I)) represented on the 

13 Board in proportion to their share of the aggregate inter14 national travel and tourism revenue of the industry. The 

15 Corporation shall be responsible for verifying, imple16 menting, and collecting the assessment authorized by this 

17 section. 

18 (b) INITIAL ASSESSMENT LIMITED.—The Corpora19 tion may establish the initial assessment after the date 

20 of enactment of the Travel and Tourism Promotion Act 

21 at no greater, in the aggregate, than $20,000,000. 

22 (c) REFERENDA.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation may not 

24 impose an annual assessment unless— 


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1 (A) the Corporation submits the proposed 

2 annual assessment to members of the industry 

3 in a referendum; and 

4 (B) the assessment is approved by a ma5 jority of those voting in the referendum. 

6 (3) PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS.—In con7 ducting a referendum under this subsection, the Cor8 poration shall— 

9 (A) provide written or electronic notice not 

10 less than 60 days before the date of the ref11 erendum; 

12 (B) describe the proposed assessment or 

13 increase and explain the reasons for the ref14 erendum in the notice; and 

15 (C) determine the results of the ref16 erendum on the basis of weighted voting appor17 tioned according to each business entity’s rel18 ative share of the aggregate annual United 

19 States international travel and tourism revenue 

20 for the industry per business entity, treating all 

21 related entities as a single entity. 

22 (d) COLLECTION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall estab24 lish a means of collecting the assessment that it 

25 finds to be efficient and effective. The Corporation 


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1 may establish a late payment charge and rate of in2 terest to be imposed on any person who fails to 

3 remit or pay to the Corporation any amount as4 sessed by the Corporation under this Act. 

5 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—The Corporation may 

6 bring suit in Federal court to compel compliance 

7 with an assessment levied by the Corporation under 

8 this Act. 

9 (e) INVESTMENT OF FUNDS.—Pending disbursement 

10 pursuant to a program, plan, or project, the Corporation 

11 may invest funds collected through assessments, and any 

12 other funds received by the Corporation, only in obliga13 tions of the United States or any agency thereof, in gen14 eral obligations of any State or any political subdivision 

15 thereof, in any interest-bearing account or certificate of 

16 deposit of a bank that is a member of the Federal Reserve 

17 System, or in obligations fully guaranteed as to principal 

18 and interest by the United States. 

19 SEC. 7. UNDER SECRETARY OF COMMERCE FOR TRAVEL 

20 PROMOTION. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the International Trav22 el Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2121 et seq.) is amended by 

23 inserting after section 201 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 202. OFFICE OF TRAVEL PROMOTION. 

2 ‘‘(a) OFFICE ESTABLISHED.—There is established 

3 within the Department of Commerce an office to be known 

4 as the Office of Travel Promotion. 

5 ‘‘(b) UNDER SECRETARY FOR TRAVEL PRO6 MOTION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of the Office 

8 shall be the Under Secretary of Commerce for Trav9 el Promotion. The Under Secretary shall be ap10 pointed by the President, by and with the advice and 

11 consent of the Senate. 

12 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Under Secretary 

13 shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) be a citizen of the United States; and 

15 ‘‘(B) have experience in a field directly re16 lated to the promotion of travel in the United 

17 States. 

18 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON INVESTMENTS.—The 

19 Under Secretary may not own stock in, or have a di20 rect or indirect beneficial interest in, a corporation 

21 or other enterprise engaged in the travel, transpor22 tation, or hospitality business or in a corporation or 

23 other enterprise that owns or operates theme park 

24 or other entertainment facility. 

25 ‘‘(c) FUNCTION.—The Under Secretary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) serve as liaison to the Corporation for 

2 Travel Promotion established by section 2 of the 

3 Travel Promotion Act of 2007 and support and en4 courage the development of programs to increase the 

5 number of international visitors to the United States 

6 for business, leisure, educational, medical, exchange, 

7 and other purposes; 

8 ‘‘(2) work with the Corporation, the Secretary 

9 of State, and the Secretary of Homeland Security— 

10 ‘‘(A) to disseminate information more ef11 fectively to potential international visitors about 

12 documentation and procedures required for ad13 mission to the United States as a visitor; and 

14 ‘‘(B) to ensure that arriving international 

15 visitors are processed efficiently and in a wel16 coming and respectful manner; 

17 ‘‘(3) support State, regional, and private sector 

18 initiatives to promote travel to and within the 

19 United States; 

20 ‘‘(4) supervise the operations of the Office of 

21 Travel and Tourism Industries; and 

22 ‘‘(5) enhance the entry and departure experi23 ence for international visitors. 

24 ‘‘(d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Within a year after 

25 the date of enactment of the Travel Promotion Act of 


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1 2007, and periodically thereafter as appropriate, the 

2 Under Secretary shall transmit a report to the Senate 

3 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

4 and the House of Representatives Committee on Energy 

5 and Commerce describing the Under Secretary’s work 

6 with the Corporation, the Secretary of State, and the Sec7 retary of Homeland Security to carry out subsection 

8 (c)(2).’’. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

10 (1) Section 5313 of title 5, United States Code, 

11 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘The Under Secretary of Commerce for Travel 

13 Promotion.’’. 

14 (2) The International Travel Act of 1961 (22 

15 U.S.C. 2121 et seq.) is amended by striking ‘‘Com16 merce (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘Sec17 retary’)’’ in section 201 (22 U.S.C. 2122) and in18 serting ‘‘Commerce, acting through the Under Sec19 retary for Travel Promotion,’’. 

20 SEC. 8. RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

21 Title II of the International Travel Act of 1961 (22 

22 U.S.C. 2121 et seq.), as amended by section 6, 7, is fur23 ther amended by inserting after section 202 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 203. RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Travel and Tour3 ism Industries shall expand and continue its research and 

4 development activities in connection with the promotion of 

5 international travel to the United States, including— 

6 ‘‘(1) expanding access to the official Mexican 

7 travel surveys data to provide the States with trav8 eler characteristics and visitation estimates for tar9 geted marketing programs; 

10 ‘‘(2) revising the Commerce Department’s Sur11 vey of International Travelers questionnaire and re12 port formats to accommodate a new survey instru13 ment, expanding the respondent base, improving re14 sponse rates, and improving market coverage; 

15 ‘‘(3) developing estimates of international travel 

16 exports (expenditures) on a State-by-State basis to 

17 enable each State to compare its comparative posi18 tion to national totals and other States; 

19 ‘‘(4) evaluate the success of the Corporation in 

20 achieving its objectives and carrying out the pur21 poses of the Travel Promotion Act of 2007; and 

22 ‘‘(5) research to support the annual report re23 quired by section 202(d) of this Act.’’. Act. 

24 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

25 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of ComVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:41 Nov 27, 2007 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1661.RS S1661

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1 merce for fiscal years 2008 through 2012 such sums as 

2 may be necessary to carry out this section.’’. 

3 SEC. 9. MODEL PORTS-OF-ENTRY. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu5 rity shall— 

6 (1) establish a model ports-of-entry program for 

7 the purpose of providing a more efficient and wel8 coming international arrival process in order to fa9 cilitate and promote business and tourist travel to the 

10 United States, while also improving security; and 

11 (2) implement the program initially at the 20 

12 United States international airports that have the 

13 highest number of foreign visitors arriving annually 

14 as determined pursuant to the most recent data col15 lected by the United States Customs and Border Pro16 tection available on the date of enactment of this Act. 

17 (b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—The program shall in18 clude— 

19 (1) enhanced queue management in the Federal 

20 Inspection Services area leading up to primary in21 spection; 

22 (2) assistance for foreign travelers once they have 

23 been admitted to the United States, in consultation, 

24 as appropriate, with relevant governmental and non25 governmental entities; and 


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•S 1661 RS 

1 (3) instructional videos, in English and such 

2 other languages as the Secretary determines appro3 priate, in the Federal Inspection Services area that 

4 explain the United States inspection process and fea5 ture national, regional, or local welcome videos. 

6 (c) ADDITIONAL CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION

7 OFFICERS FOR HIGH VOLUME PORTS.—Subject to the 

8 availability of appropriations, not later than the end of fis9 cal year 2008 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall em10 ploy not fewer than an additional 200 Customs and Border 

11 Protection officers over the number of such positions for 

12 which funds were appropriated for the preceding fiscal year 

13 to address staff shortages at the 20 United States inter14 national airports that have the highest number of foreign 

15 visitors arriving annually as determined pursuant to the 

16 most recent data collected by the United States Customs and 

17 Border Protection available on the date of enactment of this 

18 Act. 

19 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

20 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act: 

22 (1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the 

23 board of directors of the Corporation. 


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•S 1661 RS 

1 (2) CORPORATION.—The term ‘‘Corporation’’ 

2 means the Corporation for Travel Promotion estab3 lished by section 2. 

4 (3) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Trav5 el Promotion Fund established by section 4. 

6 (4) SECRETARY.—Except as otherwise expressly 

7 provided, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

8 of Commerce. 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
Calendar No. 514 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1661 

[Report No. 110

–233] 

A BILL 

To communicate United States travel policies and 

N

abroad. to increase travel in the United States from improve marketing and other activities designed 

OVEMBER, 27 (legislative day, NOVEMBER 16), 2007 

Reported with amendments 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS