I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2935 

To establish a nonprofit corporation to communicate United States entry 

policies and otherwise promote tourist, business, and scholarly travel 

to the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 18, 2009 

Mr. DELAHUNT (for himself, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. FARR, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. ROSS, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. BERKLEY, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. BONNER, Mr. RADANOVICH, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Mrs. BONO MACK, Mr. COBLE, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. VAN

HOLLEN, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mr. ROONEY, and Ms. TITUS) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary and 

Homeland Security, 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 establish a nonprofit corporation to communicate United 

States entry policies and otherwise promote tourist, business, and scholarly travel to the United States. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Travel Promotion Act of 2009’’. 


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

2 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 Fund fees. 

Sec. 6. Investment of Funds. 

Sec. 7. Prohibition on use of funds. 

Sec. 8. Assessment authority. 

Sec. 9. Amendments to the International Travel Act of 1961. 

Sec. 10. Definitions. 

Sec. 11. GAO study. 

3 SEC. 2. THE CORPORATION FOR TRAVEL PROMOTION. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Corporation for Travel 

5 Promotion is established as a nonprofit corporation. The 

6 Corporation shall not be an agency or establishment of 

7 the United States Government. The Corporation shall be 

8 subject to the provisions of the District of Columbia Non9 profit Corporation Act (sec. 29–301.01 et seq., D.C. Offi10 cial Code), to the extent that such provisions are con11 sistent with this section, and shall have the powers con12 ferred upon a nonprofit corporation by that Act to carry 

13 out its purposes and activities. 

14 (b) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 

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

16 a board of directors of 11 members, appointed by 

17 the Secretary of Commerce, but not before consulta18 tion with the Secretaries of Homeland Security, 

19 State, and Education, as appropriate, each of whom 

20 is a United States citizen, and of whom— 


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1 (A) one shall have appropriate expertise 

2 and experience in the hotel accommodations 

3 sector; 

4 (B) one shall have appropriate expertise 

5 and experience in the travel distribution sector; 

6 (C) one shall have appropriate expertise 

7 and experience in the restaurant sector; 

8 (D) one shall have appropriate expertise 

9 and experience in the retail sector, or small 

10 business sector; 

11 (E) one shall have appropriate expertise 

12 and experience in the attractions sector; 

13 (F) one shall have appropriate expertise 

14 and experience in the passenger air sector; 

15 (G) one shall have appropriate expertise 

16 and experience in the car rental sector; 

17 (H) one shall have appropriate expertise 

18 and experience as an official of a city conven19 tion and visitor’s bureau; 

20 (I) one shall have appropriate expertise 

21 and experience as an official of a State Tourism 

22 Office; 

23 (J) one shall have appropriate expertise 

24 and experience in immigration law and policy, 


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1 including visa requirements and United States 

2 entry procedures; and 

3 (K) one shall have appropriate expertise 

4 and experience in the cruise line sector. 

5 (2) INCORPORATION.—The members of the ini6 tial board of directors shall serve as incorporators 

7 and shall take whatever actions are necessary to es8 tablish the Corporation under the District of Colum9 bia Nonprofit Corporation Act (sec. 29–301.01 et 

10 seq.). 

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

12 each member of the board appointed by the Sec13 retary shall be 3 years, except that, of the members 

14 first appointed— 

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

16 year; 

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

18 years; and 

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

20 years. 

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

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

23 manner required by this section. Any member whose 

24 term has expired may serve until the member’s suc25 cessor has taken office, or until the end of the calVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:13 Jun 19, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2935.IH H2935

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1 endar year in which the member’s term has expired, 

2 whichever is earlier. Any member appointed to fill a 

3 vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term 

4 for which that member’s predecessor was appointed 

5 shall be appointed for the remainder of the prede6 cessor’s term. No member of the board shall be eligi7 ble to serve more than 2 consecutive full terms. 

8 (5) ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIR9 MAN.—Members of the board shall annually elect 

10 one of their members to be chairman and elect 1 or 

11 more of their members as a vice chairman or vice 

12 chairmen. 

13 (6) STATUS AS FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Not14 withstanding any provision of law to the contrary, 

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

16 Federal employee of the United States by virtue of 

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

18 (7) COMPENSATION; EXPENSES.—No member 

19 of the board shall receive any compensation from the 

20 Federal Government or the Corporation by virtue of 

21 his or her service as a member of the board. Each 

22 member of the board shall be paid actual travel ex23 penses and per diem in lieu of subsistence expenses 

24 when away from his or her usual place of residence, 


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1 in accordance with section 5703 of title 5, United 

2 States Code. 

3 (c) OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES.— 

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

5 an Executive Director, and such other officers as 

6 may be named and appointed by the board for terms 

7 and at rates of compensation fixed by the board. No 

8 individual other than a citizen of the United States 

9 may be an officer of the Corporation. The corpora10 tion may hire and fix the compensation of such em11 ployees as may be necessary to carry out its pur12 poses. No officer or employee of the Corporation 

13 may receive any salary or other compensation (ex14 cept for compensation for services on boards of di15 rectors of other organizations that do not receive 

16 funds from the Corporation, on committees of such 

17 boards, and in similar activities for such organiza18 tions) from any sources other than the Corporation 

19 for services rendered during the period of his or her 

20 employment by the Corporation. Service by any offi21 cer on boards of directors of other organizations, on 

22 committees of such boards, and in similar activities 

23 for such organizations shall be subject to annual ad24 vance approval by the board and subject to the pro25 visions of the Corporation’s Statement of Ethical 


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1 Conduct. All officers and employees shall serve at 

2 the pleasure of the board. 

3 (2) NONPOLITICAL NATURE OF APPOINT4 MENT.—No political test or qualification shall be 

5 used in selecting, appointing, promoting, or taking 

6 other personnel actions with respect to officers, 

7 agents, or employees of the Corporation. 

8 (d) NONPROFIT AND NONPOLITICAL NATURE OF

9 CORPORATION.— 

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

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

12 pay any dividends. 

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

14 of the Corporation shall inure to the benefit of any 

15 director, officer, employee, or any other individual 

16 except as salary or reasonable compensation for 

17 services. 

18 (3) POLITICS.—The Corporation may not con19 tribute to or otherwise support any political party or 

20 candidate for elective public office. 

21 (4) SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING LOBBYING

22 ACTIVITIES.—It is the sense of Congress that the 

23 Corporation established under this Act should not 

24 engage in any lobbying activities with any employee 


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1 or branch of the Federal Government in favor of or 

2 in opposition to any political issue. 

3 (e) DUTIES AND POWERS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall de5 velop and execute a plan to— 

6 (A) provide useful information to foreign 

7 tourists, business people, students, scholars, sci8 entists and others interested in traveling to the 

9 United States, including the distribution of ma10 terial provided by the Federal Government con11 cerning entry requirements, required docu12 mentation, fees, processes, and information con13 cerning declared public health emergencies to 

14 prospective travelers, travel agents, tour opera15 tors, meeting planners, foreign governments, 

16 travel media and other international stake17 holders; 

18 (B) identify and address perceptions in 

19 other countries regarding United States entry 

20 policies that tend to limit attempts to travel to 

21 the United States; 

22 (C) maximize the economic and diplomatic 

23 benefits of travel to the United States by pro24 moting the United States of America to world 

25 travelers through the use of, but not limited to, 


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1 all forms of advertising, outreach to trade 

2 shows, and other appropriate promotional ac3 tivities; and 

4 (D) identify opportunities and strategies to 

5 promote tourism to rural and urban areas 

6 equally. 

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

8 the purposes of this section, the Corporation may— 

9 (A) obtain grants from and make contracts 

10 with individuals and private companies, State, 

11 and Federal agencies, organizations, and insti12 tutions; 

13 (B) hire or accept the voluntary services of 

14 consultants, experts, advisory boards, and pan15 els to aid the Corporation in carrying out its 

16 purposes; and 

17 (C) take such other actions as may be nec18 essary to accomplish the purposes set forth in 

19 this section. 

20 (f) OPEN MEETINGS.—Meetings of the board of di21 rectors of the Corporation, including any committee of the 

22 board, shall be open to the public. The board may, by ma23 jority vote, close any such meeting only for the time nec24 essary to preserve the confidentiality of commercial or fi25 nancial information that is privileged or confidential, to 


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1 discuss personnel matters, or to discuss legal matters af2 fecting the Corporation, including pending or potential liti3 gation. 

4 (g) MAJOR CAMPAIGNS.—The board may not author5 ize the Corporation to obligate or expend more than 

6 $25,000,000 on any advertising campaign, promotion, or 

7 related effort unless— 

8 (1) the obligation or expenditure is approved by 

an affirmative vote of at least 2 9 ⁄3 of the members of 

10 the board present at the meeting; 

11 (2) at least 6 members of the board are present 

12 at the meeting at which it is approved; and 

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

14 at least 3 days advance notice of the meeting at 

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

16 voted upon at that meeting. 

17 (h) FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY.— 

18 (1) FISCAL YEAR.—The Corporation shall es19 tablish as its fiscal year the 12-month period begin20 ning on October 1. 

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

22 budget for each fiscal year. 

23 (3) ANNUAL AUDITS.—The Corporation shall 

24 engage an independent accounting firm to conduct 


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1 an annual financial audit of the Corporation’s oper2 ations and shall publish the results of the audit. 

3 SEC. 3. ACCOUNTABILITY MEASURES. 

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

5 objectives for the Corporation for each fiscal year subject 

6 to approval by the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec7 retary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State. 

8 The Corporation shall establish a marketing plan for each 

9 fiscal year not less than 60 days before the beginning of 

10 that year and provide a copy of the plan, and any revisions 

11 thereof, to the Secretary. 

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

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

14 Secretary not less than 60 days before the beginning of 

15 each fiscal year, together with an explanation of any ex16 penditure provided for by the budget in excess of 

17 $5,000,000 for the fiscal year. The Corporation shall 

18 make a copy of the budget and the explanation available 

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

20 and explanation on the Corporation’s website. 

21 (c) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Corpora22 tion shall submit an annual report for the preceding fiscal 

23 year to the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of 

24 Homeland Security for transmittal to Congress on or beVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:13 Jun 19, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2935.IH H2935

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1 fore the 15th day of May of each year. The report shall 

2 include— 

3 (1) a comprehensive and detailed report of the 

4 Corporation’s operations, activities, financial condi5 tion, and accomplishments under this Act; 

6 (2) a comprehensive and detailed inventory of 

7 amounts obligated or expended by the Corporation 

8 during the preceding fiscal year; 

9 (3) a detailed description of each in-kind con10 tribution, its fair market value, the individual or or11 ganization responsible for contributing, its specific 

12 use, and a justification for its use within the context 

13 of the Corporation’s mission; 

14 (4) an objective and quantifiable measurement 

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

16 meeting the objectives established by the board; 

17 (5) an explanation of the reason for any failure 

18 to achieve an objective established by the board, and 

19 any revisions or alterations to the Corporation’s ob20 jectives under subsection (a); 

21 (6) a comprehensive and detailed report of the 

22 Corporation’s operations and activities to promote 

23 tourism in rural and urban areas; and 

24 (7) such recommendations as the Corporation 

25 deems appropriate. 


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1 SEC. 4. MATCHING PUBLIC AND PRIVATE FUNDING. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRAVEL PROMOTION

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

4 fund which shall be known as the ‘‘Travel Promotion 

5 Fund’’. 

6 (b) FUNDING.— 

7 (1) FIRST YEAR.—For the period beginning on 

8 October 1, 2009, and ending on September 30, 

9 2010, from amounts deposited in the general fund of 

10 the Treasury from fees under section 

11 217(h)(3)(B)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality 

12 Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(h)(3)(B)(i)), the Secretary of 

13 the Treasury shall make available not more than 

14 $100,000,000 to the Corporation. The Secretary of 

15 the Treasury shall make at least quarterly transfers 

16 to the Corporation to cover its initial expenses and 

17 carry out its functions under this Act. 

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

19 years 2011 through 2014, from amounts deposited 

20 in the general fund of the Treasury from fees under 

21 section 5, the Secretary of the Treasury shall trans22 fer not more than $100,000,000 to the Fund, which 

23 shall be made available to the Corporation, subject 

24 to subsections (c), (d), and (e), to carry out its func25 tions under this Act. Transfers shall be made by the 

26 Secretary of the Treasury at least quarterly on the 


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1 basis of estimates by the Secretary of the Treasury, 

2 determined in consultation with the Board, of con3 tributions made to the Corporation by non-Federal 

4 sources, and proper adjustments shall be made in 

5 amounts subsequently transferred to the extent prior 

6 estimates were in excess or less than actual con7 tributions from non-Federal sources. 

8 (c) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas10 ury shall make available to the Corporation at least 

11 quarterly from amounts available in the Travel Pro12 motion Fund— 

13 (A) for fiscal year 2011, twice the amount 

14 that will be collected from non-Federal sources 

15 by the Corporation pursuant to section 4(b)(2) 

16 of this Act and not to exceed $100,000,000; 

17 and 

18 (B) for subsequent fiscal years, an amount 

19 equal to the amount that will be collected from 

20 non-Federal sources by the Corporation pursu21 ant to section 4(b)(2) of this Act and not to ex22 ceed $100,000,000. 

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

24 determining the amount of matching funds, other 

25 than money, available to the Corporation— 


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1 (A) the fair market value, as determined 

2 by the Corporation, of goods and services (in3 cluding advertising) contributed to the Corpora4 tion for use under this Act may be included in 

5 the determination; but 

6 (B) the fair market value of such goods 

7 and services may not account for more than 80 

8 percent of the matching requirement for the 

9 Corporation in any fiscal year. 

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

11 decline to accept any contribution in kind that it de12 termines to be inappropriate, not useful, or commer13 cially worthless. 

14 (d) GRANT OFFSET.—For a given fiscal year, the 

15 Secretary of the Treasury shall reduce the total amount 

16 of funding to be transferred to the Corporation from the 

17 Travel Promotion Fund by the amount of Federal grants 

18 received by the Corporation pursuant to section 2(e)(2)(A) 

19 to be used during that fiscal year. 

20 (e) LIMITATION.—The Corporation shall not expend 

21 funds or obligate to expend funds that will exceed total 

22 amounts received by the Corporation for a given fiscal 

23 year. 

24 (f) CARRYFORWARD.— 


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1 (1) FEDERAL FUNDS.—Amounts transferred to 

2 the Fund under subsection (b)(2) shall remain avail3 able until expended. 

4 (2) MATCHING FUNDS.—Any amount received 

5 by the Corporation from non-Federal sources in fis6 cal year 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, or 2014 that can7 not be used to meet the matching requirement under 

8 subsection (c)(1) for the fiscal year in which such 

9 funds were collected may be carried forward and 

10 treated as having been received in the succeeding fis11 cal year for purposes of meeting the matching re12 quirement of subsection (c)(1) in such succeeding 

13 fiscal year. 

14 SEC. 5. TRAVEL PROMOTION FUND FEES. 

15 Section 217(h)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nation16 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(h)(3)(B)) is amended to read as 

17 follows: 

18 ‘‘(B) FEES.—(i) IN GENERAL.—No later 

19 than September 30, 2009, the Secretary of 

20 Homeland Security shall establish a fee for the 

21 use of the System and begin assessment and 

22 collections of that fee. The initial fee shall be 

23 the sum of— 

24 ‘‘(I) $10 per travel authorization; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) an amount that will ensure re2 covery of the full costs of providing and 

3 administering the System, as determined 

4 by the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

5 ‘‘(ii) DISPOSITION OF AMOUNTS COL6 LECTED.—Amounts collected under clause (i)(I) 

7 shall be credited to the Travel Promotion Fund 

8 established by section 4 of the Travel Pro9 motion Act of 2009. Amounts collected under 

10 clause (i)(II) shall be transferred to the general 

11 fund of the Treasury and made available to pay 

12 the costs incurred to administer the System. 

13 ‘‘(iii) REPORT.—The Secretary of Home14 land Security shall submit a report to Congress 

15 if the fee authorized by clause (i)(I) is not col16 lected as authorized. The report shall include a 

17 plan for collecting the fee in the most expedi18 tious manner. 

19 ‘‘(iv) SUNSET OF TRAVEL PROMOTION

20 FUND FEE.—The Secretary may not collect the 

21 fee authorized by clause (i)(I) for fiscal years 

22 beginning after September 30, 2014, unless 

23 Congress has authorized the Secretary to con24 tinue to collect the fee authorized by clause 

25 (i)(I).’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. INVESTMENT OF FUNDS. 

2 Pending disbursement pursuant to a program, plan, 

3 or project, the Corporation may invest funds received by 

4 the Corporation only in obligations of the United States 

5 or any agency thereof, in general obligations of any State 

6 or any political subdivision thereof, in any interest-bearing 

7 account or certificate of deposit of a bank that is a mem8 ber of the Federal Reserve System, or in obligations fully 

9 guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United 

10 States. The Secretary of the Treasury shall reduce the 

11 total amount of funding for a given fiscal year to be trans12 ferred from the Travel Promotion Fund to the Corpora13 tion by the amount of interest earned by the Corporation 

14 as a result of its investments pursuant to this section for 

15 the preceding fiscal year. 

16 SEC. 7. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS. 

17 No funds raised by the Treasury Department’s Trav18 el Promotion Fund or the Corporation for Travel Pro19 motion may be used to directly promote or advertise a spe20 cific corporation. 

21 SEC. 8. ASSESSMENT AUTHORITY. 

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

23 this section, the Corporation may impose an annual as24 sessment on United States members of the travel and 

25 tourism industry. The Corporation shall determine— 


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1 (1) the industry segments that will be included 

2 in the initial assessment referendum; 

3 (2) the target assessment level for the initial 

4 referendum; 

5 (3) the percent of funds to be levied against 

6 each industry category and segment, based, to the 

7 extent possible, on quantifiable industry data, and 

8 bearing an appropriate relationship to the benefit 

9 derived from travel and tourism by those industry 

10 segments; and 

11 (4) the assessment methodology and rate of as12 sessment within each industry segment, that may in13 clude, but is not limited to, a percentage of gross 

14 revenue or a per transaction charge. 

15 (b) INITIAL ASSESSMENT LIMITED.—The Corpora16 tion may establish the initial assessment after the date 

17 of enactment of the Travel and Tourism Promotion Act 

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

19 (c) REFERENDA.— 

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

21 impose an annual assessment unless— 

22 (A) the Corporation submits the proposed 

23 annual assessment to members of the industry 

24 in a referendum; 


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1 (B) the assessment is approved by a ma2 jority of those voting in the referendum; and 

3 (C) the Corporation determines the results 

4 of the referendum on the basis of weighted vot5 ing apportioned according to the anticipated fi6 nancial contribution made by each voting entity. 

7 (2) PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS.—In con8 ducting a referendum under this subsection, the Cor9 poration shall— 

10 (A) provide written or electronic notice not 

11 less than 60 days before the date of the ref12 erendum; and 

13 (B) describe the proposed assessment or 

14 increase and explain the reasons for the ref15 erendum in the notice. 

16 (d) COLLECTION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall estab18 lish a means of collecting the assessment that it 

19 finds to be efficient and effective. The Corporation 

20 may establish a late payment charge and rate of in21 terest to be imposed on any person who fails to 

22 remit or pay to the Corporation any amount as23 sessed by the Corporation under this Act. 

24 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—The Corporation may 

25 bring suit in Federal court to compel compliance 


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1 with an assessment levied by the Corporation under 

2 this Act. 

3 (e) INVESTMENT OF FUNDS.—Pending disbursement 

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

5 may invest funds collected through assessments, and any 

6 other funds received by the Corporation, only in obliga7 tions of the United States or any agency thereof, in gen8 eral obligations of any State or any political subdivision 

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

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

11 System, or in obligations fully guaranteed as to principal 

12 and interest by the United States. 

13 SEC. 9. AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL 

14 ACT OF 1961. 

15 (a) POWERS AND DUTIES OF SECRETARY OF COM16 MERCE.—Section 201 of the International Travel Act of 

17 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2122) is amended— 

18 (1) in the first sentence of the matter preceding 

19 paragraph (1)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘and by the United States 

21 National Tourism Organization Act of 1996’’; 

22 and 

23 (B) by striking ‘‘United States National 

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1 tion for Travel Promotion (established by sec2 tion 3 of the Travel Promotion Act of 2008)’’; 

3 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘United 

4 States National Tourism Organization’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘Corporation for Travel Promotion’’; and 

6 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘Such plan may not include a comprehensive international 

8 advertising campaign relating to critical tourism func9 tions.’’. 

10 (b) TOURISM POLICY COUNCIL.— 

11 (1) MEMBERSHIP.—Subsection (b) of section 

12 301 of the International Travel Act of 1961 (22 

13 U.S.C. 2124) is amended— 

14 (A) by striking paragraphs (8) through 

15 (10); 

16 (B) by redesignating paragraph (11) as 

17 paragraph (13); 

18 (C) by inserting after paragraph (7) the 

19 following new paragraphs: 

20 ‘‘(8) The Secretary of Homeland Security. 

21 ‘‘(9) The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and 

22 Border Protection of the Department of Homeland 

23 Security. 


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1 ‘‘(10) The Assistant Secretary of U.S. Customs 

2 and Immigration Enforcement of the Department of 

3 Homeland Security. 

4 ‘‘(11) The Secretary of Education.’’; and 

5 (D) in paragraph (13) (as redesignated by 

6 subparagraph (B) of this paragraph), by insert7 ing ‘‘, in consultation with other members of 

8 the Council’’ at the end before the period. 

9 (2) MEETINGS.—Subsection (d) of such section 

10 is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(d) The Council shall meet not less than 2 times 

12 a year. For the purposes of conducting business, each 

13 member of the Council may appoint a designee to rep14 resent such member during one or more meetings of the 

15 Council.’’. 

16 (3) INVOLVEMENT OF FEDERAL AGENCIES AND

17 DEPARTMENTS.—Subsection (e) of such section is 

18 amended by adding at the end the following new 

19 paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(4) Members of the Council shall provide the Cor21 poration for Travel Promotion with timely information re22 garding documentation and procedures required for ad23 mission to the United States and regarding strategies 

24 planned by any Federal department or agency to promote 

25 travel to the United States for tourism, business, study, 


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1 scholarship, scientific exchange, or other purposes, so that 

2 the Corporation for Travel Promotion may better conduct 

3 its communications and promotion activities.’’. 

4 (4) ANNUAL REPORT.—Subsection (g)(3) of 

5 such section is amended by striking ‘‘United States 

6 National Tourism Organization’’ and inserting ‘‘Cor7 poration for Travel Promotion’’. 

8 (5) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY

9 COMMITTEE ACT.—Subsection (h) of such section is 

10 amended by striking ‘‘President of the United States 

11 National Tourism Organization’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘President of the Corporation for Travel Pro13 motion’’. 

14 (c) REPEAL OF AUTHORITIES RELATING TO THE

15 UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM PROMOTION AD16 VISORY BOARD.—Section 210 of the Department of Com17 merce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2003 

18 (contained in title II of division B of Public Law 108– 

19 7; 117 Stat. 78–79; 22 U.S.C. 2122 note) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking subsections (b) through (d); and 

21 (2) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub22 section (b). 

23 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 


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

2 board of directors of the Corporation. 

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

4 means the Corporation for Travel Promotion estab5 lished by section 2. 

6 (3) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Trav7 el Promotion Fund established by section 4. 

8 (4) SECRETARY.—Except as otherwise expressly 

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

10 of Commerce. 

11 SEC. 11. GAO STUDY. 

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

13 date of enactment of this Act, the Government Account14 ability Office shall initiate a study to assess barriers to 

15 entry into the United States by foreign travelers. The 

16 GAO shall consult with the Department of Homeland Se17 curity, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce18 ment and Customs and Border Protection, the Depart19 ment of Commerce, and the Department of the Treasury, 

20 as necessary. 

21 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

22 of enactment of this Act, the GAO shall report the find23 ings to the appropriate Congressional committees. The re24 port shall include— 


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•HR 2935 IH

1 (1) the GAO’s findings on specific barriers to 

2 entry into the United States by foreign travelers; 

3 and 

4 (2) recommendations for initiatives that may 

5 reduce those barriers. 

Æ 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS