I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 534 
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 
JANUARY 13, 2017 
Mr. EMMER (for himself, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. NOLAN, Mr. 
PETERSON, Mr. PAULSEN, Mr. LEWIS of Minnesota, Mr. WALZ, and Mr. 
WEBER of Texas) 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 pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘U.S. Wants to Com-
pete for a World Expo Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The Bureau of International Expositions 
(BIE) is a treaty-based organization, with 169 mem-
ber states, responsible for governing World Fairs 
and International Expositions since the signing of 
the Convention Concerning International Expositions 
on November 22, 1928. The United States is a party 
to the Convention. 
(2) The United States withdrew from member-
ship in the BIE in 2001 in response to congressional 
limitations on the expenditure of funds for United 
States participation. 
(3) The United States and other non-members 
of the BIE face significantly higher costs to host 
and to participate in international expositions be-
cause of their non-member status. 
(4) The bid of a United States city, region, or 
State to host an international exposition is unlikely 
to be successful if the United States is not a mem-
ber of the BIE, because BIE rules require that 
members receive a preference over non-members for 
all such bids. 
(5) Since the United States was previously a 
member of the BIE, and has already acceded to the 
Convention, no formal congressional action is nec-
essary for the United States to rejoin the BIE. 
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(6) Section 1(a) of Public Law 91–269 (22 
U.S.C. 2801(a)) found that ‘‘international expo-
sitions . . . have a significant impact on the eco-
nomic growth of the region surrounding the expo-
sition and . . . are important instruments of na-
tional policy’’. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) there are no statutory provisions that pro-
hibit the United States from rejoining the BIE; 
(2) the United States should rejoin the BIE im-
mediately to promote public diplomacy, global brand-
ing, and tourism to the United States; and 
(3) the Secretary of State, in partnership with 
the Secretary of Commerce, State and local govern-
ments, and private and non-profit entities, should 
take all necessary steps to facilitate the timely sub-
mission of a request to rejoin the BIE. 
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 
shall take such actions as may be necessary for the United 
States to rejoin the BIE, notwithstanding any prohibitions 
under section 204 of the Admiral James W. Nance and 
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Meg Donovan Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal 
Years 2000 and 2001 (22 U.S.C. 2452b). 
(b) REPORT.—The Secretary of State shall inform 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of 
the Senate upon submitting a request to rejoin the BIE. 
Æ 
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