I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3732 
To prohibit an agency or department of the United States from establishing 
or implementing an internal policy that discourages or prohibits the 
selection of a resort or vacation destination as the location for a con-
ference or event, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 6, 2009 
Mr. MITCHELL (for himself and Mr. HELLER) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 
A BILL 
To prohibit an agency or department of the United States 
from establishing or implementing an internal policy that 
discourages or prohibits the selection of a resort or vaca-
tion destination as the location for a conference or event, 
and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Protecting Resort Cit-
ies from Discrimination Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
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(1) Tourism, including conventions and meet-
ings, is an important part of the United States econ-
omy that generates billions of dollars in tax revenues 
for many localities. 
(2) Analysts estimate that approximately 90 
percent of employers in the travel industry are small 
businesses and more than 12 percent of United 
States employees are employed by the travel indus-
try. 
(3) Many local economies around the country 
have developed into destinations for vacationers and 
conventioneers alike, and those local economies de-
pend on the travel industry to support local employ-
ment, create new jobs, and generate tax revenues for 
critical public services. 
(4) These same destinations are home to large 
and small businesses that have unique skills, amen-
ities, and resources for planning and facilitating 
meetings and conventions for all purposes and, con-
sequently, may deliver value and convenience for in-
dividuals and organizations in need of a location for 
an official event. 
(5) Locating an official event in such a city fre-
quently may save taxpayer dollars, as compared to 
other locations. 
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(6) Agencies and departments of the United 
States have a responsibility to find ways to maximize 
taxpayer dollars in conducting official business, in-
cluding planning and conducting official meetings 
attended by Federal employees. 
(7) In deciding where to locate an official gov-
ernment meeting by applying this principle of maxi-
mizing taxpayer dollars, government officials often 
will conclude that many locations known as resort 
destinations also will provide the best value and con-
venience for official meetings and business. 
(8) Resort and vacation destination cities tend 
to be affected disproportionally during economic 
downturns and, therefore, are especially vulnerable 
to discrimination by meeting and convention plan-
ners, which could exacerbate unemployment and re-
lated demands on United States taxpayers. 
SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON CERTAIN TRAVEL AND CON-
FERENCES POLICIES OF AGENCIES OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 
No agency or department of the United States may 
establish or implement an internal policy regarding travel, 
event, meeting, or conference locations that discourages 
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or prohibits the selection of such a location because the 
location is perceived to be a resort or vacation destination. 
Æ 
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