Visit America Act
Bill: S.1947 | Sponsor: Sen. Sullivan, Dan (R-AK)
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Visit America Act
This bill implements measures to support the U.S. travel and tourism industry and to address the declining percentage of international visitors to the United States.
Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Commerce to develop a 10-year travel and tourism strategy with annual goals for the number of international visitors to the United States and for travel exports.
The bill also establishes the role of Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism, whose responsibilities shall include (1) setting an annual goal for the number of international visitors to the United States, (2) providing support for improved visitor visa processing, and (3) promoting travel exports abroad.
Further, the assistant secretary must develop and implement a COVID-19 pandemic recovery strategy to assist the recovery of the U.S. travel and tourism industry from travel restrictions necessitated by the pandemic.
The bill also provides statutory authority for the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, which shall aid the assistant secretary in developing and implementing the COVID-19 pandemic recovery strategy.

To authorize the position of Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel 
  and Tourism, to statutorily establish the United States Travel and 
            Tourism Advisory Board, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Visit America Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to support the travel and tourism industry, which 
        produces economic impacts that are vital our national economy;
            (2) to address the recent decline in the percentage of 
        international travelers who visit the United States; and
            (3) to establish national goals for international visitors 
        to the United States, including--
                    (A) recommendations for achieving such goals and 
                timelines for implementing such recommendations;
                    (B) coordination between Federal and State 
                agencies;
                    (C) the resources needed by each Government agency 
                to achieve such goals; and
                    (D) national travel export goals.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the national goal for international visitors referred 
        to in section 2(3) should reach 116,000,000 per year by 2028;
            (2) the national goal for travel exports referred to in 
        section 2(3)(D) should reach $445,000,000,000 by 2028;
            (3) the travel industry is an essential part of the United 
        States services exports with respect to both business travel 
        and leisure travel;
            (4) the promotion of travel and visitation by Brand USA is 
        vital to increasing visitation and articulating the visitation 
        laws of the United States; and
            (5) there is an urgent need for a coordinated travel and 
        tourism industry response and strategy in the event of 
        unforeseen circumstances leading to a decline in travel or 
        tourism.

SEC. 4. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR TRAVEL AND TOURISM.

    Section 2(d) of the Reorganization Plan Numbered 3 of 1979 (93 
Stat. 1382; 5 U.S.C. App.) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``There shall be in the Department two 
        additional Assistant Secretaries'' and inserting ``(1) There 
        shall be in the Department 3 additional Assistant Secretaries, 
        including the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and 
        Tourism,''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism 
shall--
            ``(A) be appointed by the President, subject to the advice 
        and consent of the Senate; and
            ``(B) report directly to the Under Secretary for 
        International Trade.''.

SEC. 5. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF COMMERCE FOR 
              TRAVEL AND TOURISM.

    (a) Visitation Goals.--The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for 
Travel and Tourism (referred to in this section as the ``Assistant 
Secretary''), appointed pursuant to section 2(d) of the Reorganization 
Plan Numbered 3 of 1979, as amended by section 4, shall--
            (1) establish an annual goal for--
                    (A) the number of international visitors to the 
                United States; and
                    (B) travel exports;
            (2) develop recommendations for achieving the visitation 
        goals established pursuant to paragraph (1);
            (3) ensure coordination between--
                    (A) the Department of Commerce, the Department of 
                Homeland Security, the Department of State, the 
                Department of Transportation, the Department of Labor 
                for policy development and recommendations for 
                utilizing:
                            (i) the National Travel and Tourism Office;
                            (ii) Brand USA;
                            (iii) the United States Travel and Tourism 
                        Advisory Board;
                            (iv) the Task Force on Travel and Tourism 
                        established by Executive Order 13597 of January 
                        19, 2012; and
                            (v) travel industry partners, including 
                        public and private destination marketing 
                        organizations and travel and tourism suppliers;
            (4) establish short, medium, and long-term timelines for 
        implementing the recommendations developed pursuant to 
        paragraph (2); and
            (5) conduct Federal agency needs assessments to identify 
        the resources, statutory or regulatory changes, and private 
        sector engagement needed to achieve the annual visitation 
        goals.
    (b) Visa Adjudication.--The Assistant Secretary, in consultation 
with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
shall--
            (1) provide support for improving visitor visa processing 
        with respect to--
                    (A) the maximum time for processing visas, by 
                visitation type;
                    (B) regulatory and policy changes needed to meet 
                the visa processing goals referred to in subparagraph 
                (A), including changes regarding technology, processing 
                centers, and training; and
                    (C) streamlining visa applications and 
                adjudications, including application design and data 
                collection procedures; and
            (2) explore opportunities to establish pilot programs to 
        integrate technology into the visitor visa adjudication 
        process, including video conferencing and biometrics.
    (c) Domestic Travel.--The Assistant Secretary shall--
            (1) conduct a study to better understand domestic policy 
        options for supporting competitiveness with respect to the 
        strengths, weaknesses, and growth of the domestic travel 
        industry;
            (2) develop recommendations and goals to support domestic 
        tourism, separated by business and leisure; and
            (3) engage public and private stakeholders to support 
        domestic tourism.
    (d) Workforce.--The Assistant Secretary--
            (1) in coordination with the Secretary of Labor, shall 
        provide timely and reliable workforce data regarding workforce 
        and labor market needs;
            (2) shall work to improve tourism industry data collection 
        by the Bureau of Economic Analysis; and
            (3) shall provide recommendations for policy enhancements 
        and streamlining.
    (e) Travel Export Promotion.--The Assistant Secretary, in 
coordination with the Director General of the United States and Foreign 
Commercial Service, shall work to promote and facilitate travel exports 
abroad and ensure competitiveness by--
            (1) participating in and organizing meetings, incentives, 
        conferences, and exhibitions;
            (2) emphasizing rural and other destinations rich in 
        cultural heritage or ecological tourism, among other uniquely 
        American destinations; and
            (3) promoting sports and recreation events and activities.
    (f) Travel Security.--The Assistant Secretary shall investigate and 
provide recommendations regarding utilizing and expanding existing 
security programs to better meet the needs of the United States travel 
and tourism industry, including--
            (1) the Visa Waiver Program authorized under section 217 of 
        the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187);
            (2) preclearance operations;
            (3) the Trusted Traveler Program;
            (4) the biometric entry-exit control system required under 
        section 110 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant 
        Responsibility Act of 1996 (division C of Public Law 104-208; 8 
        U.S.C. 1221 note); and
            (5) the establishment of a system to provide increased 
        resilience to travel during pandemics.
    (g) Recovery Strategy.--
            (1) Initial recovery strategy.--Not later than 60 days 
        after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant 
        Secretary, in consultation with the United States Travel and 
        Tourism Advisory Board and travel industry partners, shall 
        develop and implement a COVID-19 pandemic recovery strategy to 
        assist in the United States travel and tourism industry to 
        quickly recover from the travel restrictions necessitated by 
        the pandemic.
            (2) Future recovery strategies.--After assisting in the 
        implementation of the strategy developed pursuant to paragraph 
        (1), the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the entities 
        referred to in such paragraph, shall develop additional 
        recovery strategies for the travel and tourism industry in 
        anticipation of other unforeseen catastrophic events that would 
        significantly affect the travel and tourism industry, such as 
        hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, tornadoes, or pandemics.
    (h) Reporting Requirements.--
            (1) Assistant secretary.--The Assistant Secretary shall 
        produce an annual forecasting report on the travel and tourism 
        industry, which shall include current and anticipated--
                    (A) domestic employment needs;
                    (B) international inbound volume and spending, 
                taking into account the lasting effects of the COVID-19 
                pandemic and the impact of the recovery strategy 
                implemented pursuant to subsection (g)(1); and
                    (C) domestic volume and spending, including Federal 
                and State public land travel and tourism data.
            (2) Bureau of economic analysis.--The Director of the 
        Bureau of Economic Analysis should update the Travel and 
        Tourism Satellite Accounts quarterly, including--
                    (A) State level travel and tourism export data;
                    (B) travel and tourism workforce data for full-time 
                and part-time employment; and
                    (C) Federal and State public lands visitation and 
                spending data.
            (3) National travel and tourism office.--The Director of 
        the National Travel and Tourism Office shall--
                    (A) report international arrival and spending data 
                on a regular monthly schedule; and
                    (B) shall include questions in the Survey of 
                International Air Travelers regarding wait-times, 
                visits to public lands, and State data, to the extent 
                applicable.

SEC. 6. TRAVEL AND TOURISM STRATEGY.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with 
the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, shall develop and 
submit to Congress a 10-year travel and tourism strategy, which shall 
include--
            (1) the establishment of goals with respect to the number 
        of annual international visitors to the United States and the 
        annual amount of travel exports during such 10-year period;
            (2) the resources needed to achieve the goals established 
        pursuant to paragraph (1); and
            (3) recommendations for statutory or regulatory changes 
        that would be necessary to achieve such goals.
    (b) Interagency Coordination.--The Secretary of Commerce shall 
coordinate an interagency strategy with the Secretary of State and the 
Secretary of Homeland Security for--
            (1) identify impediments to reaching the goals referred to 
        in subsection (a)(1); and
            (2) recommends solutions for overcoming such impediments.

SEC. 7. UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD.

    Section 3 of the Act entitled ``An Act to encourage travel in the 
United States, and for other purposes'' (15 U.S.C. 1546) is amended--
            (1) by amending the section heading to read as follows: 
        ``united states travel and tourism advisory board; advisory 
        committee for promotion of tourist travel''; and
            (2) by striking ``The Secretary of Commerce is authorized'' 
        and inserting the following:
    ``(a) United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.--
            ``(1) In general.--There is established the United States 
        Travel and Tourism Advisory Board (referred to in this 
        subsection as the `Board'), which shall be composed of not more 
        than 32 members, who shall be appointed by the Secretary of 
        Commerce for 2-year terms from among companies and 
        organizations in the travel and tourism industry.
            ``(2) Executive director.--The Assistant Secretary for 
        Travel and Tourism shall serve as the Executive Director of the 
        Board.
            ``(3) Executive secretariat.--The National Travel and 
        Tourism Office of the International Trade Administration shall 
        serve as the Executive Secretariat for the Board.
            ``(4) Functions.--The Board shall comply with its Charter, 
        including--
                    ``(A) serving as the advisory body to the Secretary 
                of Commerce on matters relating to the travel and 
                tourism industry in the United States;
                    ``(B) advising the Secretary of Commerce on 
                government policies and programs that affect the United 
                States travel and tourism industry;
                    ``(C) offering counsel on current and emerging 
                issues;
                    ``(D) providing a forum for discussing and 
                proposing solutions to problems related to the travel 
                and tourism industry; and
                    ``(E) examining the domestic travel and tourism 
                industry as an economic engine.
            ``(5) Recovery strategy.--The Board shall assist the 
        Assistant Secretary in the development and implementation of 
        the COVID-19 pandemic recovery strategy required under section 
        5(g)(1) of the Visit America Act.
    ``(b) Advisory Committee for Promotion of Tourist Travel.--The 
Secretary of Commerce is authorized''.
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