Title: Alaska Tourism Restoration Act
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
Alaska Tourism Recovery Act
This bill temporarily allows foreign-owned and flagged cruise ships to transport passengers directly between ports in the states of Washington and Alaska without stopping in Canada. Under current law, these ships cannot transport passengers from one U.S. port to another without stopping in a foreign country. The bill deems a round trip voyage between ports in the states of Washington and Alaska as a foreign voyage.
The bill applies to any foreign voyage that begins any date prior to February 28, 2022, on which Canada prohibits a vessel from entering, berthing, or docking in Canadian waters of the Pacific Coast due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 593 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 593

  To restrict the imposition by the Secretary of Homeland Security of 
   fines, penalties, duties, or tariffs applicable only to coastwise 
  voyages, or prohibit otherwise qualified non-United States citizens 
  from serving as crew, on specified vessels transporting passengers 
 between the State of Washington and the State of Alaska, to address a 
Canadian cruise ship ban and the extraordinary impacts of the COVID-19 
        pandemic on Alaskan communities, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 4, 2021

 Ms. Murkowski (for herself and Mr. Sullivan) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To restrict the imposition by the Secretary of Homeland Security of 
   fines, penalties, duties, or tariffs applicable only to coastwise 
  voyages, or prohibit otherwise qualified non-United States citizens 
  from serving as crew, on specified vessels transporting passengers 
 between the State of Washington and the State of Alaska, to address a 
Canadian cruise ship ban and the extraordinary impacts of the COVID-19 
        pandemic on Alaskan communities, 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 ``Alaska Tourism Recovery Act''.

SEC. 2. VOYAGE DEEMED TO BE FOREIGN.

    (a) Criteria.--A roundtrip voyage transporting passengers between a 
port or place in the State of Alaska and a port or place in the State 
of Washington is deemed a foreign voyage for purposes of the law of the 
United States, if the voyage--
            (1) is made by a passenger vessel to which sections 3507 
        and 3508 of title 46, United State Code, apply; and
            (2) occurs during the period described in subsection (b).
    (b) Duration of Applicability.--A voyage deemed to be a foreign 
voyage under subsection (a) is a voyage which begins not later than any 
date prior to February 28, 2022, on which the Government of Canada or 
its political subdivisions, or any port or province in Canada, 
prohibits a passenger vessel to which sections 3507 and 3508 of title 
46, United State Code, apply from entering, berthing, or docking in 
Canadian waters of the Pacific Coast due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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