American Travel Promotion Act of 2001

American Travel Promotion Act of 2001 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to provide grants, based on a specified formula, to qualified State agencies for advertising to promote travel and tourism. Caps the Federal share of costs for such activities at 50 percent.

[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3321 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3321

  To authorize the Secretary of Commerce to make grants to States for 
 advertising that stimulates economic activity by promoting travel and 
                                tourism.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 16, 2001

Mr. Foley (for himself, Mr. Farr of California, Mrs. Bono, Mrs. Capito, 
Ms. Berkley, Mrs. Christensen, and Mr. Gilman) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize the Secretary of Commerce to make grants to States for 
 advertising that stimulates economic activity by promoting travel and 
                                tourism.

    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 ``American Travel Promotion Act of 
2001''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, combined 
        with an already weak economy, hit the travel and tourism 
        industry particularly hard.
            (2) In the fourth quarter of 2001, forecasting predicted a 
        12-percent decrease in business travel and a 9-percent drop in 
        pleasure travel, compared with the same period in 2000.
            (3) In 2000, the United States travel industry took in 
        $584.3 billion from domestic and international travelers. These 
        travel expenditures, in turn, generated 7.8 million jobs for 
        Americans, with $173.7 billion in payroll income, and $100 
        billion in tax revenues for Federal, State, and local 
        governments.
            (4) A $43 billion decline in spending by domestic and 
        international travelers is projected for 2001.
            (5) During 2002, total domestic travel volume by Americans 
        is expected to decline by 3.5 percent and international 
        arrivals are projected to decline nearly 13 percent.
            (6) Total domestic and international travel-generated 
        employment is expected to show a dramatic decline in 2001. The 
        2-year job loss for 2001-2002 is projected to total 527,400 
        jobs lost, compared to 2000 levels.

SEC. 3. TRAVEL AND TOURISM PROMOTION GRANTS.

    (a) Grant Authority.--The Secretary of Commerce shall provide as a 
grant to the qualified agency of each State the amount allocated to the 
State under subsection (c), for use by such agency for advertising to 
promote travel and tourism.
    (b) Cost Sharing.--The Federal share of the cost of an activity 
carried out with a grant under this section shall not exceed 50 
percent.
    (c) Allocation.--
            (1) In general.--From the total amount available for grants 
        under this section, the Secretary shall allocate to each State 
        an amount that the Secretary determines bears the same 
        proportion to such total amount available as the amount 
        expended by the State in 2000 for advertising to promote travel 
        and tourism bears to the aggregate of the amounts of such 
        expenditures by all States.
            (2) Minimum allocation.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the 
        Secretary shall allocate to each State not less than 0.1 
        percent of the total amount available for such grants.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Advertising--The term ``advertising'' means any 
        communication, by any form of print, television, radio, 
        Internet, or other media, that is intended to persuade, inform, 
        recommend, or notify any individual or group of individuals.
            (2) Qualified agency.--The term ``qualified agency'' means 
        the State agency having authority under State law to conduct 
        programs to promote travel and tourism.
            (3) State.--The term ``State'' means--
                    (A) any State of the United States;
                    (B) American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana 
                Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands; and
                    (C) any other commonwealth, territory, or 
                possession of the United States, or separate sovereign 
                in free association with the United States.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--For grants under this section there is 
        authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary $100,000,000.
            (2) Reversion of unobligated amounts.--There shall revert 
        to the Treasury all amounts appropriated under this section 
        that remain unexpended and unobligated upon the expiration of 
        the 9-month period beginning on the date the amounts are first 
        available for expenditure.
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