Rosen-Backed Bill to Restore Brand USA Passes Senate Committee Markup

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, released the following statement applauding the Committee’s passage of the Restoring Brand USA Act. Senator Rosen is a co-sponsor of this bipartisan legislation, which would require the Secretary of the Treasury to make $250 million available from unobligated remaining balances collected by the Travel Promotion Fund, before October 1, 2020, for use by the Corporation for Travel Promotion, better known as Brand USA. The bill will help ensure Brand USA can continue to promote Nevada and the rest of the United States as marquee travel destinations to people around the world.

“I’m proud to see the bill I co-sponsored to boost our travel and tourism industry passed the Senate Commerce Committee,” said Senator Rosen. “This bipartisan legislation would strengthen the efforts of Brand USA to promote the United States as a travel destination. I will continue to champion policies that support Nevada’s economy and our state’s tourism and travel industry and will work diligently with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to see that this bipartisan legislation passes the Senate.”

BACKGROUND: Brand USA is the public-private partnership formed under the bipartisan Travel Promotion Act of 2009, charged with promoting the U.S. as a destination to global travelers. U.S. communities, large and small, benefit from Brand USA’s work to enhance and promote our nation’s image abroad. The program’s marketing efforts have brought in billions of dollars in visitor spending and supported tens of thousands of American jobs.

Senator Rosen is the Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Tourism, Trade, and Export Promotion which has jurisdiction over Brand USA.  

In June, Senator Rosen introduced the Travel Optimization by Updating and Revitalizing Infrastructure to Support Mobilization (TOURISM) Act, bipartisan legislation that would require the National Travel and Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan to be updated to include an immediate-term and long-term strategy for the Department of Transportation (DOT) and other agencies to use infrastructure investments to revive the travel and tourism industries in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Senator Rosen was able to include the TOURISM Act as part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, being considered on the Senate floor this week.

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