{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blunt.senate.gov/news/press-releases/blunt-klobuchar-gardner-cortez-masto-bill-to-promote-tourism-boost-jobs-heads-to-presidents-desk", "Blunt, Klobuchar, Gardner, Cortez Masto Bill to Promote Tourism, Boost Jobs Heads to President\u2019s Desk", "2019-12-20", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "MO", "Roy Blunt", "B000575", "www.blunt.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  Today, U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.), Amy\r\nKlobuchar (Minn.), Cory Gardner (Colo.), and Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.)\r\nannounced that their legislation to reauthorize Brand USA passed the Senate and\r\nis on its way to the president's desk. Brand USA is a public-private\r\npartnership that enhances tourism across the country by promoting international\r\ntravel to the United States. Missouri's tourism industry supports more than\r\n300,000 jobs and contributes billions of dollars to our economy, said Blunt.\r\nReauthorizing Brand USA will help ensure we remain competitive in the\r\ninternational tourism industry, and will bring even more visitors to\r\nattractions, restaurants, and hotels in Missouri and across the nation. Tourism is an important aspect of Minnesota's\r\neconomy and the beauty and wilderness of our state has attracted visitors from\r\naround the world for decades, said Klobuchar. The spending agreement will\r\nhelp ensure that Brand USA can fulfill its mission of encouraging travelers\r\nfrom around the world to visit Minnesota. Reauthorization of Brand USA is exciting news for\r\nColorado's tourism industry, which has exploded in growth as more than 80\r\nmillion visitors each year travel to ski our world-class resorts, enjoy the\r\ngreat outdoors, and experience the real American West, said Gardner. Colorado\r\nshines as one of the nation's top-ten most visited states, with direct flights\r\nto Denver International Airport from countries like Canada, Japan, the United\r\nKingdom, and Germany. This bill will boost further tourism by strengthening the\r\nBrand USA program, which is the promotion agency for U.S. tourism and operates\r\nat no cost to the U.S. taxpayer. I look forward to seeing this legislation\r\nsigned into law and helping grow the U.S. tourism industry, which generates\r\nmore than $20 billion in annual spending in Colorado. Brand USA has a proven\r\ntrack record of boosting international tourism and creating good-paying jobs in\r\nNevada, said Cortez Masto. Restoring long-term funding to this program, at no\r\ncost to the taxpayer, ensures we're doing everything possible to support the\r\nhundreds of thousands of Nevadans who work in the tourism and hospitality\r\nindustries. I'm pleased by the passage of the Brand USA reauthorization, and\r\nI'll continue fighting to grow the Silver State's tourism industry and support\r\nthe families and communities who rely on it. \"Brand USA provides incredibly positive\r\nimpact on the U.S. economy and jobs base at no cost to the taxpayer, and the\r\nlawmakers who championed its reauthorization deserve tremendous credit for\r\nsmart and effective policymaking,\" said U.S. Travel Association President\r\nand CEO Roger Dow. \"Brand USA is not only proven to boost the country's\r\nability to tap into the lucrative international travel market, but it is\r\nexplicitly tasked with driving that value into every corner of the country.\r\nCongratulations to the measure's cosponsors for getting this outstanding\r\nprogram renewed before the end of this year, which will enable Brand USA to\r\nmaximize its value for the American people. Since 2013, Brand USA has brought 6.6 million\r\nincremental international visitors to the United States, generating a total\r\neconomic impact of nearly $48 billion and supporting an average of around\r\n52,000 jobs annually. International visitors are some of the most lucrative drivers\r\nof economic activity, spending an average of $4,200 per person, per trip when\r\nvisiting the U.S. In 2018, Brand USA generated $4.1 billion in incremental\r\nvisitor spending, resulting in a marketing return on investment of 32:1.  \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe program has been a proven success in boosting\r\ntourism to the United States and driving economic growth. Brand USA is funded\r\nby international visitors and private contributions  not U.S. taxpayers. Half\r\nof its budget comes from the private sector through cash and in-kind contributions.\r\nThe rest of the budget  up to a maximum of $100 million  is funded by a\r\nnominal fee assessed on visa-free international visitors screened by the U.S.\r\nDepartment of Homeland Security's Electronic System for Travel Authorization.\r\nAmounts collected in excess of the cap are returned to the U.S. Treasury to\r\nhelp reduce the deficit.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.blunt.senate.gov/news/press-releases/blunt-klobuchar-gardner-cortez-masto-bill-to-promote-tourism-boost-jobs-heads-to-presidents-desk"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5807058662176132, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}