SUBCHAPTER III—ADMINISTRATION
§2124. Tourism Policy Council
(a) Establishment
In order to ensure that the United States' national interest in tourism is fully considered in Federal decision making, there is established a coordinating council to be known as the Tourism Policy Council (hereafter in this chapter referred to as the "Council").
(b) Membership
The Council shall consist of the following individuals:
(1) The Secretary of Commerce, who shall serve as the Chairman of the Council.
(2) The Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade.
(3) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
(4) The Secretary of State.
(5) The Secretary of the Interior.
(6) The Secretary of Labor.
(7) The Secretary of Transportation.
(8) The Commissioner of the United States Customs Service.
(9) The President of the United States National Tourism Organization.
(10) The Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
(11) Representatives of other Federal agencies which have affected interests at each meeting as deemed appropriate and invited by the Chairman.
(c) No additional compensation for Council members
Members of the Council shall serve without additional compensation.
(d) Council meetings
The Council shall conduct its first meeting not later than 6 months after October 11, 1996. Thereafter the Council shall meet not less than 2 times each year.
(e) Involvement of Federal agencies and departments
(1) The Council shall coordinate national policies and programs relating to international travel and tourism, recreation, and national heritage resources, which involve Federal agencies;
(2) The Council may request directly from any Federal department or agency such personnel, information, services, or facilities as deemed necessary by the Chairman and to the extent permitted by law and within the limits of available funds.
(3) Federal departments and agencies may, in their discretion, detail to temporary duty with the Council such personnel as the Chairman may request for carrying out the functions of the Council. Each such detail of personnel shall be without loss of seniority, pay, or other employee status.
(f) Closed meetings
Where necessary to prevent the public disclosure of non-public information which may be presented by a Council member, the Council may hold, at the discretion of the Chairman, a closed meeting which may exclude any individual who is not an officer or employee of the United States.
(g) Annual report
The Council shall submit an annual report for the preceding fiscal year to the President for transmittal to the Congress on or before December 31 of each year. The report shall include—
(1) a comprehensive and detailed report of the activities and accomplishments of the Council;
(2) the results of Council efforts to coordinate the policies and programs of member's agencies that have a significant effect on international travel and tourism, recreation, and national heritage resources, including progress toward resolving interagency conflicts and development of cooperative program activity;
(3) an analysis of problems referred to the Council by State and local governments, the tourism industry, the United States National Tourism Organization, the Secretary of Commerce, along with a detailed summary of any action taken or anticipated to resolve such problems; and
(4) any recommendation as deemed appropriate by the Council.
(h) Applicability of chapter 10 of title 5
The membership of the President of the United States National Tourism Organization on the Council shall not in itself make
(
Editorial Notes
Prior Provisions
A prior section 2124,
Amendments
2022—Subsec. (h).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of functions, personnel, assets, and liabilities of the United States Customs Service of the Department of the Treasury, including functions of the Secretary of the Treasury relating thereto, to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see
Abolition of Immigration and Naturalization Service and Transfer of Functions
For abolition of Immigration and Naturalization Service, transfer of functions, and treatment of related references, see note set out under
§§2124a, 2124b. Repealed. Pub. L. 104–288, §§9(a), 11, Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3407 , 3408
Section 2124a,
Section 2124b,
§2124c. Rural Tourism Development Foundation
(a) Establishment of Foundation
In order to assist in the development and promotion of rural tourism, there is established a charitable and nonprofit corporation to be known as the Rural Tourism Development Foundation (hereafter in this section referred to as the "Foundation").
(b) Functions
The functions of the Foundation shall be the planning, development, and implementation of projects and programs which have the potential to increase travel and tourism export revenues by attracting foreign visitors to rural America. Initially, such projects and programs shall include—
(1) participation in the development and distribution of educational and promotional materials pertaining to both private and public attractions located in rural areas of the United States, including Federal parks and recreational lands, which can be used by foreign visitors;
(2) development of educational resources to assist in private and public rural tourism development; and
(3) participation in Federal agency outreach efforts to make such resources available to private enterprises, State and local governments, and other persons and entities interested in rural tourism development.
(c) Board of Directors
(1) Composition
(A) The Foundation shall have a Board of Directors (hereafter in this section referred to as the "Board") that—
(i) during its first two years shall consist of nine voting members; and
(ii) thereafter shall consist of those nine members plus up to six additional voting members as determined in accordance with the bylaws of the Foundation.
(B)(i) The Secretary of Commerce shall, within six months after September 30, 1992, appoint the initial nine voting members of the Board and thereafter shall appoint the successors of each of three such members, as provided by such bylaws.
(ii) The voting members of the Board, other than those referred to in clause (i), shall be appointed in accordance with procedures established by such bylaws.
(C) The voting members of the Board shall be individuals who are not Federal officers or employees and who have demonstrated an interest in rural tourism development. Of such voting members, at least a majority shall have experience and expertise in tourism trade promotion, at least one shall have experience and expertise in resource conservation, at least one shall have experience and expertise in financial administration in a fiduciary capacity, at least one shall be a representative of an Indian tribe who has experience and expertise in rural tourism on an Indian reservation, at least one shall represent a regional or national organization or association with a major interest in rural tourism development or promotion, and at least one shall be a representative of a State who is responsible for tourism promotion.
(D) Voting members of the Board shall each serve a term of six years, except that—
(i) initial terms shall be staggered to assure continuity of administration;
(ii) if a person is appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term of the person's predecessor, that person shall serve only for the remainder of the predecessor's term; and
(iii) any such appointment to fill a vacancy shall be made within sixty days after the vacancy occurs.
(2) Ex-officio members
The Secretary of Commerce and representatives of Federal agencies with responsibility for Federal recreational sites in rural areas (including the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Tennessee Valley Authority, and such other Federal agencies as the Board determines appropriate) shall be nonvoting ex-officio members of the Board.
(3) Chair
The Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board shall be elected by the voting members of the Board for terms of two years.
(4) Meetings
The Board shall meet at the call of the Chairman and there shall be at least two meetings each year. A majority of the voting members of the Board serving at any one time shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The Foundation shall have an official seal, which shall be judicially noticed. Voting membership on the Board shall not be deemed to be an office within the meaning of the laws of the United States.
(d) Compensation and expenses
No compensation shall be paid to the members of the Board for their services as members, but they may be reimbursed for actual and necessary traveling and subsistence expenses incurred by them in the performance of their duties as such members out of Foundation funds available to the Board for such purposes.
(e) Acceptance of gifts, devises, and bequests
(1) In general
The Foundation is authorized to accept, receive, solicit, hold, administer, and use any gifts, devises, or bequests, either absolutely or in trust, of real or personal property or any income therefrom or other interest therein for the benefit of or in connection with rural tourism, except that the Foundation may not accept any such gift, devise, or bequest which entails any expenditure other than from the resources of the Foundation. A gift, devise, or bequest may be accepted by the Foundation even though it is encumbered, restricted, or subject to beneficial interests of private persons if any current or future interest therein is for the benefit of rural tourism.
(2) Indians
A gift, devise, or bequest accepted by the Foundation for the benefit of or in connection with rural tourism on Indian reservations, pursuant to
(f) Investments
Except as otherwise required by the instrument of transfer, the Foundation may sell, lease, invest, reinvest, retain, or otherwise dispose of or deal with any property or income thereof as the Board may from time to time determine. The Foundation shall not engage in any business, nor shall the Foundation make any investment that may not lawfully be made by a trust company in the District of Columbia, except that the Foundation may make any investment authorized by the instrument of transfer and may retain any property accepted by the Foundation.
(g) Perpetual succession; liability of Board members
The Foundation shall have perpetual succession, with all the usual powers and obligations of a corporation acting as a trustee, including the power to sue and to be sued in its own name, but the members of the Board shall not be personally liable, except for malfeasance.
(h) Contractual power
The Foundation shall have the power to enter into contracts, to execute instruments, and generally to do any and all lawful acts necessary or appropriate to its purposes.
(i) Administration
(1) In general
In carrying out the provisions of this section, the Board may adopt bylaws, rules, and regulations necessary for the administration of its functions and may hire officers and employees and contract for any other necessary services. Such officers and employees shall be appointed without regard to the provisions of title 5 governing appointments in the competitive service and may be paid without regard to the provisions of chapters 51 and 53 of such title relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates.
(2) Services
The Secretary of Commerce may accept the voluntary and uncompensated services of the Foundation, the Board, and the officers and employees of the Foundation in the performance of the functions authorized under this section, without regard to
(3) Construction
Neither an officer or employee hired under paragraph (1) nor an individual who provides services under paragraph (2) shall be considered a Federal employee for any purpose other than for purposes of
(j) Exemption from taxes; contributions
The Foundation and any income or property received or owned by it, and all transactions relating to such income or property, shall be exempt from all Federal, State, and local taxation with respect thereto. The Foundation may, however, in the discretion of the Board, contribute toward the costs of local government in amounts not in excess of those which it would be obligated to pay such government if it were not exempt from taxation by virtue of this subsection or by virtue of its being a charitable and nonprofit corporation and may agree so to contribute with respect to property transferred to it and the income derived therefrom if such agreement is a condition of the transfer. Contributions, gifts, and other transfers made to or for the use of the Foundation shall be regarded as contributions, gifts, or transfers to or for the use of the United States.
(k) Liability of United States
The United States shall not be liable for any debts, defaults, acts, or omissions of the Foundation.
(l) Annual report
The Foundation shall, as soon as practicable after the end of each fiscal year, transmit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives an annual report of its proceedings and activities, including a full and complete statement of its receipts, expenditures, and investments.
(m) Definitions
As used in this section—
(1) the term "Indian reservation" has the meaning given the term "reservation" in
(2) the term "Indian tribe" has the meaning given that term in
(3) the term "local government" has the meaning given that term in
(4) the term "rural tourism" has the meaning given that term by the Secretary of Commerce and shall include activities related to travel and tourism that occur on Federal recreational sites, on Indian reservations, and in the territories, possessions, and commonwealths of the United States.
(
Editorial Notes
Codification
Section is comprised of section 4 of
Section was enacted as part of the Tourism Policy and Export Promotion Act of 1992, and not as part of the International Travel Act of 1961 which comprises this chapter.
Amendments
1996—Subsec. (c)(1)(B)(i), (2).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Change of Name
Committee on Energy and Commerce of House of Representatives treated as referring to Committee on Commerce of House of Representatives by section 1(a) of
§2125. Transferred
Editorial Notes
Codification
Section,
§§2126 to 2129. Repealed. Pub. L. 104–288, §9(a), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3407
Section 2126,
Section 2127,
Section 2128,
A prior section 2128,
Section 2129,