CQ TODAY PRINT EDITION
June 8, 2009 – 9:30 p.m.
Reid Plans on Tourism Time Before Summer Vacation
By Bart Jansen, CQ Staff
As the Senate gears up to tackle health care, energy and possibly a Supreme Court nomination by the August recess, a tourism bill dear to Majority Leader Harry Reid is shouldering its way to the front of the chamber’s crowded calendar.
Reid, who represents tourist destination Las Vegas and faces re-election in 2010, backs a bill (
The effort would be funded by private industry contributions matched by up to $100 million a year from a new $10 fee that would be assessed on foreign travelers by the Department of Homeland Security.
The goal is to lure back foreign tourists, whose ranks dropped precipitously after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and never fully recovered, said Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
Greece and Mexico each spend $150 million a year to attract visitors, while Britain, France, Germany and Italy spend a combined $250 million, Rasulo said May 13 in testimony to the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation and Export Promotion.
Reid himself offered rare testimony at the May 13 hearing, supporting the bill for his native Nevada, where Las Vegas hosts 38 million visitors a year.
“Nevada is open for business and we eagerly await your visit,” Reid said.
The number of Vegas visitors is down 9 percent during the first three months of this year, and passenger traffic at the airport is off 14 percent, according to Rossi Ralenkotter, president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
The Senate calendar is already busy. Two appropriations bills are competing for floor time in June, after the Senate completes tobacco legislation (
But by unanimous consent June 4, senators agreed to allow the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee to report the tourism bill from Byron L. Dorgan , D-N.D., on June 5 even though the Senate wasn’t in session. The move tees up the bill for floor action. “We are going to try to complete that this work period,” Reid told reporters June 4, calling the bill “important” and “interesting.”
Comments
Economic vitality of America is dependent on on businesses which produce new wealth. It is the creation of new wealth which allows America and other developed countries to maintain their standard of living in the face of low wage global competition. It is a fact that no business can sustain the levels of profits it takes to prosper, to fund R&D, to pay decent wages and grow reselling commodities which have razor tin margins that were produced in low wage countries. The only way to ensure the kind of profit margins necessary to fuel America's economy is through patent protected inventions. This is the only way that America's economy can remain competitive. Large transnational corporations are with the help of banking and insurance interests doing their best to destroy America's inventor community. They want to make inventing and effective use of our patent system a kings sport which only serves their interests. These companies are patent pirates and they have a trade association to promote their piracy named the Coalition for Patent Fairness. There is nothing fair about member companies conduct. They cheat inventors out of their patent property rights and in the process cheat America of jobs and prosperity by shipping pirated inventions to low wage countries. As long as this kind of conduct is allowed to continue all business which depend on wealth creators to prosper, including those in Nevada are facing tough times. Ronald J. Riley, Speaking only on my own behalf. President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org President - Alliance for American Innovation Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel Washington, DC Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.
POST A COMMENT
Oops! The following errors must be addressed: