§2124 Tourism Policy Council

Summary

Creates a Tourism Policy Council to make sure federal decisions include the national interest in travel, tourism, recreation, and national heritage. The Secretary of Commerce leads the Council. Members include several Cabinet secretaries and agency heads (Commerce, State, Interior, Labor, Transportation, the Office of Management and Budget, Customs, Immigration, the Under Secretary for International Trade, and the President of the United States National Tourism Organization), plus other agency representatives the Chair invites. Members get no extra pay. The Council must hold its first meeting within 6 months after October 11, 1996, and must meet at least twice each year. The Council must coordinate federal policies and programs on international travel and tourism, and it may ask other federal agencies for staff, information, services, or facilities as the Chair needs and as allowed by law and available funds. Agencies may temporarily assign employees to the Council without loss of pay, rank, or benefits. The Chair may call a closed meeting to protect non-public information. Each year the Council must send a report to the President for Congress by December 31 that covers its activities and accomplishments, how agencies worked together (including conflict resolution), problems referred to the Council and actions taken, and any recommendations. Having the President of the United States National Tourism Organization on the Council does not by itself make chapter 10 of title 5 apply to the Council.