WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation reported four bills today, including the Travel Promotion Act of 2007, which promotes international travel to the United States through a non-profit Corporation for Travel Promotion, and the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2007, which makes it unlawful to knowingly transmit misleading caller ID information with the intent to defraud.

 

The Committee also reported the Max Cleland Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act, which enhances minority serving institutions’ ability to provide students with access to information technologies, and the Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act, which establishes a sustained national integrated coastal and ocean observing system. The Committee also approved two nominations for promotion in the U.S. Coast Guard.

 

 

 

Introduced by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), with the original cosponsorship of Chairman Inouye and Vice Chairman Stevens, the Travel Promotion Act of 2007 would establish a non-profit Corporation for Travel Promotion (Corporation) and establish the Office of Travel Promotion within the Department of Commerce headed by the Under Secretary for Travel Promotion, to promote international travel to the United States.

 

The Corporation would be comprised of a 15-member board consisting of representatives of states, the federal government, higher education, and the travel industry, who would use advertising, among other means, to encourage travel to all regions within the United States, and correct misperceptions overseas regarding U.S. travel policies. The bill would authorize the Corporation to borrow $10 million from the Treasury in 2008 to cover its initial expenses but require the Corporation to pay the funds back by 2012. Starting in 2009, the Corporation would be required to raise non-federal funds, including in-kind contributions. Based on the amount raised by the Corporation, up to $100 million in federal matching funds would be made available annually from the Travel Promotion Fund established in the Treasury. The Travel Promotion Fund would be financed by a $10 user fee, which would be imposed on international travelers to the U.S. under the visa waiver program. United States taxpayers will not bear the cost of supporting the Corporation.

 

The Under Secretary would serve as liaison to the Corporation, work with the Secretaries of Homeland Security and State Department to improve the entry and departure experience for international visitors, and promote travel into and within the country.

 

As amended, the bill also would direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a model port of entry program at the 20 airports with the highest number of foreign travelers arriving annually.  The Secretary is further directed to hire 200 additional Customs and Border Protection officers to address staffing shortages at the 20 airports, subject to appropriations.

Sponsored by Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and cosponsored by Vice Chairman Stevens and Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), the Truth in Caller ID Act would make it unlawful for any person in the United States to knowingly transmit misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value. Law enforcement and judicial agencies would be exempt, along with instances deemed appropriate by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Violators would be assessed civil and criminal penalties of up to $10,000 per violation or $30,000 for a continuing violation, with a cap of $1 million for any single act or failure to act.

 

Sponsored by Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) and cosponsored by Commerce Committee members including Senators Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), the Max Cleland Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act would enhance minority serving institutions’ ability to provide students with access to the technologies vital to learning in the digital economy. 

The billwould authorize the creation of an Office of Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology to implement these improvements. It also would authorize $250 million for each fiscal year from 2008 through 2012 and require that institutions awarded a grant provide 25% matching funds or $500,000, whichever is less. The Director of the Office of Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology would be required to waive the matching requirement for any institution with no endowment, or an endowment worth less than $50,000,000. The grants would help schools and colleges acquire networking capability, hardware and software, digital network technology, and wireless technologies.

 

Introduced by Senators Snowe and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act would authorize the establishment of a sustained national integrated coastal and ocean observing system for the nation’s coasts, oceans, and Great Lakes through the National Ocean Research Leadership Council (NORLC). This system would enhance accurate weather and climate forecasts, safe maritime operations, sustainable fisheries management, and cutting-edge research. The NORLC would serve as the oversight body for the design and coordination of the observing system.

 

The bill also would establish an Interagency Ocean Observing Committee (IOOC) to coordinate the program’s planning and implementation, and would provide the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) a leadership role in administering a merit-based funding process for participants in the program. Additionally, it would authorize NOAA to provide opportunities for competitive contracts and grants to design, develop, integrate, deploy, and support ocean observation system elements.

 

The bill would authorize a total of $150 million annually for NOAA for fiscal years 2008 through 2010, and $175 million for each of fiscal years 2011 and 2012, of which at least 50 percent will be allocated to the regional associations certified under the Act.

 

###