United States-Mexico Tourism Improvement Act of 2019

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 951) to promote bilateral tourism through cooperation between the United States and Mexico, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 951, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, let me start by thanking the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cuellar), the recently-appointed chairman of the U.S.-Mexico Interparliamentary Group, for authoring this legislation, which sends a positive message from this Chamber to the Mexican people at a time when, frankly, it is needed more than ever in view of all the things that have been talked about with American belligerence toward Mexico and the unnecessary saber rattling.

I think it is important that we talk about positive things between our two countries, and tourism certainly is right there. It is one way to make a positive difference.

In recent years, bilateral tourism between the United States and Mexico has steadily declined. This is in sharp contrast to a rise in the broader international tourism industry in the United States.

In 2017 alone, there was a 6 percent decline in visitors to the United States from Mexico, and this decrease hurts our economy and American workers, specifically in the States along our southern border with Mexico where President Trump is still trying to build an ill- advised wall.

The legislation we are now considering would direct the State Department to expand tourism cooperation with Mexico, including by close collaboration with nonprofit organizations and the private sector. It also encourages expanded third-party tourism to the United States and Mexico through joint international promotional efforts.

But more than anything, this bill is about jobs. It is about creating American jobs and maintaining a robust partnership with our neighbor to the south.

Its consideration could not be more timely. Last month, the President again threatened to punish American workers and consumers for failures at the border, only to claim victory with a so-called deal that reverted to the status quo. The President has again managed to cause further harm to the U.S.-Mexico relationship for no good reason whatsoever, and tourists are staying home in response.

Today, the House of Representatives is choosing to go in a different direction. With this bill, we are once again coming to the House floor to build bridges with our neighbor to the south.

Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Cuellar for his continued persistence in promoting the U.S.-Mexico relationship. I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cuellar), the author of this bill, who also happens to be the chair of the U.S.-Mexico Interparliamentary Group.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume for the purpose of closing.

Madam Speaker, the U.S.-Mexico relationship is too important to be held hostage to petty politics, and yet here we are again for the last 2 weeks.

We don't want to hurt the U.S.-Mexico relationship. In fact, I was in Mexico City just a few weeks ago and met with the new Mexican President, who told us that he really wanted to have good relations and work closely with us. I was impressed with him because he has a steady hand.

I think that we should not be alienating our neighbors. We should be welcoming them, welcoming the partnership with them.

We don't want to undermine tourism; we don't want to hurt Americans; and we don't want to raise taxes on the working class while doing nothing to address the humanitarian challenges on the U.S.-Mexico border.

I am glad that we seem to not be going that way in terms of clashing with Mexico, but, again, this is a win-win bill: a win for us because it helps tourism, a win for Mexico as well.

Congress has chosen to pursue a positive agenda with Mexico instead. This legislation will play an important role in showcasing the mutually beneficial relationship Congress and most Americans want with Mexico.

Madam Speaker, I again thank Mr. Cuellar for his continued leadership and for wanting a stronger relationship between the United States and Mexico. I thank the ranking member, as usual, for working with us on this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Engel for yielding to me and for his leadership that he has provided in making sure that we develop a good working relationship with the Republic of Mexico.

In fact, a few months ago, we also passed a U.S.-Mexico economic development bill that is over in the Senate, and now today we are passing a tourism bill that will be used to promote this important relationship.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the chairman for his leadership.

I also want to thank the ranking member, a friend of mine who is also with me on the U.S.-Mexico Interparliamentary Group, and I want to thank him because, as a Texan, he also understands this very important relationship that we have with Mexico.

Madam Speaker, I also want to thank the majority staff and, certainly, the minority staff for the Committee on Foreign Affairs because they get it. They understand the type of legislation that we need to have to improve this relationship that we have between the U.S. and Mexico. So I want to thank both staffs.

The relationship with Mexico is very important. Let me first talk about trade.

Every day, there is more than $1.7 billion of trade between the U.S. and Mexico. That is over $1 million every single minute, the trade that we have between these two countries.

If we look at the more than 5 million jobs that have been created because of the trade that we have with Mexico, it is important that we nourish this relationship.

So it is not only the trade that we have, the commerce that we have, but it is certainly also the tourism.

In 2016, we had over 19 million Mexicans that came over and spent over $20.5 billion at our restaurants, at our

hotels, at our malls, at our stores--a lot of money that has been spent here in the United States. But the last couple years, we have seen a different trend.

While international tourist arrivals in the U.S. have totaled 79.6 million visitors, which has been almost a 5 percent increase, a 4.2 percent increase, the tourism from Mexico has actually decreased, and, again, for different reasons.

Again, if we call them murderers, rapists, and other words, they are not going to come and spend the money. So we have to make sure that we get our friends to the south to come back and spend money because, again, in 2016, Mexican tourism to the United States peaked at almost 19 million, which means that one out of every four international visitors, that is almost 25 percent of the tourists coming from across the world, was coming here to the United States from Mexico.

Madam Speaker, this is why, with Chairman Engel and my good friend, the ranking member, Michael McCaul, we are trying to make sure that we get this tourism back because, again, it is good for our economy.

What does this bill do? Basically, it is asking that we focus on doing a couple things:

Having the State Department develop a strategy to expand this bilateral tourism with Mexico;

Encouraging collaboration between governmental and nongovernmental entities;

Making sure that this strategy is at the highest level, which is, again, at the High Level Economic Dialogue platform with Mexico; and

Making sure that the Mexican Government is involved.

I have spoken to some of the Mexican congressmen that we met last time we were there, like, for example, Congressman Luis Alegre from the Cancun area. They know that this tourism business is very important.

Madam Speaker, again, I want to thank the chairman; I want to thank the ranking member; and, again, I want to thank the staff for putting this bill up.

Madam Speaker, again, I urge my colleagues in the House to pass this measure which will return the economic benefits of bilateral tourism with Mexico again to our U.S. businesses and entrepreneurs.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the United States-Mexico Tourism Improvement Act of 2019.

I want to thank Chairman Engel and also thank my good friend Henry Cuellar for leading this legislation, which we introduced together earlier this year.

I must say, the timing probably couldn't be better, as we avoided a tariff situation on Mexico in exchange for some security cooperation.

We know, being from Texas, that Mexico is our largest trading partner. Just last month, Mexico now has become the United States' largest trading partner.

We understand well the value of tourism from our neighbors to the south, what that provides to our economy. As a matter of fact, Mr. Cuellar and I both chair the U.S.-Mexico Interparliamentary Group, and I look forward to working together to strengthen our ties with the Mexican Congress to address our mutual interests rather than divide.

Tourism between the United States and Mexico, in both directions, is worth tens of billions of dollars to our economies every year. To help increase these benefits, this bill directs the State Department to develop a strategy to expand tourism through cooperation with Mexico, including collaboration with governmental and nongovernmental entities.

Legitimate tourism between our two countries, in my view, strengthens our economies, strengthens our cultures and our partnership together, and should be encouraged and expanded.

Madam Speaker, once again, let me just thank my good friend Mr. Cuellar for his hard work. He does a lot of good work between the United States and Mexico, and I fully look forward to working together with him as we serve together in this Congress.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Laredo, Texas, who really made a good case for this bill. He knows, being the largest land port in the United States, what trade and tourism means for Mexico and the United States.

This bill will not only strengthen our economies, which is always a positive thing, but I think it will strengthen our relationship. It will also strengthen our security, working together, and it deepens our rich cultural ties that we have and that we know is so important.

I think it is good for both nations, a step forward in the right direction.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my good friend Henry Cuellar for bringing this legislation. I urge my colleagues to support it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 951, the ``United States-Mexico Tourism Improvement Act of 2019.''

H.R. 951 addresses the decline in tourist activity between the United States and Mexico.

The bill aims to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the United States and Mexican tourism industries by advocating for increased cooperation through both government and non-governmental channels.

Specifically, the legislation seeks to--

improve third-party tourism to both countries through joint international promotional efforts;

prioritize exchange programs in various economic sectors; and

promote cross-border medical partnerships.

Mexico is the biggest source of international visitors to the United States after Canada.

In 2016, Mexican tourism to the United States peaked at 18,990,585 visitors, constituting 1 in 4 (24.9 percent) of all tourists that year.

Additionally, in 2016, spending by Mexican tourists in the United States totaled $20.3 billion, which represented a 3 percent growth from 2015.

In 2017, international tourist arrivals totaled 76,900,000, up 0.7 percent from 76,400,000 in 2016.

The same year, 77,000,000 international visitors spent a record $251.4 billion on hotels, travel, food, and souvenirs, a 2-percent increase over 2016.

However, also in 2017, there was a 6.1-percent decline in visitors to the United States from Mexico, comprising a loss of 1,166,585 Mexican tourists from 2016.

The Department of Commerce has not yet released 2017 spending totals by Mexican tourists in the United States, but a corresponding monetary decline would be approximately $1.24 billion in lost revenue.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 951 to promote bilateral tourism through the United States and Mexico.