Fully fund Brand USA by restoring the full allocation of ESTA fees through the VISIT USA Act.

Gus M. Bilirakis · Florida · Republican

policy impact 0.67 specificity 0.88 extraction confidence 96%

Contest this claim

Occurrences

Evidence

Section 40009 amends the Travel Promotion Act by striking "$100,000,000" and inserting "$20,000,000" for annual transfers to the Travel Promotion Fund.

The enacted 2025 reconciliation law reduced the annual transfer cap to the Travel Promotion Fund instead of restoring Brand USA to a full ESTA-fee-backed funding stream.

never later_term

Public Law 119-21
secondary · model gpt-5.4-mini · confidence 96%

Contest this evidence item

DHS says HR-1 requires annual inflation adjustments and sets the FY 2026 ESTA fee at $40.27, effective January 1, 2026.

Current ESTA fee policy is being implemented through HR-1, not through a VISIT USA Act restoration of Brand USA funding.

never later_term

Certain DHS Immigration Fees Required by HR-1: Fiscal Year 2026 Adjustments for Inflation
secondary · model gpt-5.4-mini · confidence 92%

Contest this evidence item

Assessments

never later_term A for effort

The promised outcome was not achieved. Brand USA was not fully funded by restoring the full ESTA-fee allocation through a VISIT USA Act; instead, later enacted federal law used HR-1 fee changes while reducing the Travel Promotion Fund transfer cap from $100 million to $20 million. That is the opposite of the specific funding restoration promised. Because this was framed around a named legislative vehicle, it indicates a serious legislative push, but the promised result still failed to materialize.

provider codex_cli · model gpt-5.4 · confidence 88%