Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-09-22-Speech-3-353"
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"en.20100922.24.3-353"2
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"Mr President, there are very good reasons for the Administration and the Congress to step back and rescind the so-called Travel Promotion Act.
First of all, it is a bit bizarre – and the Commission has pointed to this as well – to introduce a tax to promote tourism. If it becomes more expensive to travel to the United States, you will probably get fewer people who are going to travel to that country; for a family of four, we are talking about USD 40 – that is real money for many people. Also, it seems a bit absurd that the United States, of all countries, should tax people who are not represented in the debate. Taxation without representation has, I believe, played a certain role in American history, so I believe they should look at this again.
Secondly, will America become more attractive by making people pay more? I do not think so. The United States are an attractive destination; there are household names like Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, the Everglades, Chesapeake Bay, Boston, New York, Washington, and San Francisco. People are coming anyway; they do not need to promote tourism in the way they are suggesting.
Now, beyond those points, there are several serious issues, political issues, which we believe need to be addressed as well. I believe it is completely unacceptable that to pay the cost, you can only use credit or debit cards of companies which are registered in the United States of America. I do not believe that is acceptable. Furthermore, saving and verifying these data in the United States
be okay if this was limited to the specific purpose of controlling travel, but the Department of Homeland Security is authorised to give these data on demand to other American authorities, to foreign authorities, and even to businesses that deal with transportation. From the point of view of data protection privacy, this is simply unacceptable as well.
The Commission and the Council have to find appropriate answers now. I believe that the upcoming EU-US summit should address this issue. I believe that reciprocity is good, although regrettable in this case, and I believe that both sides should work to increase people-to-people contacts and not make them more difficult."@en1
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"Alexander Graf Lambsdorff,"1
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