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Alaska Tourism Restoration Act

Public Law 117-14 · H.R. 1318 · 117th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Joe Biden (D) on May 24, 2021 · Transportation and Public Works

Sponsor: Rep. Don Young (R-AK)

Cosponsors: None

Passage votes

  • HouseUnanimous consent
  • SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes

The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.

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Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

This bill temporarily allows specific foreign-owned and foreign-flagged cruise ships to transport passengers directly between ports in the states of Washington and Alaska without stopping in Canada. Under current law, these ships cannot transport passengers from one U.S. port to another without stopping in a foreign country.

The bill deems a round trip voyage between ports in the states of Washington and Alaska as a foreign voyage if (1) during the voyage, the operators of such voyage send U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Canada Border Services Agency an email containing the names of each alien crew member with a valid nonimmigrant work visa; and (2) the voyage begins not later than February 28, 2022. The operators of these voyages must also retain a COVID-19 Conditional Sailing Certificate from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and operate in accordance with CDC restrictions associated with the certificate.

Authority to conduct these voyages shall terminate on March 31, 2022, or when Canada lifts its COVID-related restrictions, whichever occurs first. Voyages may not occur during any period for which the CDC has issued an order to suspend cruise ship operations.

The bill also directs the Department of Transportation to require, through regulations, the installation of automated external defibrillators on passenger vessels (including cruise ships), among other requirements.

Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

Data notes

A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.

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Related bills

1 bill the Library of Congress relates to this one.

  • S. 593Identical bill

    Alaska Tourism Restoration Act

Data notes

Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 13 actions.

  1. May 24, 2021Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 117-14.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. FloorFloor · Presented to President.
  4. May 20, 2021FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
  5. FloorFloor · Received in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  6. FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  7. FloorFloor · On passage Passed without objection.
  8. FloorFloor · Considered by unanimous consent.
  9. FloorFloor · Mr. DeFazio asked unanimous consent to discharge from committee and consider.
  10. CommitteeCommittee · Committee on Transportation discharged.
  11. Feb 25, 2021CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.
  12. Feb 24, 2021CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
  13. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in House
Data notes

Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.

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Amendments

1 amendment offered to the bill, with the last recorded step of each.

  • H.Amdt. 50HouseRep. Peter DeFazioD-OR-4· offered May 20, 2021Agreed to

    May 20, 2021: On agreeing to the DeFazio amendment (A001) Agreed to without objection.

    Agreed to
Data notes

Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.

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Official record

The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.