WASHINGTON — Houston’s shot at hosting America’s first World’s Fair since 1984 is on the line as Congress rushes to pass a spending package before the end of the year to keep the government open.

The effort to lure a World’s Expo, as the massive international gatherings are now known, to Houston in 2030 got a big assist earlier this year as the House moved to free up funding for the U.S. to post a pavilion at the 2020 World’s Expo in Dubai. That would put Houston in play to host the expo down the line.

But the bill stalled in the Senate, and organizers now say if Congress doesn’t act soon, the window will close — and with it, the chances for Houston to host an event that could draw 20 million visitors.

“If this doesn’t change by Friday, we’re pretty much dead,” said Manuel Delgado, an executive at a Houston-based media and entertainment company, who is leading the effort. “Not being in Dubai kills our effort for 2030 in Houston. It’s like not sending any athletes to the Olympics.”

Delgado says the World’s Fair’s impact on Houston’s economy would be $6 billion, the equivalent of 17 Super Bowls — along with international name recognition for a city that he thinks is too often overlooked: “I would argue that Houston is the most underrated city in the U.S. People don’t know Houston.”

At issue is whether the State Department should spend money for the Dubai pavilion. Current law prevents the State Department from spending the funds, but the House bill that passed earlier this year would have allowed it.

Houston organizers, along with the State Department, are now pushing for a provision allowing the State Department to fund the effort. to be included in the spending packages that Congress is set to pass on this week. That provision was not included in the spending package that was approved by the House on Tuesday and sent to the U.S. Senate.

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The U.S. is the only country in the world that relies entirely on private donations to guarantee its presence at world expos. Funding has fallen short for seven of the last 10 proposed American pavilions.

The events have left lasting marks on American cities in the past, including San Antonio, where the city’s Tower of the Americas was built for the 1968 fair. But the expo hasn’t been hosted on American soil since a disappointing showing in New Orleans in 1984.

State Department officials say the U.S. needs to get back in the business of participating in the expos, which they view as a crucial diplomatic and economic development effort.

Democrats in the House, however, have so far been unwilling to use government funds. U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey, a New York Democrat who chairs the committee that puts the spending bills together, blamed the Trump administration for fumbling the effort.

“While Chairwoman Lowey supports the efforts of American communities to bid for the World Expo in future years, the Trump administration has completely mishandled the process of preparing for an American pavilion at next year’s event,” said Evan Hollander, a spokesman for the committee. “Chairwoman Lowey opposes the State Department’s last minute request to redirect funding from national security priorities to a pavilion in Dubai.”

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A bipartisan group of representatives, including U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, a Houston-area Republican, wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, urging them to include assistance in the House spending bill.

“History tells us that U.S. pavilions at World Expos held overseas are consistently the most visited of any country, attracting upwards of nine million in-person visitors and tens of millions online” the lawmakers wrote. “This is one of the single largest opportunities for global exposure of our nation’s economic, scientific, technological, and cultural richness, as well as a crucial venue for U.S. businesses.”

ben.wermund@chron.com