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Press Photos | Speeches
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Press Release
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| July 16, 2003 |
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HOUSE
ADOPTS SCHAKOWSKY PROVISION CALLING ON SECRETARY POWELL
TO PREVENT UNNECESSARY WAIT
TIMES
FOR THOSE SEEKING VISAS FOR
TRAVEL TO THE U.S. WHILE ENSURING SECURITY
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WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) applauded the adoption
of her amendment to H.R. 1950, a bill authorizing funds for the operations
of the U.S. State Department. The sense of the Congress amendment
calls on the State Department to provide adequate resources to U.S. embassies
and consulates so that rules requiring face-to-face interviews for virtually
all those seeking a U.S. visas may be implemented without unnecessary and
long delays and without compromising security. Schakowsky’s
amendment also requires the Secretary of State to report to the Congress
on allocations to U.S. embassies and consulates. Below is Schakowsky’s
statement:
“Mr.
Speaker, I am pleased today to speak in support of my amendment to H.R.
1950, the State Department Authorization bill, which expresses the sense
of the Congress that the Secretary of State should provide adequate resources
to United States Embassies and Consular Offices in order to meet the workload
requirements for visa application processing.
"The
State Department recently issued a rule requiring nearly all visa applicants
who wish to come to the United States for travel, business, or study to
have personal interviews at Embassies or Consular Offices. This rule
will significantly increase the amount of work and time Embassies and Consulates
must give to each visa applicant. In Fiscal Year 2002, nearly 5.8
million business and tourist visas were issued and it is estimated that,
in some countries, as few as 20% of applicants were required to be interviewed.
While I support necessary security precautions, this new rule will clearly
result in months of backlogs that could seriously jeopardize American business,
education, and tourism unless these offices are provided with adequate
resources and personnel to handle the increased workload.
"Unfortunately,
the Secretary of State has expressed to U.S. Embassies and Consulates that
he “expects and accepts that many posts will face processing backlogs for
the indefinite future.” Furthermore, the message from the State Department
in Washington, D.C. is that, while posts can request more personnel, for
the most part, they “must implement the new interview guidelines
using existing resources. Posts should not, repeat not, use overtime
to deal with additional workload requirements.”
"Requiring
our Foreign Service officers to take on a vastly increased workload without
also providing the resources necessary to support that work may actually
undermine our national security. It is unclear that overworked staff
who are forced to conduct personal interviews with thousands of visa applicants
will be able to adequately identify terrorists and other potentially harmful
visitors in what are reportedly two to three minute interviews. Instead,
these workers will be more likely to miss important details in visa applications
as they rush to keep up with additional work requirements. Only by
providing sufficient resources to meet the new interview requirements,
can we ensure that the steps we take to implement more stringent security
protections will effectively safeguard our nation from those who may wish
to do us harm.
"Furthermore,
if we are to remain a respected nation and an ally to countries around
the world, it is critical that people be able to travel to the United Sates
for business and pleasure without unnecessary hurdles or burdens.
It is also critical for our economy, which depends on tourism and on conducting
business with foreign nationals in order to stay strong, that people be
able to travel to the United States without unnecessary inconveniences.
Long wait times and growing backlogs of visa applications will serve to
do the opposite and discourage people from coming to the United States
to spend money and conduct business.
"I
have heard from my constituents of people missing business meetings, important
family events, and opportunities to study at American universities because
it took too long for their visa application to be processed. For
example, we have heard about three month waiting periods in Israel, one
of our closest allies, which prevented a young Israeli from coming to the
U.S. to work as a camp counselor. In another example, a group of
Indian performers who were set to tour the United States will miss their
performance in Chicago this weekend because they were not approved in time.
And three people from Jakarta will miss their business meeting next week
because their visa was not accepted in time. Finally, a young man
had to postpone a wedding reception he had been planning for months because
visa backlogs prevented his fiancée from getting to the United States
from South Korea in time.
"It
is because of situations like these and countless others that we must provide
our Embassies and Consulates with adequate resources to meet the needs
of visa applicants. It is because of our national security interests
that we must provide our Foreign Service officers the resources they need
to do their jobs well. I am pleased that this amendment was accepted
into the en bloc amendment, and I thank Chairman Hyde and Ranking Members
Lantos for their support.” |
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