"Under the current Visa Waiver program, which allows citizens from 27 countries to enter this nation without a visa, our national security depends on background checks conducted by other nations," stated Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Ocala).  "I support H.R. 1342, the Security Entry Act, which would end this open door policy for entering our nation."
H.R. 1342 suspends the non-immigrant visitor Visa Waiver program until the Secretary of Homeland Security certifies to Congress that the automated entry-exit control system is fully implemented and functional; all U.S. ports of entry have functional biometric machine readers; and all non-immigrants, including Border Crossing Card holders, are processed through the automated entry-exit control system.
Explained Stearns, "Between January and June 2005, the Department of Homeland Security confiscated 298 passports issued by countries in the Visa Waiver program that travelers used to enter the United States fraudulently.  It is important to note that terrorists Zacarias Moussaoui who was convicted for being part of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Richard Reid who tried to set off a shoe bomb on an airliner used this program to enter our nation."