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Hudson Votes to Strengthen Security of Visa Waiver Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 8, 2015
 
Hudson Votes to Strengthen Security of Visa Waiver Program
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (NC-08) released the following statement after voting to strengthen the visa waiver program to help prevent foreign terrorists from entering the United States:
 
“The stakes have never been higher as radical Islamic terrorists continue to look for any opportunity to infiltrate America to kill us and carry out their barbaric attacks in our communities. We know thousands of radicalized people with Western passports have traveled to Iraq and Syria to fight with terrorists groups like ISIS, and the House is taking decisive action to close security gaps these foreign fighters could exploit.
 
“Like my bill to strengthen the vetting of Syrian and Iraqi refugees, today’s legislation is a reasonable, common sense measure to help keep terrorists out and the American people safe. It is another critical step to address glaring vulnerabilities in our security that terrorists could exploit, tackle the growing threat of radical Islamic extremism and ensure the safety of Americans.”
 
The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) allows nationals from 38 participating countries to travel to the U.S. for up to 90 days for business or tourism without obtaining a U.S. visa. Instead of going to a U.S. consulate or embassy, citizens of participating countries must provide detailed background information that is then screened against U.S. security systems.
 
It is estimated that approximately 5,000 Europeans have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS, many of whom are from countries that participate in the Visa Waiver Program. ISIS terrorists and sympathizers have made clear that they plan to infiltrate Western countries, and there are legitimate concerns that terrorists could come to the United States through this fast-track system. As the 9/11 Commission noted in its report to Congress, “for terrorists, travel documents are as important as weapons.”
 
Today, the House acted to protect the American people and passed the Visa Waiver Program Improvement Act of 2015(H.R. 158) to strengthen security of the Visa Waiver Program and add additional layers of protection by:
  • Denying VWP status to individuals who have connections to terrorist hotspots.H.R. 158 denies VWP status to travelers who are nationals of—or have visited during the past five years—Iraq, Syria, and other countries with significant terrorist activity.
  • Demanding strong intelligence and law enforcement information sharing. H.R. 158 requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to terminate a country from the VWP program if the country does not share counterterrorism data—and doesn’t allow the country back until it complies with the program requirements.
  • Enhancing screening of all travelers in VWP countries.H.R. 158 requires all VWP countries to check travelers against INTERPOL databases to determine whether the traveler is wanted by law enforcement agencies based on ties to terrorism or criminal activity.
  • Requiring countries to use e-passports to help prevent extremists from using fraudulent documents. H.R. 158 requires all VWP countries to issue to their citizens fraud-resistant e-passports which contain biometric information, and it requires countries to be able to confirm that such documents are legitimate.
  • Preventing extremists from using lost or stolen documents.H.R. 158 forces all VWP countries to submit lost and stolen passport information to INTERPOL’s “stolen and lost travel document” database and to notify INTERPOL within 24 hours when their citizens’ passports go missing.
  • Increasing threat monitoring of VWP countries.H.R. 158 requires top U.S. security agencies to conduct more frequent intelligence and threat assessments of VWP countries to determine whether they pose a high risk to the national security of the U.S. If a VWP country is designated as “high risk,” it can be suspended from the program.
  • Taking steps to ensure VWP travelers do not falsify their background information.H.R. 158 requires the Department of Homeland Security to take steps to better detect false information, improve the validation of data supplied by travelers, and add new data fields to enhance checks on each traveler.
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