U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) discussed legislative efforts aimed at strengthening the Visa Waiver Program on Saturday in the Weekly Republican Address.
Katko, the Republican lead of the House Homeland Security Committee Task Force on Combating Terrorist and Foreign Fighter Travel, said eliminating vulnerabilities in the visa system is one of the nation’s greatest challenges.
“In December, we passed a law to tighten the rules of our Visa Waiver Program so terrorists could not use it to come to the United States,” Katko said. “The program allows people from certain countries to come here for up to 90 days without a visa. This is to make it easier for tourists and businesspeople from friendly countries like Britain to come here. And, on the whole, the program works very well.”
Because ISIS has recruited people from current Visa Waiver Program countries including Britain and Belgium, the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act stipulated that anyone who has traveled to countries with “significant terrorist activity” like Iraq, Iran or Syria after 2011, would not be granted an exemption and would be required to apply for a visa.
The White House announced in January that waivers would be granted to journalists, humanitarian workers, and those who have traveled to Iraq and Iran. That contradicts the House bill, which stipulates that the Homeland Security Secretary could grant waivers for law enforcement and national security reasons only.
“That’s why Congress is pressing this administration for a full report on who exactly are getting these waivers,” Katko said. “We expect, at a minimum, the name and nationality of each traveler; the explicit detailed national security or law enforcement justification for granting the waiver; and the number of people who are asking for and using these waiver in each category.”
Katko added that the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act was a “common sense measure” that the Obama administration should enforce “in full.”
Katko’s complete Weekly Republican Address can be viewed here.