Speech #1010216812

I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman. my amendment is designed to extend the visa waiver pilot program that now exists in current law. This pilot program was created by IRCA in 1986. Its intention was to minimize the formal visa requirements for nationals of eight countries coming to the United States for a visit of 90 days or less. The eight countries to be picked were those with very low visa abuse. overstay. or refusal rates. The benefits of the program were also only offered to those countries that offered U.S. visitors the reciprocal novisa requirement. The report on the visa waiver pilot program this year by the Department of State reads: Our experience with the visa waiver pilot program convinces us that the visa waiver program has successfully moved toward accomplishing both goals set by the Congress: To improve the use of United States Government resources and to encourage international travel. Through February 1990 more than 3.5 million visitors were admitted into the United States under the program. and 782 have been found ineligible for entry: 97 have been deported (a rate of less than .003 percent). Importantly. the visa waiver program allows the Consular Bureau of the State Department to allocate its resources more efficiently. It allows the Department to reduce the number of officers that must process visas in countries where visa abuse rates are low. and enlarge the consular staff in countries where visa fraud and abuse is a much greater problem. or where drug trafficking and threats of terrorism require a more careful screening process. The Departments report on the pilot program has this to say on the impact on consular operations: The limited elimination of the visa requirement for some aliens has provided the Department of State with muchneeded resources which have been reprogrammed to other areas. As of March 31. 1990 the Department has already transferred eleven Foreign Service officer and six Foreign Service national employee positions to posts in Eastern Europe In need of additional resources because of the historic changes taking place in that region. Because the current visa waiver program will expire in 1 year. I am offering this amendment to extend and enlarge it. This amendment would extend the visa waiver program for another 3 years. and it would drop the limitation of eight countries that may qualify. Under the amendment. any country with a sufficiently low visa abuse rate may be designated for visa waiver privileges by Joint action of the Secretary of State and the Attorney General. That country must also grant reciprocal benefits to United States visitors. The State and Justice Departments have also recommended other technical changes to ensure that the program is efficiently and effectively administered. and these changes are incorporated in the amendment.