Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 504,
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Travel Cards Act of 2017,
which is identical to bipartisan legislation I introduced in the House
earlier this year along with Representatives Dan Donovan, Rick Larsen
and Dave Reichert. This bill would permanently reauthorize the APEC Business Travel Card
program, which provides access to fast-track immigration lanes at
airports for travelers who conduct verified business in the APEC
region. The U.S. has been participating in this program and issuing cards to
verified American business travelers since 2014, after Congress passed
the APEC Business Travel Cards Act in 2011. Under that law, the authority to issue these travel cards to
Americans is set to expire on September 30, 2018--meaning that no new
cards can be issued after that date, and all cards will expire by 2021,
after which Americans will no longer be able to travel throughout the
region as easily as business travelers from other APEC countries.
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