House may move quickly to overhaul visa waiver program

The White House on Monday announced steps to tighten the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP) for citizens of 38 foreign countries in the wake of the deadly Paris terrorist attacks.

"If there are steps that we can take that will improve information sharing, that would obviously be an important part of more carefully vetting individuals", he said. Officials will also utilize fingerprint and photograph security programs and assist partner countries with information sharing. Upwards of 20 million people enter the US under this program each year.

Under the new security measures, travelers from countries that have long participated in the visa waiver program may be required to obtain new passports if they do not have documents with biometric chips.

Specifically, Obama ordered the Homeland Security Department to track whether applicants seeking admittance into the USA via the program previously traveled to a terrorist safe-haven country.

The United States already screens visa applicants from war zones carefully, but will now ask more questions of travelers from countries eligible for visa waivers. The bill would cripple Obama's plan to accept 10,000 refugees in the next year and he has vowed to veto it.

The security "enhancements" will allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to gather more information from travelers about past visits to certain countries, such as Syria and Iraq, NBC News reported.

However, the travel industry is concerned about an approach suggested by Feinstein that would require additional biometric information from travelers before they arrive in the U.S.

"Where we have opportunities to make meaningful enhancements we won't hesitate", White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters in Paris for the COP21 talks.

Citizens of countries mostly European - with which the U.S. has a visa-waiver programme do not require a visa to enter the United States.

The announcement comes as lawmakers from both parties point out that the "visa waiver" program could pose a greater security threat than the more hot-button issue of resettling Syrian refugees across the nation.

Earnest urged Congress to pass legislation to strengthen the visa waiver program before leaving for December recess.

A task force of committee chairmen - including the heads of the House Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, Appropriations, Judiciary, Homeland Security and Intelligence Committees - is expected to present a proposal Tuesday, McCarthy said.

Swifter and more severe penalties for national governments and airlines that do not fully comply with the requirements of the VWP program are also proposed, including "fines from $5,000 to $50,000 for air carriers that fail to verify a traveler's passport data". The DHS can offer assistance to any interested VWP countries in screening asylum seekers and refugees.