US House passes bill to strengthen visa waiver program

WASHINGTON (AP) Driven by the Paris terror attacks, the House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to tighten controls on travel to the USA and require visas for anyone who's been in Iraq or Syria in the previous five years.

That program allows people from 38 countries to visit the USA without visas. Tourists who use the visa waiver program are already screened against American security databases, but are subject to less restrictive checks than other travelers.

According to Republican Representative Micheal McCaul, the House Homeland Security Committee chairman, "this legislation will help close gaping security gaps and improve our ability to stop unsafe individuals before they reach our shores".

The Senate has not scheduled a vote on either measure. "This could mean that a second tier of American citizens, including Iranian Americans, would be forced to apply for a visa to travel to many nations in Europe and other eligible countries". US Representative Kristi Noem is happy with the legislation.

Lawmakers are also looking at the fiancé visa program that allowed Tashfeen Malik, one of the San Bernardino shooters, into the country.

Under the plans for improvement that achieved bipartisan support, there is a need to expand the criteria, which would determine if a country should be removed from the Visa Waiver Program.

From October of next year, each partner country will have to guarantee and verify that it can validate machine-readable and e-passports at every port of entry or it will be removed from the programme until such time as it does.

The bill proposed by Republicans and backed by the White House also would require participating countries to share counterterrorism information with the United States. This new bill would authorize the Department of Homeland Security to terminate any country's participation if it doesn't communicate with the US. The Senate would impose a five-year restriction on individuals who have traveled to Iraq or Syria from using the waiver program.

The bill, which passed with a 388 majority out of 426, was voted for following a series of would-be terrorists legally entering the United States without a visa.

"Like Rep. Candice Miller's bill in the House, the Johnson bill will ensure better information sharing among intelligence and law enforcement agencies".

Congress should tread carefully when changing the visa waiver program because of "the tourism dollars that ride on that", he said in an interview.

The House measure received the support of the US Travel Association, The Post noted.