Zinke Votes for Visa Waiver Reform

The House bill, if passed, would bring greater scrutiny to individuals deemed at-risk for potential terrorist activity while also increase information sharing between the US and those 38 countries to limit access for some who have dual citizenship in, or have visited countries where they might have become radicalized.

Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) voted in favor of the Visa Waiver Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015, which addresses national security vulnerabilities that exist under our current Visa Waiver program.

People who have visited Iran and Sudan - which the United States accuses of supporting terrorism - would also need a visa.

"The Senate bill would prevent individuals who traveled to Iraq or Syria from using the program for five years".

A state department spokesperson said the agency was supportive of the legislation, that was bipartisan, proposed by the House and hopes that Congress will move swiftly to pass it. Countries would be required to submit information about lost or stolen passports to the International Criminal Police Organization, otherwise known as INTERPOL.

The European Commission is already miffed that while Americans enjoy visa-free travel in the EU, many of its citizens from eastern European countries, including those from Poland have to apply for a permit before travelling to the USA, the report added.

Unlike the House bill, the Senate plan would require travelers under the visa waiver program to provide biometric information before traveling to the US and force airlines to provide information on visa-waiver passengers "as soon as practicable" before arriving at a port of entry, according to an analysis by Bloomberg Government legislative analyst Michael Smallberg. The bill would require countries to be able to confirm that such documents are legitimate when they are scanned. Belgium and France, home to most of the perpetrators of the Paris attacks, are among the participating countries.

Just 47 Democrats joined 242 Republicans who voted for it and President Barack Obama, a Democrat, promised a veto. But the program has been used on at least a few occasions in the past by terrorist plotters, including Richard Reid, the "shoe bomber" who attempted to ignite a bomb while flying from Paris to Miami in December 2001.

The White House administration supports the legislation, and it could be attached to an end of the year budget Washington lawmakers are working to finalize.

But Democratic leaders urged their members to back the bill, calling the reforms "responsible" and "sensible".

Approximately 20 million visitors take advantage of the VWP each year, which was originally introduced in 1986 as a security partnership to boost USA relations with its allies and drive tourism.