[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 119 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 119

To urge the Secretary of State to provide to the Congress an emergency 
 plan to vastly improve the visa issuance process of the Department of 
      State to prevent terrorists from entering the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 13, 1993

  Mr. Gilman submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
To urge the Secretary of State to provide to the Congress an emergency 
 plan to vastly improve the visa issuance process of the Department of 
      State to prevent terrorists from entering the United States.

Whereas recent terrorist acts in the United States have made it abundantly clear 
        that terrorism has come to American soil, and now threatens the very 
        security of the Nation;
Whereas it is evident from recent revelations that the State Department's 
        current visa operations and procedures are not adequate to provide a 
        modern front line defense to prevent terrorists from entering the United 
        States under visas provided by United States embassies and consular 
        posts around the world;
Whereas many overseas State Department posts are still using outdated and 
        inefficient microfiche systems to maintain visa lookout and watch lists 
        for known or suspected terrorists who may seek United States visas to 
        travel to the United States;
Whereas the lookout list microfiche system is outdated, not easily maintained or 
        updated in a timely fashion, is labor intensive and easily subject to 
        human error, and is totally inadequate and outmoded in this era of 
        modern communications and travel;
Whereas many United States embassy and consular posts are still on the outdated 
        microfiche system in many areas of the world where the threat is great 
        from terrorists and drug dealers or narcotics traffickers who may desire 
        visas to enter the United States;
Whereas the microfiche visa lookout system has already resulted in the 
        unfortunate and mistaken entry of radical Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman into 
        the United States on a United States visa, despite his links to known 
        terrorist activities prior to issuance of the visa;
Whereas the mistaken issuance of the visa to Sheik Rahman in error in Khartoum 
        in 1990, despite the fact he was on the State Department's lookout list 
        on microfiche at this post for possible terrorist links, has created 
        numerous and serious problems for the United States, including his 
        possible inspiration and encouragement of terrorism following his entry 
        into the United States, both here and in Egypt by his followers;
Whereas several of Sheik Rahman's followers have been arrested in connection 
        with the New York Trade Tower bombing or relating to a terrorist plot to 
        attack the United Nations complex, New York City commuter tunnels, the 
        Secretary General of the United Nations, and political leaders in the 
        United States, and many of those arrested entered the United States with 
        visas issued by the State Department;
Whereas the entry of Sheik Rahman into the United States by the mistaken 
        issuance of a visa by the State Department has even reportedly strained 
        our relations with the Government of Egypt;
Whereas it is also evident that the necessary information sharing within the 
        State Department, and with other United States law enforcement and 
        intelligence agencies on possible terrorists or other criminal elements, 
        is not being conducted on an appropriate basis to make the visa lookout 
        system current and effective enough to prevent possible terrorists from 
        entering the United States with visas;
Whereas the shortcomings and failures in the current visa processing system at 
        the Department of State have been well known by the Department for many 
        years and no major overhaul, improvements, or recommendations to 
        overhaul the system are forthcoming from the Department of State, the 
        Inspector General, or the General Accounting Office for several months;
Whereas a 1991 Department of State Inspector General audit of the visa referral 
        system at the Department found serious shortcomings in the automated 
        visa lookout system (AVOLS), including ``Information regarding foreign 
        nationals with serious grounds for visa ineligibility'' was not always 
        in the automated visa lookout system even though government agencies had 
        this information available;
Whereas the same 1991 audit also found that ``At one post visited it was 
        determined that not all convicted drug traffickers in the Drug 
        Enforcement Agency local data base were in AVOLS'';
Whereas the same 1991 audit went on to find that ``The absence of this 
        information (law enforcement data) poses a serious problem to the 
        nonimmigrant visa process since it can result in the issuance of visas 
        to dangerous and undesirable individuals.'';
Whereas the Department of State, on the basis of the 1991 audit, has been on 
        notice of the shortcomings in the visa lookout system for more than 2 
        years, and apparently little or no progress has been made to improve the 
        system;
Whereas recently the Secretary of State has personally acknowledged the need to 
        modernize the visa system to meet the new threat of terrorism directly 
        targeted at the United States;
Whereas the American people demand and expect the Department of State to 
        maintain an effective and modern system to prevent terrorists from 
        obtaining visas to travel to the United States and threaten property, 
        institutions, and lives in the United States; and
Whereas the current visa processing system and procedures at the Department of 
        State are totally incapable in meeting the new threat of international 
        terrorism to the United States and threaten the very security and safety 
        of the United States: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of State, 
within 60 days after the date of adoption of this resolution, should 
submit a report to the Congress setting forth an emergency plan to 
improve visa issuance procedures and equipment and to modernize the 
visa processing system including--
            (1) short-term and immediate plans to modernize high threat 
        United States posts around the globe now currently on outdated 
        microfiche;
            (2) plans to improve information sharing within the 
        Department of State itself to keep the visa lookout system 
        current and updated on possible terrorist who might seek visas 
        to travel to the United States;
            (3) plans to improve information sharing with other United 
        States agencies to provide timely and efficient exchange of 
        information for inclusion in the visa lookout system to prevent 
        terrorists and other alien criminal elements from gaining 
        access to the United States under visas issued by United States 
        embassies and consular posts overseas;
            (4) a date certain when the Department of State will resume 
        checking the criminal record histories of visa applicants with 
        the Federal Bureau of Investigation, prior to issuance of any 
        visa, as was the case prior to 1991; and
            (5) long-term plans to make the visa lookout and watch 
        system a modern and effective tool to prevent terrorists, and 
        other criminal elements, from gaining easy access to the United 
        States under visas issued by United States embassies or 
        overseas consular posts.

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