[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2261 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2261

   To designate Greece as a program country for purposes of the visa 
  waiver program established under section 217 of the Immigration and 
                            Nationality Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 5, 2009

 Mrs. Maloney (for herself, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. McMahon, Mr. Sarbanes, 
 Mr. Capuano, Ms. Berkley, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Space, and 
  Ms. Titus) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To designate Greece as a program country for purposes of the visa 
  waiver program established under section 217 of the Immigration and 
                            Nationality Act.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Founding Fathers of the United States drew heavily 
        on the political experience and philosophy of ancient Greece in 
        forming our representative democracy.
            (2) Greece played a major role in the World War II struggle 
        to protect freedom and democracy through such bravery as was 
        shown in the historic Battle of Crete, which provided the Axis 
        land war with its first major setback, setting off a chain of 
        events that significantly affected the outcome of World War II.
            (3) Throughout the 20th century Greece was one of three 
        countries in the world, besides the former British Empire, that 
        allied with the United States in every major international 
        conflict.
            (4) Greece has been a reliable partner in the North 
        Atlantic Treaty Organization since joining in 1952.
            (5) In 1981, Greece became one of the 15 original European 
        Union member countries and, in January 2001, successfully 
        acceded to the Eurozone.
            (6) Among all candidate countries for entry in the visa 
        waiver program, Greece constitutes a separate and unique case 
        in that it is the only country, among the candidates, that 
        meets all technical requirements for inclusion in the program.
            (7) Greece requires only a valid passport for visiting 
        United States citizens and not a visa.
            (8) According to a September 2008 Government Accountability 
        Office report, Greece has a 1.6 percent visa refusal rate, 
        which is well below the maximum allowable 3 percent rate for 
        refusals of U.S. non-immigrant visitor visa applications.
            (9) As of January 1, 2007, Greek passports issued prior to 
        January 1, 2006, are no longer valid for travel. Therefore, 
        Greek nationals are traveling with new, machine-readable 
        passports that are produced using state-of-the-art technology 
        (biometrics) to meet the highest possible security standards 
        and specifications.
            (10) Greece is one of fifteen European nations accepted as 
        a Schengen country which allows for travel through Europe as if 
        you are traveling throughout the United States. Greece is the 
        only Schengen country excluded from participating in the visa 
        waiver program.
            (11) Countries included in the visa waiver program with 
        similar demographics and economic relations with the United 
        States as Greece have 50 percent more visitors to the United 
        States due to their visa waiver status.
            (12) More than 50,000 Greek citizens visit the United 
        States each year.
            (13) There are 3 million American citizens of Greek 
        ancestry residing in the United States.
            (14) The Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary 
        of State administer the visa waiver program, which allows 
        citizens from 35 countries, including all of the original 15 
        European Union members except Greece, to visit the United 
        States as tourists without visas.
            (15) In September 2007, Greece was the only country 
        formally nominated as a candidate country for the Visa Waiver 
        Program by the U.S. Department of State yet was not included 
        when the visa waiver program expanded to include 8 new 
        countries in 2008.

SEC. 2. DESIGNATING GREECE A VISA WAIVER PROGRAM COUNTRY.

    Effective on the date of the enactment of this Act, and 
notwithstanding section 217(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1187(c)), Greece shall be deemed a designated program country 
for purposes of the visa waiver program established under section 217 
of such Act.
                                 <all>