Congressional Record, Volume 150 Issue 81 (Monday, June 14, 2004)

[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 81 (Monday, June 14, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H3908-H3910]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

MODIFYING CERTAIN DEADLINES FOR MACHINE-READABLE, TAMPER-RESISTANT
ENTRY AND EXIT DOCUMENTS

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass
the bill (H.R. 4417) to modify certain deadlines pertaining to machine-
readable, tamper-resistant entry and exit documents.
The Clerk read as follows:

H.R. 4417

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

SECTION 1. MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN DEADLINES FOR MACHINE-
READABLE, TAMPER-RESISTANT ENTRY AND EXIT
DOCUMENTS.

Section 303 of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry
Reform Act of 2002 (8 U.S.C. 1732) is amended, in each of
subjections (b)(2)(A), (c)(1), and (c)(2), by striking
``2004,'' and inserting ``2005,''.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr.
Kildee) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr.
Sensenbrenner).

General Leave

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend
their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4417.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Wisconsin?
There was no objection.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4417. The Visa Waiver Program
allows travelers from certain designated countries to come to the
United States as temporary visitors without having to obtain a non-
immigrant visa. There are currently more than 10 million foreign
visitors entering the United States every year under this program.
Since its creation in 1986, the program has greatly facilitated
travel to the United States from participating foreign countries.
Through reciprocal arrangements, American international travelers also
benefit with greater ease of travel.
The Visa Waiver Program was established on the premise that nationals
from participating countries pose little security risk or threat of
overstaying their period of admittance, which under the current program
is a maximum of 90 days. After the tragic events of September 11, we
recognize that a traveler from a visa waiver country can pose a serious
threat, especially when the country of origin differs from the country
that issues the passport used to enter our country.
It was, in part, to address threats like this that I offered the
Enhanced Visa Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002. The act
requires the Visa

[[Page H3909]]

Waiver Program countries to certify that they have established systems
to issue their nationals machine-readable passports that are tamper-
resistant and incorporate biometric identifiers that comply with the
biometric identifier standards established by the International Civil
Aviation Organization.
The act sets a firm deadline of October 26, 2004, after which anyone
applying for admission to the United States under the program, with
passports issued after that date, must present a passport that meets
these standards or otherwise obtain a visa from a United States embassy
or consulate overseas.
This requirement will close several security loopholes. First, it
will allow the Department of Homeland Security inspectors at ports-of-
entry to determine whether a passport properly identifies its bearer.
This will combat terrorist imposters and prevent them from defeating
lookout lists on which they are posted.
Second, it will make passports much harder to alter or counterfeit.
Third, in conjunction with the installation of scanners at ports-of-
entry to read these passports and the completion of exit controls, the
DHS can track the arrival and departure of travelers and identify those
who overstay their visas.
My goal as author of this act in selecting the October 2004 deadline
was to compel countries to act promptly to modernize their passports. I
have written to the foreign governments participating in the Visa
Waiver Program to ascertain how soon they will be ready to issue
biometric passports. I regret that most visa waiver countries will not
meet the October 2004 deadline.
However, many are making significant progress and have indicated that
the October 2005 deadline is reachable. An example is Belgium, which
had one of the weakest passport regimes in Europe, and now has so
completely revised its approach that it is the first visa waiver
country to meet the new biometric requirements. Belgium has also
recently won the Interpol award for the best passport security.
Likewise, Austria, Denmark and Slovenia have working prototypes of
biometric passports and will begin issuing them as soon as the European
Union sets its internal standards for member countries.
Nonetheless, the Secretaries of Homeland Security and State have
testified before the House Committee on the Judiciary that most visa
waiver countries are still resolving privacy issues, chip durability
concerns and production and procurement delays. Accordingly, they asked
for legislation to extend the biometric passport deadline.
To minimize the risk of extending the deadline, the administration
has initiated security procedures that begin in September of this year.
Specifically, the Department of Homeland Security will begin
fingerprinting each traveler from the Visa Waiver Program countries so
as to strengthen current abbreviated inspection process for visa waiver
travelers.
H.R. 4417 simply extends the October 26, 2004, deadline by one year.
While this extension provides more time to meet the requirement, this
additional breathing space should not lead visa waiver countries nor
our own government to become complacent.
The committee will conduct bipartisan oversight to ensure that the
Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security are working
as hard as they can to get their own systems ready to validate
biometric passports when they are presented at ports-of-entry. While
the visa waiver countries are committing their resources and
intellectual talent to comply with our new requirements for identity,
our own government should do no less.
I also expect that the State Department will step up pressure on visa
waiver countries to meet the new October 2005 deadline instead of
providing erroneous assurances that Congress will again provide an
extension should they fail to meet the new date.

{time} 1645

On the other hand, it is also crucial that we enact this legislation
expeditiously in order to provide our own travel and tourism industry
the certainty they need to plan events for the coming months that
involve large numbers of travelers from the visa waiver countries.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the gentleman from Wisconsin (Chairman
Sensenbrenner) and I can join forces to make a necessary adjustment in
our immigration and homeland security laws that would ensure that the
millions of Americans who work in the travel industry do not suffer
while we continue to improve new immigration security technologies.
Today we are considering legislation to extend by 1 year the
requirement that travelers from visa waiver countries present biometric
machine-readable passports at United States ports of entry. A 1-year
extension will allow business visitors and tourists from the 27 nations
in the visa waiver program to continue to make plans for the near
future with currently valid passports and travel to the United States
while technology is improved.
Using biometric passports will make us safer, but only if the
technology is effective, durable, and part of a globally interoperable
system that is compatible between nations. A 1-year extension will give
Congress and the State Department more time to assess the very
important questions of protecting privacy and ensuring efficient
processing, while continuing to make serious steps toward a system that
will secure our ports and national security.
As we balance serious threats to national security with our needs to
protect our liberty, we must adhere to our fundamental values as an
open society. Most visitors come with goodwill, contribute to our
economy, share their knowledge, learn about our culture, and spread the
promise of democracy and freedom around the world.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Chairman Sensenbrenner) and me in supporting this
legislation to ensure that the benefit of travel and exchange are not
lost in the war on terror.
Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support and as a cosponsor of
H.R. 4417, which will extend for one year the deadline for countries to
continue eligibility in our Visa Waiver Program by issuing passports
which are both machine-readable and also include biometric identifiers.
I do so with a clear focus on tourism, the primary industry in my
state. According to the State of Hawaii Department of Business,
Economic Development and Tourism, in 2002, tourists spent more than $11
billion during their vacations in the state. A significant part of
these expenditures come from international tourists. And while
facilitated international travel is essential not only to recreational
tourism, it is also key to international commerce, especially from
Asia, and to the education in Hawaii of foreign nationals, a major and
growing component of our economy.
Each day, thousands of visitors arrive to Hawaii from foreign
destinations, including those countries in the Visa Waiver Program
(VWP). The tourism industry not only in my state, but every state in
the Nation, faces grave consequences if this extension is not granted.
According to the State Department, if the deadline is not extended, it
expects to process an additional 5 million visas in 2005 alone. This
will cripple our embassies and consulates worldwide, compound the
existing program of visa issuance, and spell great hardship not only
for the travel industry but also business and commerce in general
throughout the United States.
The Patriot Act justifiably legislated the machine-readable passport
requirement for VWP travelers, and additionally gave the Secretary of
State authority to postpone the effective date. However, the Secretary
of State lacks further authority to extend the deadline on his own. The
Secretary of State, working with the Secretary of Homeland Security,
has granted a postponement only until October 26, 2004 of the date by
which VWP travelers from 21 countries must present a machine-readable
passport at a U.S. port of entry to be admitted to the United States
without a visa. Another year is needed; only Congress can extend the
deadline, and we must do so passing this legislation today.
While most of the VWP countries are located in Western Europe, there
are several countries in the Asia-Pacific Rim which will benefit from
an extension of the October 26, 2004 deadline, including Australia, New
Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, and Japan. These are the countries of most
concern to my home.
Mr. Speaker, I share some additional thoughts from key officials
within my State's tourism industry. The Director of the State of Hawaii
Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism, Mr. Theodore
E. Liu,

[[Page H3910]]

recently wrote that his department is ``in total support of extending
[the deadline of] the Visa Waiver Program countries to have machine
readable passports.'' The President and Chief Executive Officer of the
Hawaii Tourism Agency, Mr. Rex D. Johnson, wrote that the
implementation of ``the program before countries are ready to comply
would undoubtedly create mass confusion in international travel.''
To be clear, I support the overall requirement of machine-readable
passports as well as the use of biometrics on travel documents, both
American and international. And I call upon the executive branch to
place biometrics upon a machine-readable American passport as quickly
as possible, because biometrics can assist not only our country, but
every country, to ensure that the person listed on the passport is the
same person who presents the passport upon entering the country. As a
biometric identifier is an electronic scan of a physical feature or
features, including an eye, hand, fingerprint, or face, use of a
biometric identifier allows an immigration inspector to know for
certain that the person appearing before him or her is the same person
to whom a passenger or visa was issued.
But, Mr. Speaker, given the current situation, we must extend the
deadline at least this one year. I therefore agree with the proposal of
chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, the chairman
and ranking member of the International Relational Committee, and
others, and implore my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the visa waiver program (VWP)
allows nationals from 27 countries to enter the United States as
nonimmigrant visitors for business or pleasure without first obtaining
a visa from a U.S. consulate office. This facilitates international
travel and commerce and eases consular office workloads. Last year,
approximately 13.5 million visitors entered the United States under
this program.
The Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002
mandated that by October 26, 2004, the government of each VWP country
must certify that it has established a program to issue machine-
readable passports that are tamper-resistant and incorporate a
biometric identifier. This only would apply to new passports that are
issued after the October 26, 2004, deadline.
While all 27 VWP countries have a program in place to develop a
machine readable, biometric passport, few of the countries will be in a
position to start issuing them by the deadline. The required technical
and interoperability standards have not yet been completed by the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Preliminary ICAO
standards were released in May 2003, but they failed to address some
key issues, including interoperable chip security standards and
interoperable reader standards. Also, ICAO's decision to make facial
recognition technology the standard passport biometric was not made
until May 2003, leaving VWP countries only 17 months to move a
biometric passport from design to production, a process that normally
takes years. It is apparent that very few VWP countries will be able to
meet the deadline for incorporating the biometric identifiers. H.R.
4417 would extend the deadline for one year. If more time is needed, we
can revisit the issue when that deadline approaches.

If the deadline is not extended, the participating countries that
fail to meet it will lose the privilege of participating in the
program, and the nationals of those countries will need visas to enter
the United States. The State Department has estimated that this would
result in the need to process an additional 5 million visas.
I am concerned about the effect that even a temporary disruption of
the visa waiver program could have on the international tourist
industry. In the year 2000, the State of Texas alone received revenue
from the international tourist industry that totaled $3,751.3 million.
This included $410.6 million on public transportation, $111.1 million
on automobile transportation, $1,029.2 million on lodging, $731.4
million on food services, $320.2 million on entertainment and
recreation, and $1,148.9 million in general trade. The numbers for the
entire country would be much larger. A major reduction in such revenue
would have an adverse impact on the economy of our country.
Consequently, I urge you to vote for H.R. 4417 to extend the
deadline.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation.
I want to thank the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee for his
leadership in this area. The visa waiver program is a critically
important program, under which countries that send citizens that do not
engage in visa fraud or overstay their visas do not have to obtain
visas to visit our country for business or tourism. It has proven to be
a very effective program for dealing with the increased global travel
of the past few decades.
However, I firmly agree with my good friend from Wisconsin that
citizens from countries who do not have to go through the visa process
should have secure, tamper-proof passports to ensure that the visa
waiver program is not abused by individuals who try to enter our
country with counterfeit passports. Indeed, the statutory deadline of
October 26, 2004 in the Enhanced Border Security Act of May 2002
encouraged International Civil Aviation Organization to accelerate its
ongoing efforts in the development of uniform standards for secure
passports, including the use of biometric data in such passports. Given
the progress so far, I have no objection to an extension of this
current statutory deadline to allow countries to implement these
standards.
However, I believe that the Congress should seriously consider a two-
year extension rather than the one-year extension in the current bill.
I understand that ICAO did not complete preliminary biometric standards
using facial recognition technology until May 2003 and is on only now
finalizing these standards. In order for the new passports and the
technology needed to read these passports to become mature and to be
fully tested, as well as producing the new passports and acquiring and
deploying the devices necessary to read the new passports, more than
the one year extension being approved today may well be necessary.
In this context, I think it may well be prudent to consider moving
towards a two-year extension as this legislation moves through the
legislative process, and I would support that approach. if we do not, I
predict we will be back here at the same time next year, approving a
further one year extension.
I want to once again thank my good friend from Wisconsin for his
leadership on this issue and urge my colleagues to support this
legislation at this time.
Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I also have no further requests for
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Petri). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) that the
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4417.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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