[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 7020-7021]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. CHAMBLISS (for himself, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Lugar, 
        Mr. Inouye, Mr. Gregg, Mr. Graham of Florida, Mr. Craig, Mr. 
        Akaka, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Sununu, Mr. Talent, Mr. Allen, and Mr. 
        Brownback):
  S. 2324. A bill to extend the deadline on the use of technology 
standards for the passports of visa waiver participants; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce, along with 
Senator Kennedy, a bill to extend the biometric deadline that is 
currently set for October 26, 2004 in accordance with the Enhanced 
Border Security Act. Our bill will extend the deadline to November 30, 
2006 in an overall effort to improve our homeland security.
  The biometric passport requirement applies to the 27 visa-waiver 
countries. Millions of these foreign citizens travel to the United 
States each year for tourism or business and currently these citizens 
are not required to obtain a visa to enter the United States. All other 
countries must obtain a visa which includes an interview and background 
check at the overseas consulate.
  There are a number of significant reasons for extending the deadline. 
I have heard from many businesses very concerned about the adverse 
impact of the current deadline on travel and tourism to the United 
States and negative effect on our economy as a result. I have heard 
from the State Department and Department of Homeland Security about the 
lack of manpower to conduct interviews and issue visas to over 5 
million new entrants per year. But the strongest reason to move the 
deadline is that it is in our best interests for homeland security.
  This bill will allow visa-waiver countries to implement the most 
effective biometric technology to deter terrorists from entering the 
United States. Although the United States is not requires by law to 
meet the same standards, today we are still a ways off from 
implementing biometric features in our passports. Passage of this bill 
will encourage our allies in the war on terror to continue in their 
cooperation with us and our security efforts both at home and abroad. 
In conjunction with extending the deadline, the US VISIT entry-exit 
system will apply to all visa-waiver country entrants. Under US VISIT, 
these foreign visitors will undergo the same security measures, 
including fingerprinting, which other visitors must meet.
  A couple of weeks ago I held a hearing in my Immigration and Border 
Security Subcommittee on the topic of border security. Several Senators 
asked questions concerning the biometric deadline, and Department of 
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Stewart Verdery made the case. 
Secretary Verdery said: ``We have gone to Congress and asked for this 
extension, and we believe that within 2 years those countries will be 
able to meet the deadline, The technology will be more mature. It will 
make sense to have it in place at that time. . . . If we force people 
to rapidly try to meet the deadline, we are going to get inferior 
technology that is going to be much more difficult for us to make 
useful at the ports of entry.''
  Since September 11, the administration has taken significant and 
effective steps to strengthen our homeland security. The entry-exit 
system, US VISIT, is up-and-running and now collecting information on 
aliens traveling to the U.S. through air and sea ports. The Department 
of Homeland Security has the SEVIS foreign student tracking system in 
place and doing its job.
  The President has created the Terrorist Screening Center to improve 
information-sharing and coordinate our efforts. The extension of the 
biometric deadline is another step in the right direction as we fight 
the war on terror.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it is a privilege to join Senator 
Chambliss and the other cosponsors on this important bipartisan bill to 
prevent serious problems for both border security and our travel and 
tourism industries.
  These provisions, called the Visa Waiver Program Compliance 
Amendments of 2004, will extend for 2 additional years the October 26 
deadline in current law for countries participating in the Visa Waiver 
Program to begin issuing biometric passports.
  It has become increasingly clear in recent months that this extension 
is essential. Strengthening the security of the Nation's borders is a 
critical part of the ongoing effort to prevent future terrorist 
attacks. A key part of meeting our security needs is the use of 
technology to screen out potential terrorists. We enacted specific 
legislation 2 years ago to authorize the development and implementation 
of biometric identification methods for visas and other immigration 
documents, in order to produce better screening of foreign nationals 
traveling to the United States, and provide front-line agencies with 
better intelligence for their decisions on applications for admission.
  Good technology is essential in fulfilling this mission. So are 
hiring additional personnel, retaining experienced workers, providing 
adequate training, and developing effective ways to facilitate 
coordination and information-sharing among Federal agencies. These 
measures all enhance our security and create protections against 
potential terrorist attacks.
  If we do not extend the biometric passport requirement for countries 
in the Visa Waiver Program, we will lose the real value of that 
particular protection. The current deadline has

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turned out to be impractical, because it forces countries to meet it, 
even if they are not ready to do so. The biometric passport process has 
been plagued with legitimate problems of global interoperability, 
privacy, chip durability, and production and procurement delays. The 
deadline was not realistic even from the start, and it is now clear 
that countries are unable to meet it.
  As an official from the Department of Homeland Security testified at 
a recent Judiciary Committee hearing, ``If we force people to rapidly 
try to meet the deadline, we are going to get inferior technology that 
is going to be much more difficult for us to make useful at the ports 
of entry.''
  If we do that, our borders won't be safe. Inferior technology was not 
what was intended when Congress passed the Border Security Act.
  In addition to the danger to border security, the current deadline 
will have a harsh economic impact. If countries miss the deadline, all 
their tourists and business travelers will have to obtain visas. The 
State Department estimates that over 5 million visas will need to be 
issued in the first year. Department officials believe that even with 
additional staffing for granting visas, they could process only about 
10 percent of the additional workload.
  The resulting delays in granting visas would obviously prevent large 
numbers of legitimate travelers from coming to the United States and 
produce chaos in the Visa Waiver Program. The Department of Commerce 
estimates that ``the elimination of the program would cost the United 
States economy $28 billion in tourism-related exports over the next 
five years, result in a loss of 475,000 jobs, and completely erode the 
travel-trade surplus.''
  We all agree that we need to screen out terrorists, but we need to do 
so in ways that will not increase our border security problems instead 
of solving them. I urge my colleagues to support this needed 
legislation. It is not a setback for the war on terrorism to wage it 
more realistically.

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