[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 13236]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             UNITED STATES-ISRAEL STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP ACT

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, last year, I cosponsored the United 
States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2013. The sponsor of the 
bill is reintroducing the bill with some modifications. While I am 
again cosponsoring this new bill, I wanted to remind my colleagues of 
my concerns related to the visa waiver section of the bill. The Visa 
Waiver Program is a benefit to other countries, and they are allowed to 
participate after meeting certain conditions, which are laid out in 
statute. A section in the United States-Israel Strategic Partnership 
Act provides authority to the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive 
the requirements and allow Israel to participate in the program. 
Specifically, under the legislation, Israel would not have to abide by 
the low nonimmigrant visa refusal rate standard. As I stated 
previously, I am concerned about this section of the bill because it 
sets a precedent for other countries not to have to abide by all the 
terms of the program. Neither Congress or the executive branch should 
be making exceptions to the rules. I support the bill because it 
reaffirms the United States' partnership with Israel, however, we need 
to be cautious in relaxing the rules regarding the Visa Waiver Program.

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