Johnson’s bill will enhance Visa Waiver Program — US Travel

Others have said that the country can not shut its doors to travelers a large amount of money is from foreign travelers coming to the U.S.to visit, vacation or business travel that would become less if too many restrictions were put into place.

The U.S. House of Representatives in session.

Among other things, the measure would require visitors from the visa waiver countries, which include much of western Europe, to obtain a visa to travel to the United States if they had been to Syria, Iraq, Iran or Sudan during the past five years. Currently, visas are not required for short-term travelers from European countries – including the focal points of the recent Paris attacks, Belgium and France – as well as Japan and South Korea.

“We can not nor should we simply shut our doors to the world if we want to continue to lead the world”, number two House Democrat Steny Hoyer said in support of the bill. This comes after the House passed its own version of the bill.

Lawmakers are also looking into potential changes to the fiancee visa program, which San Bernadino shooter Tashfeen Malik took advantage of to gain access into the country.

Aside from this, the Visa Waiver Program Improvement Act of 2015 also states that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should now take terrorism risk into consideration for the electronic system for travel authorization (ESTA) to determine if an alien is eligible for travel to the United States.

“Shoe bomber” Richard Reid, boarded a flight from Paris to Miami in December 2001 and attempted to set off a bomb while Zaharias Moussaoui, the “20th hijacker” from the September 11 attacks, flew from London to Chicago with a French passport in February 2001, Homeland Security revealed. The House is voting to make changes to the visa waiver program.

The bill also forces countries participating in the VWP to get a traveler’s fingerprints and photo before travel, to issue smart e-passports to travelers, and to screen travelers’ names against criminal databases.

With Congress rushing to finish its work for the year, leaders are considering adding Miller’s bill to a must-pass year-end spending bill now being completed.

Representative Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, has said the measure, H.R. 158, was crafted by House and Senate negotiators with input from members of President Barack Obama’s administration.

Tweeting after the bill passed, McCarthy noted the “unanimous support”, for the bill. Exceptions are made for official government visits and military service.

The House voted through legislation Tuesday that would overhaul the federal visa waiver program.