December 2015 Visa Waiver Program Improvement & Terrorist Travel Prevention Act

December 2015 What is the Visa Waiver Program? Established in 1986 as an economic program; provides positive impact on the U.S. economy through increased trade and tourism Grown to 38 countries; their citizens can travel to U.S. without a visa or in person consular interview, for up to 90 days, but are still given background security checks In return, U.S. citizens get to travel to those countries visa-free In 2007, DHS implemented the Electronic System for Travel Authorization to provide a security screening to reflect the national security needs in a post 9/11 world, but more needs to be done Visa Waiver Program Improvement & Terrorist Travel Prevention Act

December 2015 Visa Waiver Program Problems Some VWP countries are not sharing counterterrorism info regularly or quickly o There is no substitute for information sharing After several of the most recent terror attacks in Europe, EU Law Enforcement officials provided names to the U.S. Intelligence community that were not known to us. ~5,000 Europeans have gone to fight in Syria/Iraq— most are from VWP countries which allows them easier entry to the U.S. Not every VWP country issues all of its citizens secure “e-passports” which include a digital copy of the photograph on a passport and authentication information. Many VWP countries do not screen travelers thoroughly against INTERPOL terrorism and criminal databases "For terrorists, travel documents are as important as weapons." — 9/11 Commission ….“we need to move from a need to know to a need to share” — 9/11 Commission Visa Waiver Program Improvement & Terrorist Travel Prevention Act

December 2015 Committee Action First introduced on September 15, 2014 Re-introduced on January 6, 2015 Subject of several oversight hearings  Two before the Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee  Two before the Judiciary Committee  One before the Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee Approved unanimously by the Homeland Security Committee on June 25, 2015 Incorporates recommendations from the Committee on Homeland Security’s bipartisan Foreign Fighter Task Force Visa Waiver Program Improvement & Terrorist Travel Prevention Act

December 2015 The Solution Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act Terminates VWP countries if they fail to share counterterrorism information Terminates VWP countries if they fail to screen travelers against INTERPOL criminal and terrorism databases Denies VWP status to individuals who have traveled to certain terrorist hotspots including Syria, Iraq, Sudan and Iran since 2011 or have dual-nationality in such countries Requires all VWP countries to issue biometric “e- passports” to all of their citizens Requires annual threat assessments of high-risk VWP countries bases on foreign fighter flow, visa denials, terror database matches. Allows the DHS Secretary to suspend high-risk countries from the program until the threat has passed. Visa Waiver Program Improvement & Terrorist Travel Prevention Act