{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://stewart.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-stewart-votes-to-improve-visa-waiver-program-and-strengthen-our", "Rep. Stewart votes to Improve Visa Waiver Program  and Strengthen our National Security", "2015-12-08", "2015", "2015-12", "Republican", "House", "UT", "Chris Stewart", "S001192", "stewart.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. Today, Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) voted in favor of the Visa Waiver Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015, which addresses national security vulnerabilities that exist under our current Visa Waiver program.\nThe primary responsibility of the federal government is to protect Americans, Stewart said. This bill fixes holes in our visa waiver program to help prevent terrorists from traveling to the United States.\nThe Visa Waiver Program, which was created in 1986, allows citizens from 38 participating countries to more easily travel to the U.S. for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa. Participating countries are supposed to provide the U.S. intelligence community with critical information needed to ensure those traveling under the Visa Waiver Program are not a threat. Unfortunately, many of these countries are failing to provide the necessary information.\nIt is estimated that approximately 5,000 Europeans have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS, many of whom are from countries that participate in the Visa Waiver Program and could travel to the U.S. fairly easily.\nTo address national security vulnerabilities, the Visa Waiver Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015 does the following:\n Gives the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to suspend a countrys participation in the visa waiver program if they fail to share counterterrorism information with the U.S.\n\tDenies Visa Waiver Program status to those citizens from participating countries that have traveled to certain terrorist hotspots since 2011\n\tRequires all Visa Waiver Program countries use fraud resistant e-passports\n\tAllows for the suspension of high-risk countries\n Closing this visa loophole is only part of the solutionthe President needs to change course and give Americans a coherent strategy for defeating ISIS now, Stewart said.\nLast month, Rep. Stewart also voted to strengthen the vetting process for Syrian refugees looking to enter the United States.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://stewart.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-stewart-votes-to-improve-visa-waiver-program-and-strengthen-our"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9341959375888109, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}