releases: https://gowdy.house.gov/media-center/newsletters/house-strengthens-visa-waiver-program
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://gowdy.house.gov/media-center/newsletters/house-strengthens-visa-waiver-program | House Strengthens Visa Waiver Program | 2015-12-14 | 2015 | 2015-12 | Republican | House | SC | Trey Gowdy | G000566 | gowdy.house.gov | legacy | Currently, the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) permits citizens of 38 participating countries to travel to the United States and stay for up to 90 days without an entry visa. These countries include our closest allies like Britain, France and Germany, and the program promotes tourism by providing reciprocal privileges to U.S. citizens and brings the U.S. important economic benefits. But we know ISIS is recruiting from many of these countries. Thousands of Europeans have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS, many of whom are from countries that participate in the program. It is crucial to strengthen the VWP to combat terrorism, and one key is ensuring participating countries are sharing information to identify possible threats. This week, the House passed legislation with landslide support to improve the security provisions in the VWP and add additional protections. H.R. 158, the Visa Waiver Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015: - Gives the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to suspend a country's participation in the program if they fail to share counterterrorism information with the U.S. - Denies VWP status to citizens of participating countries who have traveled to certain terrorist hotspots since 2011 - Requires all VWP countries use fraud resistant "e-passports" by April 1 -Allows for the suspension of high-risk countries from the program This legislation helps us close security gaps and is one more step the House has taken to strengthen our counterterrorism efforts. On Wednesday, the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration held an oversight hearing with the Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency responsible for lawful immigration. We asked Director Leon Rodriguez about the vetting process for the female terrorist in the shootings in San Bernardino, who was radicalized well before her application to come to the United States. How did we miss that twice? WATCH HERE | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |