House approves visa waiver security bill
WASHINGTON — Responding to recent terrorist attacks at home and abroad, the House easily approved a bill Tuesday to close security gaps in the nation’s visa waiver program that was created in the 1980s to promote travel and tourism.
House Resolution 158, approved by a vote of 407 to 19, now heads to the Senate, where measures addressing the visa waiver program have been introduced.
All four members of the Nevada House delegation — Republicans Cresent Hardy, Joe Heck and Mark Amodei and Democrat Dina Titus — voted for the bill.
While expressing support for the measure during floor debate, Titus also addressed concerns it triggered by citing the economic benefits the U.S. and cities such as Las Vegas have received from the visa waiver program, which expedites travel by allowing visitors to enter the U.S. with a passport but without a visa.
In 2014, the congresswoman said, more then 20 millions visitors used the program to come to the U.S., generating $190 billion in revenue and supporting 1 million jobs.
“I believe H.R. 158 strikes the right balance between security and accommodation,” Titus said. “I also caution against carrying xenophobia too far.”
In a statement after the vote, Hardy said what was started as a well-intended way to ease travel between participating countries has become a potential weakness that enemies of the U.S. could use to harm Americans.
“The common-sense reforms in this bill allow us to take a step back and adjust an important part of our overall approach to national security,” he said. “The casinos and business managers I have spoken with all agree that providing safety for all of our visitors is worth extra precautions. We potentially cause far more harm in doing nothing than in the steps we are taking today.”
A statement from Heck’s office also described the changes in the bill as common-sense action to ensure a boost to the economy without sacrificing security.
Thirty-eight counties participate in the program.
Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., the bill’s original sponsor, said key provisions of the measure would beef up requirements for intelligence sharing by participating nations by giving the secretary of Homeland Security the authority to suspend or terminate a foreign country’s participation if concerns are triggered about intelligence sharing.
Anyone who has visited Syria, Iraq, Iran or the Sudan automatically will be disqualified from the program and will have to undergo additional screening before entering the U.S., Miller said.|
Opponents expressed concern the measure discriminates by country of origin instead of behavior and could lead to retaliatory measures against American tourists by foreign nations. — Contact Jim Myers at jmyers@ reviewjournal.com or 202-783-1760. Find him on Twitter: @myers_dc.