TheWeekInCongress.com
Week Ending June 18, 2004
HR 4417 To modify certain deadlines pertaining to machine-readable, tamper-resistant entry and exit documents.
BRIEF
The bill amends the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 by extending by one year the deadline for installing equipment and software capable of processing machine-readable, tamper-resistant entry and exit documents and passports that contain biometric identifiers at all U.S. ports of entry. The biometric is reportedly face recognition.
The bill would also extend the requirement by one year that Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries certify that they are issuing machine-readable, tamper-resistant passports that contain biometric and document authentication identifiers comporting with specified standards. VWP participants who are issued passports on or after the new deadline would have to present passports that comply with such requirements.
27 foreign countries are affected by the bill most are located in Western Europe, several countries in the Asia-Pacific Rim which will benefit including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, and Japan.
The system is a requirement of the Patriot Act.
Sponsor: Representative James F. Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-WI)
Vote: Passed House by voice vote.
Cost to the taxpayers: No additional appropriations were called for. Funds to develop the US end of the system were appropriated in 2002.
MORE INFORMATION
The bill’s sponsor explained, “There are currently more than 10 million foreign visitors entering the United States every year under this program. (The Visa Waiver Program) Since its creation in 1986, the program has greatly facilitated travel to the United States from participating foreign countries. Through reciprocal arrangements, American international travelers also benefit with greater ease of travel.”
“The Visa Waiver Program was established on the premise that nationals from participating countries pose little security risk or threat of overstaying their period of admittance, which under the current program is a maximum of 90 days,” Rep. Sensenbrenner said. “After the tragic events of September 11, we recognize that a traveler from a visa waiver country can pose a serious threat, especially when the country of origin differs from the country that issues the passport used to enter our country. It was, in part, to address threats like this that I offered the Enhanced Visa Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002. The act requires the Visa Waiver Program countries to certify that they have established systems to issue their nationals machine-readable passports that are tamper-resistant and incorporate biometric identifiers that comply with the biometric identifier standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization.”
The act sets a deadline of October 26, 2004, after which anyone applying for admission to the United States under the program, with passports issued after that date, must present a passport that meets these standards or otherwise obtain a visa from a United States embassy or consulate overseas, he said.
Most countries will not be ready by then, though. Rep. Sensenbrenner said that many countries have indicated that they might meet an October 2005 deadline as a result of trying to settle privacy issues, matter of micro-chip durability and production and procurement delays. “To minimize the risk of extending the deadline…, “ Rep. Sensenbrenner said. “…the administration has initiated security procedures that begin in September of this year. Specifically, the Department of Homeland Security will begin fingerprinting each traveler from the Visa Waiver Program countries so as to strengthen current abbreviated inspection process for visa waiver travelers.”## All Rights Reserved. No reproduction without written permission from TheWeekInCongress.com