April 22, 2004

Congress Requested to Delay on High-Tech Passports

The Bush administration has asked the Congress to give 27 nations more time to develop high-technology passports for security screening, rather than forcing their citizens to apply for United States visas until the new passports are available.

Under current law, citizens of 22 European nations, as well as Australia, Brunei, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore, can enter the United States without a visa for up to 90 days under the Visa Waiver Program, which was begun in 1986 for countries deemed to pose little security risk. Citizens from other countries must apply for visas fromUnited States embassies and consulates abroad.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge informed the House Judiciary Committee that these countries needed two more years to develop the passports with computer chips that enable facial recognition, fingerprints and biographical information. Further, extending the deadline from Oct. 26 this year to Nov. 20, 2006 would enable the United States to install the scanning equipment at points of entry and give the country more time to develop its own high-tech passports.

After the 2001 terrorist attacks and weaknesses in the program exposed by such people as Zacarias Moussaoui, a confessed member of Al Qaeda who entered the country on a valid French passport, Congress began passing measures to enhance screening for people with links to terrorism or with criminal backgrounds. One was passed in 2002, calling for the new passports.

Another program, known as U.S.-Visit currently tracks the entry and exit of foreign visitors at 115 airports and 14 seaports by using electronically scanned fingerprints and photographs.

Such screenings under the U.S.-Visit program, said Mr. Ridge, over three million since it first began in January added "a layer of security" during the two-year extension and would remain in place as a safeguard. Additionl reasons for seeking the extension include the impact the current deadline would have on the American tourism industry and on consular staff offices suddenly facing a surge in visa requests. Failure to move the deadline would lead to five million additional applications, a 70 percent increase in demand for nonimmigrant visas and certain delays in processing that would discourage people from visiting the United States.

Travel groups were quick to express support for the deadline extension, citing that the current deadline could cost thousands of jobs in the travel industry.

But some committee members were troubled by aspects of the waiver program. Representative Melvin Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, suggested that the government applied the waiver unevenly, asking if any South American or African nations were exempt from visa requirements. They are not, Mr. Powell said.

Representative Maxine Waters, Democrat of California, said the United States should have "zero tolerance" for any foreign visitors. "We don't know who they are," she said.

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