Subcommittee on Europe of the Committee on Foreign Affairs United States House of Representatives

Testimony of Stephen A. “Tony” Edson

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Visa Services

May 14, 2008

Thank you, Chairman Wexler, Ranking Member Gallegly and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee. I am delighted to be here this afternoon and appreciate this opportunity to discuss the role Department of State plays in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) under the new legislative requirements in Section 711 of “Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007” (the 9/11 Act) as well as the implications that potential expansion of the VWP may have for our international relations.

European and Korean leaders told President Bush repeatedly of the desire of their citizens to travel visa-free to the United States. In November of 2006, in Tallinn, Estonia, President Bush announced his initiative to revamp and strengthen the VWP.  With the passage of the 9/11 Act last summer, we welcomed the Congressional initiative in modernizing the VWP, particularly the additional security measures. The new law not only strengthens the security framework of the program but it also creates a path for expansion of the program to include some of our closest allies. These enhancements help secure U.S. borders and will promote a safer international travel environment. Countries hoping to join the program have worked hard to quickly implement these new security requirements.   

As I have testified previously before this Committee together with our colleagues at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), we strive constantly both to protect America’s borders and to preserve America’s welcome to legitimate international visitors. Section 711 of the 9/11 Act, “Modernization of the Visa Waiver Program,” supports these efforts by making clear that the security provisions of the VWP must be enhanced before VWP participation can be extended to any additional countries.

With the advancement of both new security technologies and new security risks, we can and must ensure that for VWP participant and aspirant countries, we are able to assess the risks posed by individuals on a traveler-by-traveler basis, rather than a country-by-country basis alone. The changes to the VWP in the 9/11 act give us the tools to do this.

The 9/11 Act spells out several areas of enhanced security cooperation to which both participant and aspirant countries must agree, including participating in an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), more thorough and timely reporting of both blank and issued passports that are lost or stolen, exchanging passenger information, and repatriating nationals ordered removed from the United States. The law also provides, where necessary, for increasing airport security and travel document standards, and expanding the use of air marshals. The Department of State believes these enhanced security measures promote more secure international travel.

By statute, DHS has the lead for the VWP and works in close coordination with the Department of State on all aspects of the program. The Department of State has responsibility for formally nominating a country for consideration for VWP participation. We are the primary conduit for guidance on VWP issues to our posts abroad. State Department officers at these posts, in turn, are the primary interlocutors with host governments, the travel industry, the media, and public on issues related to VWP. We provide input to DHS’s evaluations of a VWP aspirant country’s law enforcement capabilities and cooperation, immigration requirements, and security standards, as well as during DHS’s statutorily mandated country reviews for both initial and continuing participation in the VWP. We are also working closely with our DHS colleagues and our posts abroad on the development and implementation of the ESTA program.

The U.S. has committed to collaboratively work with the new EU states and Korea on measures that further international security and cooperation to fight transnational threats like terrorism, crime, and document fraud. We have called this process the “roadmap” process. The roadmaps themselves are commitments to work together to identify areas where additional actions, cooperation, dialogue and assistance can bring countries closer to meeting VWP legislative criteria. We have participated in the negotiations throughout the year with the “roadmap” countries on the VWP accession process, and have given them guidance on meeting the new statutory requirements.

Provisions requiring a non-immigrant visa refusal rate of less than three percent remain in the law, but the 9/11 Act gives the Secretary of Homeland Security a new waiver authority for countries with a refusal rate greater than three percent but less than ten percent in the previous fiscal year. This waiver authority is conditioned on a number of factors, including DHS implementation of the ESTA and certification that an air exit system is in place that can verify the departure of at least 97 percent of foreign nationals who exit through U.S. airports, and the aspirant country’s adoption of the enhanced security measures of the new law. The Department of State monitors and reports on these visa refusal rates annually on our website at www.Travel.State.Gov.

I wanted to briefly clarify what a nonimmigrant refusal rate means in the context of the VWP. For purposes of the VWP, the nonimmigrant visa refusal rate is based only on the number of visitor ("B") visa applications submitted worldwide, by nationals of that country. (B visas are issued for short-term business or pleasure travel to the United States.) The Department adjusts the refusal rate to exclude the number of visa refusal cases that are overcome and subsequently issued. Adjusted visa refusal rates for nationals of current Visa Waiver Program countries reflect only visa applications submitted at U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. They do not take into account persons who, under the Visa Waiver Program, travel to the U.S. without visas. Published refusal rates for VWP countries therefore tend to be higher than they would be if the Visa Waiver Program travelers were included in the calculation, since such travelers would in all likelihood have been issued visas had they applied.

For those aspirant countries whose refusal rate is above the three percent requirement but below ten percent, once DHS is able to exercise its waiver authority, State will formally nominate those countries which meet the criteria for VWP membership. Based on a comprehensive interagency assessment of the effect of a VWP aspirant country’s participation on U.S. security, law enforcement, and immigration interests that DHS would coordinate, DHS could then admit the country to the program. The Administration expects to be able to admit new, qualified countries to the Visa Waiver Program by the end of the year.

A number of other countries have refusal rates below ten percent and/or meet other VWP criteria. We know, for instance, that Israel and Taiwan’s governments have expressed interest in being considered for VWP membership. In addition, last month the President stated that the Administration should work with Croatia on its future VWP candidacy. We will continue to work with interested countries on implementing security measures and enhancing cooperation to help them move closer to meeting VWP requirements. However, DHS and State’s first priority must be to work with nations who have engaged the U.S. Government (USG) for the past several years in discussing these issues.

The revised VWP legislation also gives the Department the means to increase security information sharing with our all of our VWP partners. The USG now has signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with eight VWP roadmap countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia, and South Korea). We are negotiating similar arrangements with current VWP countries as well.

We are working closely with DHS on the second part of the MOU process, the bilateral negotiation of specific plans for enhanced information sharing with VWP members and aspirants. Moreover, the European Union Commission received a mandate from the Member States to negotiate with the USG certain travel security and information sharing topics that fall within EU competencies. The USG and representatives of the Commission have held constructive preliminary discussions on these topics. Both sides agree that the outcome of U.S.-EU talks will not affect the aspirant countries’ ability to join the VWP.

Sharing information on known and suspected terrorists remains a high priority. As part of State’s responsibility for Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6 (HSPD-6) agreements on the integration and use of terrorist screening information, we anticipate signing HSPD-6 terrorist watchlist sharing arrangements with all the VWP roadmap countries by September. The successful conclusion of operational arrangements for an increased level of cooperation in this area has been stimulated by the dialogue on VWP.

The foreign policy, diplomatic, and economic implications are important as well. Here, the benefits of VWP are substantial. The two largest participants in the VWP by traveler volume are the United Kingdom and Japan, two of our closest allies. When looking at the current program as a whole, over 80 percent of the current VWP participants, and nearly all of the aspirant countries, are in Europe, and many have been among our closest partners in counterterrorism cooperation and other national security matters.  We have very close foreign policy, commercial and cultural ties to VWP members, and the VWP provides a foundation on which these ties can flourish.  As well, we have a strong overlap of values, interests, and responsibilities with many of the VWP countries.  

In commerce, the U.S.-European trade and investment relationship is the largest in the world.  Transatlantic trade totals over $500 billion annually, and the United States and the European Union are the largest investors in each other’s markets.  Of the $5 trillion in foreign assets owned by U.S. companies, nearly 60 percent are in Europe.  Similarly, nearly three-quarters of all foreign direct investment in the United States comes from EU investors.  U.S.-owned affiliates in Europe employ six million workers; over four million Americans work for European companies. Similarly, Japan, a current VWP member, and the Republic of South Korea, which seeks membership in the VWP under the new legislation, are among our largest partners in trade and investment and among our closest strategic partners in Asia.

In closing, the Department firmly supports the provisions in the 9/11 Act. We see the new requirements as a positive means to strengthen the security of visa-free travel, permit some of our close friends and allies to join the Visa Waiver Program, and thereby enhance our cooperation and ties with those countries over the long term. The Department looks forward to working with our partner agencies and with this Committee toward that goal.  I would be happy to answer your questions.