I am a cosponsor and strong supporter of S. 2367, a bipartisan bill that would make the visa waiver program a permanent fixture of our immigration law. We have had a visa waiver pilot project for more than a decade, and it has been a tremendous success in allowing residents of some of our most important allies to travel to the United States for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa. Countries must meet a number of requirements to participate in the program, including having extraordinarily low rates of visa refusals. Of course, the visa waiver does not affect the need for international travelers to carry valid passports.

Since this pilot project expires on April 30, we must act now to preserve this valuable program. There is no reason simply to pass another extension of this program – it has stood the test of time for 14 years, and should be made permanent. In order to address any security concerns about making the program permanent, we tightened the requirements placed upon participating countries. Under S. 2367, countries wishing to participate in the visa waiver program must meet each of the following four criteria:

1) The participating country must allow U.S. citizens to travel without a visa.

2) The country must have a nonimmigrant refusal rate for B-1/B-2 visitor visas at U.S. consulates that is low, averaging less than 2 percent the previous two full fiscal years, with the refusal rate less than 2.5 percent in either year, or less than 3 percent the previous full fiscal year.

3) The country must already possess or be in in the process of developing a machine- readable passport program.

4) The Attorney General must conclude that entry into the Visa Waiver Pilot Program will not compromise U.S. law enforcement interests.

The visa waiver program provides substantial benefits to the American tourism industry and to Americans traveling abroad. This committee – and the Senate as a whole – should make it permanent.