Blitz - Visa Waiver Expansion from NumbersUSA
House is last chance to strip the expansion of the Visa Waiver Program out of the 9/11 bill!
This is a Phone Call Request
You can find this Phone Call Request by proceeding to
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Late last night (July 26), by a 85-8 vote, the Senate adopted the conference report (H. Rept. 110-259) for the bill implementing unfulfilled recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. That conference report includes a provision authorizing DHS to expand the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), which enabled convicted 9/11 co-conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui to enter the U.S.The House is expected to take up the conference report soon – perhaps as early as today (July 27). Call your U.S. Representative and ask them to recommit the 9/11 bill conference report to conferees for removal of VWP expansion provisions. The number for the Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121. using just his French passport and would have allowed shoe bomber Richard Reid to enter using just his British passport.
Tell them how important it is to you that they strip the VWP expansion from the bill!
You can call anyone in Congress using the Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121.
Lawmakers, Federal officials and security experts all have warned that the VWP makes our coutnry extremely vulnerable to foreign criminals and terrorists who carry passports from these 27 countries and makes it relatively easy for them to gain entry to the U.S. A recent GAO report found significant weaknesses in the existing program.
BACKGROUND
Each year, the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) allows millions of foreign nationals from 27 different "friendly" countries -- mostly in Europe -- to enter the United States for up to 90 days without first being required to go through the screening process of obtaining a visa.
If enacted, the VWP expansion language as written would authorize DHS to waive the VWP's requirements for a nation's inclusion in the VWP as long as the country has: (1) cooperated with the United States on security and counterterrorism matters; and (2) met minimal standards for visa refusal and/or enforcement relative to visa overstays, security of passports, and "prompt" repatriation of nationals ordered removed from the U.S. DHS would only be required to give Congress 30 days' notice before granting such a waiver.
This comes at a time when DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff has indicated publicly that he is considering doing away with the Visa Waiver Program entirely:
"When we identify areas where we are vulnerable, it becomes obvious that Europeans traveling without visas belong to these areas."
Why are they doing this?
Congress is under a lot of pressure from the tourist industry to do away with the visa system, which they see as an impediment to their business. Of course, nothing quells tourism like a terrorist attack.
VWP expansion = illegal immigration expansion
This is about more than security, however. The visa process helps screen out visitors who have a profile that suggests a high likelihood of overstaying a visa and becoming an illegal alien. Since around 40 percent of all illegal aliens first came as legal visitors, expanding the number of countries that don't have to issue visas certainly will expand the number of people becoming illegal aliens.
Some Talking Points:
Whatever you do, make it clear that they must strip the VWP expansion language from the final 9/11 bill!
We have provided additional talking points below.
Talking point: The Visa Waiver Program puts my family at risk. Why, then, is it expanded as part of a bill that is supposed to make us safer? It's beyond me. Please act to have the VWP language removed.
Talking point: Six years after 9/11, there should be no program that allows 10 million citizens from 27 different countries to enter our nation for up to 90 days without being required to go through the screening process of first obtaining a visa. Only Congress would think to actually expand the Visa Waiver Program during a time of heightened risk. This "security" bill makes us less secure. Please send it back to conference and take the Visa Waiver Program expansion out!
Talking point: The Visa Waiver Program enabled convicted 9/11 co-conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui to enter the U.S. using just his French passport in February 2001. Richard Reid, a British citizen convicted of trying to detonate a bomb hidden in his shoe while he was flying from Paris to Florida in December 2001, also was able to board a plane bound for the U.S. with just his passport. Congress should be closing this loophole - not expanding it!
Talking point: Congress must be determined to force illegal immigration down the nation's throat. Just weeks after the Senate's embarrassing amnesty bill was rejected by the American people, Congress added language to a 9/11 bill of all things that would expand the Visa Waiver Program, which is a giant loophole for terrorists in particular, and potential illegal aliens in general. This is the most important issue on Capitol Hill right now and Congress is trying to sneak it through without debate!
