Statement on Signing the Visa Waiver Permanent Program Act

Statement on Signing the Visa Waiver Permanent Program Act

October 30, 2000

Today I have signed into law H.R. 3767, the Visa Waiver Permanent
Program Act. This Act will, among other things, make permanent a highly
successful pilot program that for the past twelve years has permitted
nationals of many countries to enter the United States for business and
tourism without the necessity of first obtaining a U.S. visa, so long as
U.S. citizens are granted similar privileges in their countries. By
facilitating travel to the United States in this manner, the Visa Waiver
Program is helping to generate billions of dollars in tourist and
business revenues for U.S. companies. At the same time, it is fostering
good will for the United States and an understanding of who we are as a
people by giving to millions of citizens from participating countries an
increased opportunity to visit our many natural wonders as well as the
places that are vital to our national heritage.
The Visa Waiver Program is good for government, too. Because
visitors from participating countries do not have to obtain visas, the
Department of State is able to reallocate scarce resources from issuing
routine visas in low-risk waiver countries to doing more for American
citizens and combating fraud in high-risk countries. Further, the
legislation contains a provision that removes a potential roadblock to
continued participation in the program of many countries by recognizing,
for purposes of reciprocity, common border areas composed of several
states.
H.R. 3767 establishes new requirements that will strengthen the
existing Visa Waiver Program. For example, it contains provisions to
enhance our security by requiring that within specified time frames all
foreign nationals entering the United States under the program have
machine-readable passports. Those passports are less susceptible to
fraud and can more readily assist the Immigration and Naturalization
Service to track the entry and timely departure of foreign nationals.
Further, H.R. 3767 requires the Attorney General, in consultation with
the Secretary of State, prior to admitting a new country into the Visa
Waiver Program, to consider the effect of the country's admission on the
law enforcement and security interests of the United States. It also
will require continual monitoring of those considerations with respect
to all countries in the program. Finally, H.R. 3767 provides an
emergency procedure for termination of a country's participation. This
occurs when the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of
State, determines that because of events in that country, such as a
severe breakdown of law and order or economic collapse, the continued
participation of that country would pose a threat to our law enforcement
or security interests.
In addition to these provisions of the Visa Waiver Program, this Act
also includes immigration-related provisions that will further the
Administration's objective of promoting the rapid and pro-competitive
privatization of the International Telecommunications Satellite
Organization (INTELSAT), a goal widely shared by INTELSAT member
countries. By ensuring that the immigrant status of the current
employees of this intergovernmental entity will not be adversely
affected, the United States is affirming its commitment to a smooth
privatization and expressing its desire to welcome a pro-competitively
privatized INTELSAT as a valued U.S. corporate citizen.
In its pilot state, the Visa Waiver Program has been a great
success. Now, as a result of this legislation, it not only will be a
better program, but it will become a permanent part of our Nation's
immigration system.
William J. Clinton
The White House,
October 30, 2000.