Political Quotes

“Today I, along with Senators Stevens, Inouye, Akaka and Thomas, am introducing the Korea Visa Waiver Pilot Project Bill of 1997. This bill addresses the problem of the slow issuance of United States tourist visas to Korean citizens. Koreans typically wait up to 3 weeks to obtain tourist visas from the United States Embassy in Seoul. As a result, most of these spontaneous travelers decide to vacation in one of the other 48 nations that allow them to travel to their country without a visa, including both Canada and New Zealand. This legislation provides a carefully controlled pilot program of visa-free travel by small groups of Koreans to the United States. The program seeks to capture the Korean tourism market lost due to the cumbersome visa system. For example, New Zealand experienced a 2,400-percent increase in tourism from Korea after easing its visa requirements in 1993. The pilot program is designed to allow visitors in a tour group from South Korea to travel to the United States without a visa for up to 15 days. However, it does not compromise the security standards of the United States. The program would allow selected travel agencies in Korea to issue temporary travel permits based on applicants meeting the same preset standards used by the United States Embassy in Seoul. The travel permits could only be used by supervised tour groups.”