Ed Royce: “I am recently back from London, where I had an opportunity to speak to British authorities about the challenge that…”

“I am recently back from London, where I had an opportunity to speak to British authorities about the challenge that Europeans find themselves in at this point in time. There are literally 5,000 Europeans who have gone to fight in Syria and in Iraq and have come back. Part of the problem here is a manpower problem of managing to be able to have a handle on that. Now, we cannot have people automatically coming to the United States without being vetted. They should not be allowed to just get on a plane and fly here. This bill is going to bolster our defenses because what it is going to do is to ensure that those who have traveled to a terror hotspot, like Syria, and then come back into Europe or another Visa Waiver country will get that thorough investigation before they are being cleared to travel. That will allow our authorities to prevent that travel. It is going to give our law enforcement a new tool as well in terms of detecting fraud and stolen passports. You also saw the story in Honduras of five Syrians with stolen passports trying to get into the United States. So the Visa Waiver Program is good for America's economy and good for our leadership overseas. We can strengthen it. Let's urge our colleagues in the Senate to get this soon to the President's desk.”