Tom Tancredo: “my amendment simply suspends the Visa Waiver Program for fiscal year 2008. The Visa Waiver Program was established in…”

“my amendment simply suspends the Visa Waiver Program for fiscal year 2008. The Visa Waiver Program was established in 1986 as a temporary, and I underline temporary, program to allow tourists or short-term business visitors to enter the United States for 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. The program was later made permanent by Congress and currently allows nationals of 27 countries into the United States with a simple stamp. The Visa Waiver Program ill advisedly trusts the security of our Nation to the background check capabilities and passport procedures of foreign governments. There are numerous instances of terrorists and would-be terrorists who have exploited this program, or easily could have. September 11 conspirator Zacharias Moussaoui is a great example of this. He exploited the Visa Waiver Program to travel to the United States. The 9/11 Commission stated that 'a maximum U.S. effort to investigate Moussaoui conceivably could have unearthed his connections. Those connections might have brought investigators to the core of the 9/11 plot.' It's an interesting case because, of course, he was actually under investigation at the time by the French Government, by their secret service. Had we required a visa program that allowed for us to conduct that kind of background check, we may very well have identified those connections and not allowed him the visa.”