John Conyers: “on April 11, 2000, the House passed H.R. 3767, the Visa Waiver Permanent Program Act, which included an amendment I…”

“on April 11, 2000, the House passed H.R. 3767, the Visa Waiver Permanent Program Act, which included an amendment I offered during the Judiciary Committee markup. My amendment prohibits the use of visa refusal rates to disqualify countries from the visa waiver program when visa refusals are based on the discriminatory practices of the adjudicating Consulate. The amendment as passed by both the committee and the House ensures that Consulates and Embassies abroad adjudicate visa applications based on the merits of the applications, and not on the basis of ``race, sex, sexual orientation, or disability.'' Unfortunately, this bill's Senate counterpart has been held up in large part because of opposition to my amendment by the senior Senator from North Carolina and others in the Senate majority. In an effort to reach a compromise, the Senate bill retains my amendment, except for the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In addition, the Senate amendment provides that: No court shall have jurisdiction under [the Conyers' amendment] to review any visa refusal or the Secretary's computation of the visa refusal rate. I would have preferred that these changes not have been made, but, given the lateness in the session and the importance of the visa waiver program being extended, I am willing to support the legislation before us.”