House Passes New Legislation Tightening Control over the Visa Waiver Program

The House of Representatives overwhelming passed new legislation that would make it harder for travelers who have made stops in Iraq and Syria over the past five years to enter the United States.

"This will help neutralize the threat from foreign terrorists entering our country," House Speaker Paul Ryan said reported by CNN.

The legislation is centered on the visa waiver program, which allows people from 38 nations to enter the U.S. for up to 90 days without a visa. Under the new bill, which was passed 407-19 on Tuesday, there will be new visa requirements that travelers coming from terrorist hotspots must meet before they can enter the country. In situations that are related to official government visits and military service, the visa requirements would not apply.

"You have more than 5,000 individuals that have Western passports in this program that have gone to Iraq or Syria in the last five years," said Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, reported by the New York Times. "Those are gaps that we need to fix."

The bill mandates countries that are a part of this program to share any counterterror data they have acquired with the U.S. If they refuse to share information, they could be taken out of the program. The countries will also have to provide "e-passports," which include biometric data, for their citizens when they want to come to the U.S.

Everyone entering the U.S. via the program will be screened against Interpol databases as well. Travelers are already screen by a program run by the Department of Homeland Security. This system is also getting improved upon.

"We need to strengthen the security of the Visa Waiver Program to keep terrorists from reaching our shores," House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, a Representative from Texas, said reported by The Washington Post.

The visa waiver program lets in about 20 million people per year.

The new bill comes after recent terrorist attacks at home and throughout the world, particularly the Nov. 13 attack on Paris.