Visa Waiver Pilot Program (VWPP)
Section 110
Travel and Tourism Satellite Account (TTSA)
Aviation Funding
Restructuring the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
Visa Waiver Pilot Program (VWPP)
In early October, Congress gave overwhelming approval to TIA's top legislative priority for 2000 – permanency for the Visa Waiver Program. Final approval in the U.S. Senate came on October 3, with final House passage coming one week later (10/10). President Clinton signed the legislation on October 30. TIA has taken the industry lead for several years in lobbying for a permanently reauthorized VWPP, and has worked closely with the House and Senate, as well as officials from the Department of State and the Department of Justice's Immigration and Naturalization Service.
The VWPP permits visitors from 29 low-risk countries (see list at the end of this section) to enter the U.S. visa-free for up to 90 days. This program promotes and facilitates international travel to the U.S. and allows the Department of State to shift resources to high-risk countries to screen individuals wanting to travel to the U.S. Because of the reciprocal nature of the program, outbound U.S. travelers also enjoy visa-free travel to these same 29 countries.
TIA worked closely on Visa Waiver reauthorization with Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX). At the full House Judiciary Committee level, Chairman Henry Hyde (R-IL) and Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI) also provided much-needed leadership and support. On the Senate side, Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-MI), Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), the Subcommittee's Ranking Member, provided strong leadership. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-VT) were also very active and supportive.
TIA is grateful for the leadership and support demonstrated by the Members of Congress listed above, as well as other Members, along with their staff members. In addition, TIA appreciates the hard work and dedication of staff from the Departments of State and Justice (Immigration and Naturalization Service) on this important matter.
Most especially, TIA thanks all its members who wrote letters and made phone calls to their Senators and Representatives in support of a permanent Visa Waiver Program. Also, we are grateful for the help provided by allied industry organizations that have consistently supported Visa Waiver permanency.
The following 29 countries are currently enrolled in the VWPP: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Uruguay.
For an official description of the Visa Waiver Program on the State Department's Web site, click on the following: http://travel.state.gov/vwpp.html
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Section 110
President Clinton signed legislation to replace Section 110 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996 (PL. 106-215) on June 15. The House passed the TIA - supported, bipartisan legislation on May 23, and the Senate approved it unanimously on May 25. The law creates new language directing the Immigration and Naturalization Service to improve travel across the U.S. border by focusing on improving the integration and automation of data currently collected at U.S. ports of entry. This computer database would be accessible at all air, sea, land ports of entry and U.S. consular offices. Additionally, the bill requires the Attorney General to create a "Task Force" made up of public and private representatives to evaluate and report on how the U.S. can improve the flow of traffic at air, sea, and land ports of entry. Effectively eliminating the current Section 110, the bill creates no new data collection requirements, no new infrastructure systems and no increased wait-time for visitors. Previously, Section 110 required the Attorney General to implement an "integrated entry and exit data system" of alien arrival and departure information. This system could have exacerbated conditions at already clogged ports of entry with a significant negative impact on travel and tourism. This is a major legislative victory for TIA and the travel industry.
TIA worked with Chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims Lamar Smith (R-TX), the Ranking Democratic Member of the Subcommittee Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX); Representatives Fred Upton (R-MI) and John La Falce (D-NY), who led the Section 110 reform effort; and the Ranking Democratic Member of the Judiciary Committee John Conyers (D-MI). TIA President and CEO William S. Norman noted, "Key to the successful vote was the leadership provided by Chairman Spencer Abraham, who spearheaded the effort in the Senate to formulate the landmark agreement."
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Travel and Tourism Satellite Account (TTSA)
The House Appropriations Committee approved the Fiscal Year 2001 Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary Appropriations bill (CJS) in mid-June. The bill contains funding for the Department of Commerce, which houses the Office of Tourism Industries (TI) and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), agencies that oversee important programs for the travel industry: the travel and tourism satellite accounts (TTSA) development and the in-flight survey program. The Committee did not approve the increased funding for these important programs, which was included as a part of President's FY2001 budget request. TIA has learned because funding levels for TIA remained at last year's level, the in-flight survey sample size may be at risk.. Because funding levels for many essential programs are so low President Clinton has threatened to veto the bill in its current form. TIA will now focus on the Senate to urge members of the Senate Appropriations Committee to make the TTSA permanent and to increase funding for the in-flight survey program.
The TTSA are important because there is currently no government-based model to measure the economic impact of the travel and tourism industry. The travel and tourism satellite accounts would calculate the supply and demand of tourism services, job creation, capital investment, government and business expenditures and link these statistics to the individual segments and communities that produced them. TTSA statistics would allow local, state and national tourism leaders to have official statistics to help plan how to grow and compete in the global tourism marketplace. The in-flight survey, Tourism Industries' largest research program, consists of a monthly survey of international air travelers to and from the U.S. The data from the in-flight survey provides much of the baseline data required for many of TIA's programs, including the TTSA. International visitors generate over 20% of total tourism expenditures in the U.S. Throughout the years, due to budget cuts, the number of visitors surveyed has decreased. This decrease hurt many in the tourism industry, especially those located in small or medium-sized tourism destinations that rely on the survey to collect information on the international travel market.
In other news, the Department of Commerce released a report in April on the importance of funding travel and tourism satellite accounts. Senators Fritz Hollings (D-SC) and Conrad Burns (R-MT), Co-chairs of the Senate Tourism Caucus and Representatives Mark Foley (R-FL), Sam Farr (D-CA) and Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), leaders of the House Tourism Caucus, sent a "Dear Colleague" letter to every member of the Senate and House in support of the report and full funding for the TTSA. The report, released by BEA, which designed the TTSA, asserts the government should measure the purchases by travelers of airfares, lodging, food and beverages, shopping and other travel activities in order to better measure the economy. TIA facilitated meetings between officials at the BEA and tourism industry leaders to provide the BEA with input on the need for this type of comprehensive and consistent data on travel and tourism.
The National Council of State Tourism Directors, the National Governors' Association, and recently the U.S. Conference of Mayors have all come out in support of the TTSA. Underscoring the importance of tourism accounts globally, the United Nations also recently approved the official international standards for measuring tourism.
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Aviation Funding
By March 2000, the Senate and House had both approved a conference report that reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for three years, and guarantees that $33 billion will expended from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund to support aviation programs. (See press release) Another $6.7 billion will also be available, subject to the normal appropriations process. President Clinton signed the measure soon after.
This historic agreement guarantees that all taxes and fees paid by travelers and deposited into the Airport and Airway Trust Fund will, in fact, be used solely to expand and improve airport facilities, as well as continue modernization of the air traffic control system. Also included in the package is an increase in the passenger facility charge (PFC) from $3.00 to $4.50 for each flight segment, capped at $18 per round trip. Many, but not all, cities collect the PFC and use the money to upgrade and expand their airport facilities.
The measure also removes restrictions ("slotting") on access to Chicago's O'Hare airport, as well as Kennedy and LaGuardia airports in New York. Flights in and out of Washington's Reagan National Airport will also be expanded under the agreement.
House Members who led the charge for guaranteed investment for aviation are Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Bud Shuster (R-PA) and the Ranking Member of the Committee, James Oberstar (D-MN). Leading the way in the Senate for guaranteed aviation funding was Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Senator Fritz Hollings (D-SC) along with Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, also a member of the Senate Commerce Committee.
The travel and tourism industry owes a debt of gratitude to Reps. Shuster and Oberstar, and Sens. Hollings and Rockefeller, as well as Senate and House Leaders, who forced action on this important issue.
TIA has strongly and consistently supported moving the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, and all other transportation trust funds, off-budget in order to provide adequate funding for this nation's critical transportation infrastructure needs.
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Restructuring the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
The House Judiciary Committee is set to take up H.R. 3918 legislation to reorganize the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) that was reintroduced by Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX), Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY) and Silvestre Reyes (D-TX). The bill approved by subcommittee would replace the INS by creating one bureau for immigration services and another bureau for enforcement within the Justice Department. House Democrats and the Administration have voiced strong concerns about the bill. Of concern to the travel industry is the bill's provision that would place the responsibility for border inspections entirely within the new enforcement bureau. TIA attended a meeting with INS Commissioner Doris Meissner to advocate on behalf of the considerate treatment of travelers and tourists entering the United States. TIA believes a reorganized INS should increase customer service training for front-line INS inspectors. An INS restructuring bill sponsored by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), H.R. 2680, and a Senate bill, S. 1563, sponsored by Senators Spencer Abraham (R-MI) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA), both address concerns on the issue of inspections.
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