Rep. Hurd: Tightening Visa Waiver Program Key for US Security

Getting the right information to the right people is key for keeping terrorists out of the United States, and tightening the nation's visa waiver program is key to doing that, Rep. Will Hurd, a former undercover CIA officer, said in Saturday's GOP address.

"I spent nine years as an undercover officer in the CIA," the Texas lawmaker said. "I was the guy in the back alleys at four o’clock in the morning, chasing bad guys like al-Qaeda and the Taliban. So when we talk about the threat we’re facing right now — from ISIS and other terrorist groups — I know from first-hand experience, that they are a clear and present danger to the United States".

But the threat can't be contained, he said; it must be defeated.

"That’s why the House passed a bill that requires the president to come up with a real strategy to defeat ISIS," Hurd said. "Taking down ISIS will not be easy and there are many things we need to do. One of them is to tighten up the visa waiver program."

The program, as it stands, allows citizens from several countries deemed friendly to the United States to come and visit for 90 days without obtaining a visa, but that could be a "weak spot in our defenses" if care is not taken.

Hurd, a member of the House Task Force on Combating Terrorist and Foreign-Fighter Travel, said the group has found that the United States is not getting the information it needs from its European allies, including from terrorist watch lists.

"We learned that some of them only share the names of convicted terrorists, and not the suspects," said Hurd. "Some promise to share the names of people traveling to the United States."

However, he said, the European Union has few internal border checkpoints, so terrorists can exploit the loophole.

"A German citizen could drive to Spain, and then fly to the United States, entirely undetected," said Hurd.

The bill passed this week will allow the Department of Homeland Security to suspend a country from the waiver program if it does not supply information needed to track terrorists, Hurd said, and "go a long way towards keeping us safe."

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