I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4550
To secure the visa waiver program under section 217 of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 14, 2004
Mr. TURNER of Texas (for himself, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, and Mr. 
BERMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To secure the visa waiver program under section 217 of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe, Efficient, Coordi-
nated, Unified, Revitalized, Enhanced Visa Waiver Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF BIOGRAPHICAL IN-
FORMATION BY VISA WAIVER PARTICIPANTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu-
rity shall establish, as part of the integrated entry and 
exit data system required under section 110 of the Illegal
Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 
1996 (8 U.S.C. 1365a), an electronic system through 
which an alien seeking to enter the United States without 
a visa under the visa waiver program described in section 
217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1187) is required to submit biographical information prior 
to embarkation. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The electronic system required to 
be established under subsection (a) shall satisfy the fol-
lowing requirements: 
(1) ELECTRONIC
DETERMINATION
OF
ELIGI-
BILITY.—The system shall include a method for an 
electronic determination to be made, and an elec-
tronic response to be provided, in 30 minutes or less, 
as to whether or not an alien submitting information 
as described in subsection (a) is eligible to be admit-
ted to the United States as a nonimmigrant visitor 
described in section 101(a)(15)(B) of the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(B)). 
(2) CARRIER OBLIGATIONS.—The system shall 
include a method for requiring—
(A) carriers and other corporations de-
scribed in section 217(a)(5) of such Act (8 
U.S.C. 1187(a)(5)) to inquire electronically, 
prior to an alien passenger’s embarkation with-
out a visa, whether the alien has been deter-
mined, using the system described in this sec-
tion, to be eligible for such an admission; and 
(B) the electronic response to such inquiry 
to be provided in 90 seconds or less. 
(3) DEPLOYMENT.—The system shall be de-
ployed as soon as possible after the date of the en-
actment of this Act. 
(4) FEE.—The Secretary of Homeland Security 
shall establish a fee to be charged to aliens described 
in subsection (a) that is set at a level that will en-
sure the recovery of the full costs of establishing and 
operating the system. 
(c) CONSULTATION.—In developing the system, the 
Secretary of Homeland Security shall consult with, and 
allow for the system’s review by, a private sector group 
consisting of individuals with expertise in travel, tourism, 
privacy, national security, or computer security issues. 
SEC. 3. CHANGE TO REQUIREMENT FOR READERS AND 
SCANNERS AT PORTS OF ENTRY. 
Section 303(b)(2)(A) of the Enhanced Border Secu-
rity and Visa Entry Reform Act (8 U.S.C. 1732(b)(2)(A)) 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than Octo-
ber 26, 2004, the Secretary of Homeland Secu-
rity, in consultation with the Secretary of State, 
shall install at all ports of entry into the United 
States equipment and software to allow biomet-
ric comparison and authentication of all United 
States visas and other travel and entry docu-
ments issued to aliens. Not later than October 
26, 2005, the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
in consultation with the Secretary of State, 
shall install at all ports of entry into the United 
States equipment and software to allow biomet-
ric comparison and authentication of passports 
issued pursuant to subsection (c)(1).’’. 
SEC. 4. TECHNOLOGY STANDARD IMPLEMENTATION DEAD-
LINE. 
Section 303(c) of the Enhanced Border Security and 
Visa Entry Reform Act (8 U.S.C. 1732(c)) is amended, 
in each of paragraphs (1) and (2), by striking ‘‘2004,’’ 
and inserting ‘‘2005,’’. 
SEC. 5. LIMITED GOOD FAITH WAIVER. 
Section 303(c) of the Enhanced Border Security and 
Visa Entry Reform Act (8 U.S.C. 1732(c)) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) LIMITED GOOD FAITH WAIVER.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of 
Homeland Security, in consultation with the
Secretary of State, may grant not more than 2 
extensions for a country, and its nationals, of 
the deadlines in paragraphs (1) and (2), respec-
tively, upon a determination that the country is 
making substantial progress towards ensuring 
that the passports the country issues to its na-
tionals satisfy the requirements of paragraph 
(1). Each such extension shall be for a period 
not exceeding 6 months. 
‘‘(B) FACTORS.—In determining whether a 
country is making substantial progress under 
subparagraph (A), the Secretary of Homeland 
Security shall take into account the following 
factors, which shall be certified by the Secretary 
of State: 
‘‘(i) Whether the country has made a 
good faith effort to satisfy the require-
ments of paragraph (1) not later than Oc-
tober 26, 2005. 
‘‘(ii) Whether the country has a pro-
gram designed to satisfy the requirements 
of paragraph (1) not later than October 
26, 2006. 
‘‘(iii) Whether the country has com-
menced a pilot program under which some