I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3286
To provide for a temporary moratorium on visas for certain aliens, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 13, 2001
Mr. WELDON of Florida (for himself, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. DOO-
LITTLE, Mr. SCHAFFER, Mr. GOODE, and Mr. DEAL of Georgia) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infra-
structure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned
A BILL
To provide for a temporary moratorium on visas for certain
aliens, 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 ‘‘Securing America
From Terrorist Entries Act’’ or the ‘‘SAFTE Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) United States border security agencies are
presently overwhelmed with more than 400 million
visits across our borders each year and safeguards
need to be put in place to make our borders more
secure.
(2) Current border entry and exit systems are
woefully inadequate and the provisions included in
the USA PATRIOT Act will greatly enhance the
Nation’s border security so that Americans know
with greater certainty who is entering and exiting
the United States.
(3) Most of the nineteen terrorists who hijacked
planes and attacked the United States on September
11, 2001, are believed to have entered the United
States with approved visas and had not been identi-
fied by the Immigration and Naturalization Service
as being in violation of the terms of their visa.
(4) Afghanistan harbors terrorist organizations
and is host to Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda
terrorist network.
(5) Terrorist organizations are operating in Al-
geria, Lebanon, Somalia, and the United Arab
Emirates, and their members pose a threat to the
people of the United States.
(6) Terrorist organizations continue to secretly
operate in Egypt and six of the individuals on the
Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most wanted ter-
rorists list are Egyptians wanted in connection with
attacks on the United States.
(7) An Egyptian, Mohamed Atta, believed to be
the organizer of the September 11, 2001, attacks,
was able to enter and exit the United States several
times prior to the attacks despite being on our Na-
tion’s terrorist watch list.
(8) Nearly half of the nineteen terrorists who
hijacked planes on September 11, 2001, were citi-
zens of Saudi Arabia and entered the United States
on approved visas.
(9) Most of the suspects in the June 25, 1996,
bombing on United States Air Force Khobar Towers
barracks at Dhahran Air Base in Saudi Arabia are
citizens of Saudi Arabia.
(10) The United States Department of State
has designated Yemen a haven for terrorists and
operatives of Osama bin Laden operating in Yemen
were responsible for the 1999 attack on the USS
Cole which killed 17 and injured 39 United States
sailors.
SEC. 3. TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON THE ISSUANCE OF
CERTAIN 
ALIEN 
IMMIGRANT 
AND 
NON-
IMMIGRANT VISAS.
(a) TERMS OF MORATORIUM.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of
this section and notwithstanding any other provision
of law, during the moratorium period no immigrant
or nonimmigrant visa for admission to the United
States may be issued to an alien—
(A) who is a citizen or national of any
country listed under paragraph (2); or
(B) was a citizen or national of any coun-
try listed under paragraph (2) within 15 years
of the date of application for a visa.
(2) COUNTRIES.—
(A) The provisions of this section shall
apply with respect to the following countries:
(i) Afghanistan.
(ii) Algeria.
(iii) Egypt.
(iv) Lebanon.
(v) Saudi Arabia.
(vi) Somalia.
(vii) United Arab Emirates.
(viii) Yemen.
(ix) Any country designated as a state
sponsor of terrorism.
(B) For purposes of this section, the term
‘‘state sponsor of terrorism’’ means a country
the government of which the Secretary of State
has determined, under section 620A(a) of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, section 6(j)(1)
of the Export Administration Act of 1979, or
section 40(d) of the Arms Export Control Act,
to have repeatedly provided support for acts of
international terrorism.
(3) LIMITATION.—Paragraph (1) shall not
apply to any diplomatic visa.
(4) MULTIPLE CITIZENSHIP.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) shall
apply to any alien who is described in such
paragraph notwithstanding that the alien is, or
was during the relevant period, simultaneously
a citizen or national of a country that is not
listed under paragraph (2).
(B) VISA
WAIVER
PROGRAM
SHALL
NOT
APPLY.—Any alien who is described in para-
graph (1) shall be ineligible for a waiver under
section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1187), regardless of whether the
alien is a national of, or presents a passport
issued by, a country described in subsection
(a)(2) of such section.
(b) PERIOD OF MORATORIUM.—The moratorium pe-
riod referred to in subsection (a) shall begin 5 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act and shall terminate
30 days after the certification under subsection (c).
(c) CERTIFICATION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The
certification referred to in subsection (b) is a certification
by the Attorney General to the Congress that—
(1) subsections (b) and (c) of section 403 of
Public Law 107–56 have been fully implemented;
and
(2) a system is in place that requires that all
visas issues to aliens who are subject to the morato-
rium contain biometric data, are tamper-proof, and
are machine-readable.
(d) EXCEPTIONS GRANTED
BY ATTORNEY GEN-
ERAL.—The Attorney General may waive the limitations
of subsection (a) in the case of any alien if the Attorney
General determines that the admission to the United
States of such alien is in the national interest of the
United States or in the interest of family unity and if the
refusal of admission of such alien would result in excep-
tional and extremely unusual hardship to the alien’s
spouse, parent, or child, who is a citizen of the United
States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent resi-
dence.
SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF TERRORIST ACTIVITIES FOR PUR-
POSES OF DEPORTATION.
(a) AMENDMENT TO INA.—Section 237(a)(4)(B) of
the 
Immigration 
and 
Nationality 
Act 
(8 
U.S.C.
1227(a)(4)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘as defined in sec-
tion 212(a)(3)(B)(iii))’’ and inserting ‘‘as described under
section 212(a)(3)(B))’’.
(b) RETROACTIVE APPLICATION OF AMENDMENT.—
The amendments made by this section shall take effect
on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply
to—
(1) all actions taken by an alien before, on, or
after such date; and
(2) all aliens, without regard to the date of
entry or attempted entry into the United States in
removal proceedings on or after such date (except
for proceedings in which there has been a final ad-
ministrative decision before such date).
SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT FOR PASSENGER MANIFESTS FOR
FLIGHTS IN FOREIGN AIR TRANSPORTATION
TO THE UNITED STATES.
Section 44909 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(c) FLIGHTS IN FOREIGN AIR TRANSPORTATION TO
THE UNITED STATES.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days
after the date of enactment of this subsection, the
Under Secretary of Transportation for Security shall
require each air carrier and foreign air carrier oper-
ating a passenger flight in foreign air transportation
to the United States to provide to the Under Sec-
retary by electronic transmission a passenger and
crew manifest containing the information specified
in subsection (2).
‘‘(2) INFORMATION.—A passenger and crew
manifest for a flight required under paragraph (1)
shall contain the following information:
‘‘(A) The full legal name of each passenger
and crew member, and any additional name re-
corded for such passenger.
‘‘(B) The date of birth and citizenship of
each passenger and crew member.
‘‘(C) The sex of each passenger and crew
member.
‘‘(D) The passport number and country of
issuance of each passenger and crew member if
required for travel.
‘‘(E) The United States visa number or
resident alien card number of each passenger
and crew member, as applicable.
‘‘(F) Such other information as the Under
Secretary, by regulation, determines is reason-
ably necessary to ensure aviation safety.
‘‘(3) TRANSMISSION OF MANIFEST.—Subject to
paragraph (4), a passenger and crew manifest re-
quired for a flight under paragraph (1) shall be
transmitted to the Under Secretary in advance of
the aircraft landing in the United States in such
manner, time, and form as the Under Secretary pre-
scribes.
‘‘(4) TRANSMISSION OF MANIFESTS TO OTHER
FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The Under Secretary may re-
quire by regulation that a passenger and crew mani-
fest required for a flight under paragraph (1) be
transmitted directly to the head of another Federal
agency.’’.
SEC. 6. INQUIRY REGARDING COUNTRY OF ORIGIN AT
POINT OF ENTRY.
The Attorney General shall require by regulation that
Federal border officials inquire of each individual entering
the United States as to the individual’s country of origin.
SEC. 7. ELIMINATING WAIVER AUTHORITY RELATING TO
IMPLEMENTATION OF MACHINE READABLE
PASSPORTS.
Section 217(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(a)(3)), as amended by Public Law
107–56) is amended by striking subparagraph (B).
SEC. 8. GAO STUDY.
Not later than 6 months after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act and every 6 months thereafter, the Gen-
eral Accounting Office shall submit to the Congress a re-
port, in classified and unclassified format, which evaluates
the status of the following:
(1) The reforms taken within the Immigration
and Naturalization Service to safeguard the borders
of the United States.
(2) The ability of the Federal Government to
prevent terrorists from entering the United States.
(3) The ability of the Federal Government to
locate and monitor the travel of aliens in the United
States.
(4) The degree of cooperation among the Fed-
eral Bureau of Investigation, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service, the intelligence agencies, and
other Federal, State, and local law enforcement offi-
cials.
(5) The background check process for aliens
seeking visas for admission to the United States.
(6) The implementation of other measures to
safeguard the borders of the United States and im-
prove visa background checks.
(7) The effectiveness of the border security in
the United States.
Æ