TERRORISM AND THE VISA WAIVER PROGRAM JOINT HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY AND THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH CARE, BENEFITS, AND ADMINISTRATIVE RULES OF THE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION DECEMBER 10, 2015 Serial No. 114–145 Printed for the use of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov http://www.house.gov/reform U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 25–881 PDF WASHINGTON : 2017 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:50 Jul 13, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 H:\25881.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah, Chairman JOHN L. MICA, Florida ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland, Ranking MICHAEL R. TURNER, Ohio Minority Member JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York JIM JORDAN, Ohio ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of TIM WALBERG, Michigan Columbia JUSTIN AMASH, Michigan WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri PAUL A. GOSAR, Arizona STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts SCOTT DESJARLAIS, Tennessee JIM COOPER, Tennessee TREY GOWDY, South Carolina GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas MATT CARTWRIGHT, Pennsylvania CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, Wyoming TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina BRENDA L. LAWRENCE, Michigan RON DESANTIS, Florida TED LIEU, California MICK MULVANEY, South Carolina BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN, New Jersey KEN BUCK, Colorado STACEY E. PLASKETT, Virgin Islands MARK WALKER, North Carolina MARK DESAULNIER, California ROD BLUM, Iowa BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania JODY B. HICE, Georgia PETER WELCH, Vermont STEVE RUSSELL, Oklahoma MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM, New Mexico EARL L. ‘‘BUDDY’’ CARTER, Georgia GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin WILL HURD, Texas GARY J. PALMER, Alabama SEAN MCLAUGHLIN, Majority Staff Director DIMPLE SHAH, Deputy Counsel, National Security Subcommittee WILLIAM MARX, Clerk DAVID RAPALLO, Minority Staff Director (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:50 Jul 13, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\25881.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY RON DESANTIS, Florida, Chairman JOHN L. MICA, Florida STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts, JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee Ranking Member JODY B. HICE, Georgia ROBIN KELLY, Illinois STEVE RUSSELL, Oklahoma, Vice Chair BRENDA L. LAWRENCE, Michigan WILL HURD, Texas TED LIEU, California SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH CARE, BENEFITS AND ADMINISTRATIVE RULES JIM JORDAN, Ohio, Chairman TIM WALBERG, Michigan MATT CARTWRIGHT, Pennsylvania, SCOTT DESJARLAIS, Tennessee Ranking Member TREY GOWDY, South Carolina ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, Wyoming Columbia MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN, New Jersey RON DESANTIS, Florida MARK DESAULNIER, California MICK MULVANEY, South Carolina, Vice BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania Chair JIM COOPER, Tennessee MARK WALKER, North Carolina MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM, New Mexico JODY B, HICE, Georgia Vacancy EARL L. ‘‘BUDDY’’ CARTER, Georgia (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:50 Jul 13, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\25881.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:50 Jul 13, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\25881.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on December 10, 2015 ...................................................................... 1 WITNESSES Ms. Kelli Ann Burriesci, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Screening Coordination, Office of Policy, Department of Homeland Security Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 7 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 10 Ms. Janice Kephart, Director, Homeland Security Solutions, Morphotrak LLC Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 17 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 19 Mr. Brian Michael Jenkins, Senior Advisor and President, Rand Corporation Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 40 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 42 Mr. Ken Gude, Senior Fellow, National Security Team, Center for American Progress Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 59 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 61 APPENDIX March 6, 2015, GAO letter regarding Update on Firearm and Explosives Background Checks Involving Terrorist Watchlist Records, submitted by Ms. Lawrence ....................................................................................................... 116 (V) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:50 Jul 13, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\25881.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:50 Jul 13, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\25881.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER TERRORISM AND THE VISA WAIVER PROGRAM Thursday, December 10, 2015 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY, JOINT WITH THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH CARE, BENEFITS AND ADMINISTRATIVE RULES, COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM, Washington, D.C. The subcommittees met, pursuant to call, at 10:09 a.m., in Room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ron DeSantis [chair- man of the Subcommittee on National Security] presiding. Present: Representatives DeSantis, Jordan, Russell, Mulvaney, Mica, Walberg, Hice, Gowdy, Meadows, Walker, Carter, Chaffetz, Lynch, Cartwright, Norton, Lawrence, Lieu, Watson Coleman, DeSaulnier, Cooper, Lujan Grisham, and Cummings. Mr. DESANTIS. This Subcommittee on National Security and the Subcommittee on Health Care, Benefits, and Administrative Rules will come to order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time. The United States, our Western allies, and, indeed, the civilized world are facing a global jihad that is dedicated to the destruction of our way of life. While certain terrorist groups, such as ISIS, re- ceive understandable attention, the global jihadist movement is not limited to members of ISIS. Indeed, the terrorists who massacred 13 Americans in California were dedicated to jihad before ISIS even rose to prominence. To protect the American people, terrorists cannot be allowed to gain access to the United States. To gain entry into the United States, citizens of most countries must obtain visas issued at over- seas embassies and consulates by the State Department following an in-person interview with the Department of State consular offi- cer. An exception to this rule is the Visa Waiver Program. Estab- lished in 1986, the program allows foreign nationals of 38 countries to enter the United States as temporary, non-immigrant visitors for up to 90 days without having to obtain a visa or undergo an in- person interview at a U.S. consulate. The terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13 demonstrated that the Visa Waiver Program represents a potential vulnerability for our country. Those terrorists killed nearly 130 people and caused over 350 injuries. At least five of the attackers were French nation- als, two of whom were living in Belgium, and one was a Belgium (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:50 Jul 13, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 H:\25881.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER 2 national. Nationals of both France and Belgium are able to enter the United States under the Visa Waiver Program. Accordingly, at least six of the Paris attackers could have at- tempted to enter this country under the program. The Belgium neighborhood of Molenbeek, for example, is notorious for being a hotbed of Islamic jihadists. Known as jihad central, Molenbeek is a hellhole that is filled with Belgian national Islamic radicals who qualify to travel to the U.S. without a visa under the Visa Waiver Program. And, of course, many Islamic jihadists in places such as Syria are actually Western passport holders who could then come to this country with those Western passports after fighting jihad in Syria and Iraq. This exposes the American people to the possibility that these militants, after receiving training and undergoing further radicalization in the hotbed of the jihad, could exploit the Visa Waiver Program to enter our country. With this in mind, the U.S. must ensure that all appropriate safeguards are in place to ensure that the program cannot be ex- ploited. A properly functioning biometric exit system is one of those safeguards. Biometric exit and overstay reporting was required as part of the Visa Waiver Permanent Program Act in 2007. Despite this, the U.S. does not have an exit system at our air, sea, and land ports of entry to track overstays as required as part of the Visa Waiver Program. In 2011, the former Commissioners of the 9/11 Commission con- cluded, quote, ‘‘The Department of Homeland Security properly supported by the Congress should complete as quickly as