President Bush Signs 9/11 Bill into Law

On August 3, 2007, the President signed into law H.R. 1, the "Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007." The legislation, which passed in the Senate by a vote of 85-8 on July 26, 2007, and in the House by a vote of 371-40 on July 27, 2007, puts into place many of the recommendations put forward by the 9/11 Commission. The legislation includes provisions that will improve the visa and entry process for foreign nationals to the United States, encourage exchanges with predominantly Muslim countries, and strengthen basic education in those countries in part through international cooperative programs.

NAFSA, as a member of the Discover America Partnership (DAP), successfully advocated for the inclusion of provisions in the bill that would help ease the process for all international visitors traveling to the United States, including tourists, business professionals, and international students and scholars. As part of a larger strategy to secure positive change for the field of international education, NAFSA is constantly working to expand its partnerships with broader coalitions on shared interests, and our work with DAP is an example of these efforts.

Promoting Travel to the United States

The provisions in the law designed to enhance the travel process include:

• creating a model ports-of-entry program for the 20 busiest U.S. international airports to help improve security and provide a more efficient and welcoming international arrival process.
• developing and implementing an electronic travel authorization system (or exit system) to collect biographical information on travelers and to verify the departure of foreign nationals from U.S. air terminals.
• expanding the Visa Waiver Program to include a greater number of countries that meet strict security criteria upon the implementation of a reliable exit system at U.S. airports. (This was one of the recommendations put forth by NAFSA in our January 2007 report Realizing the Rice-Chertoff Vision.)
• hiring 200 new U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers to alleviate staff shortages at the highest-volume ports-of-entry.

Analyzing the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative

The law requires the Department of Homeland Security to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) prior to the full implementation of the land and sea travel phase, and to work with at least one U.S. state to pilot the use of machine-readable and tamperproof driver’s licenses that would be valid for a U.S. citizen’s admission to the United States at land and sea ports of entry from Canada or Mexico.

 

Promoting Education and Exchanges

Provisions are also included in the legislation that expand exchanges and other educational programs in predominantly Muslim countries. Citing the importance of education in teaching tolerance and respect for different cultures and beliefs and for fighting extremism, the legislation:

• asks the Secretary of State to submit a report detailing how it has implemented or will implement the recommendations of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (9/11 Commission) to expand U.S. scholarship, exchange, and library programs in predominantly Muslim countries.
• establishes an International Muslim Youth Opportunity Fund to help strengthen the public education in predominantly Muslim countries and “to support specific activities, including assistance to enhance modern educational programs; assistance for training and exchange programs for teachers, administrators, and students; assistance targeting primary and secondary students; assistance for development of youth professionals; and other types of assistance such as the translation of foreign books, newspapers, reference guides, and other reading materials into local languages and the construction and equipping of modern community and university libraries.”
• extends a pilot program to provide grants to American sponsored schools in predominantly Muslim countries into fiscal years 2007 and 2008.

View the text of H.R. 1