Bordallo gives GVB update on visa waiver program

by Nick Delgado

Guam – Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo spoke during the Guam Visitor's Bureau general membership meeting today, and provided an update on the status of the Guam-CNMI visa waiver program.

Here's the Delegate's speech:

REMARKS BY CONGRESSWOMAN MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO

GUAM VISITORS BUREAU

General Membership Meeting – September 30, 2011

I would like to begin with a warm "Hafa Adai" in the spirit of the Hafa Adai! pledge my office took earlier this year. I am pleased to know that many of our island's local businesses, organizations, and government agencies have also taken this pledge.

This has been a very successful initiative by GVB in promoting our island's culture and hospitality. I congratulate all of you on these efforts.

It's always great to be home and I thank Mrs. Joann Camacho, GVB General Manager, for inviting to me to address this annual general membership meeting.

I would also like to recognize the presence of the officers and members of the GVB Board of Directors and Mr. Bergmann from United Airlines.

This afternoon, I've been asked to provide an update on the implementation of Public Law 110-29, the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008.

As you all are likely aware, the law federalized the immigration system in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and expanded the Guam-only visa program into a regional Guam-CNMI visa waiver program.

The law intended to include countries in the new Guam-CNMI visa waiver program that were included under the Guam-only program as well as countries which provided "significant economic benefits" to the CNMI, primarily China and Russia.

Despite the intent of Congress to extend permanent visa waiver status for Chinese and Russian visitors under this bill, the Bush Administration did not follow the intent of Congress. Instead they exempted Chinese and Russian tourists from the program in their interim rule and made it difficult to include China and Russia in the final rule by adding criteria that was not a part of the statute.

Subsequently, the Obama Administration, under the leadership of Secretary Janet Napolitano utilized parole authority, to permit Chinese and Russian tourists to continue visiting the CNMI. These actions were taken in an effort to prevent the collapse of the CNMI economy if Chinese and Russian visitors were not allowed to visit. At that time, I pushed to have Guam included in the parole authority but leaders at DHS wanted some time to see if any serious issues developed while utilizing parole authority in the CNMI.

Well the time has come for the Department of Homeland Security to extend, at a minimum, parole authority to Guam as they have done in the CNMI. Parole authority has worked in the CNMI with no major issues. It is important that we have a balanced economy. We need both a vibrant tourism economy and a military build-up that provides other economic opportunities.

I have met with Secretary Napolitano and other senior officials in the Department of Homeland Security a number of times to express our concern that now is the time to extend parole authority to Guam. We have expressed that we want to include Chinese and Russian tourists permanently in the visa waiver program but we recognize that this may be a bridge too far right now. This is not an easy task. As we have seen even in our own community, there is a robust debate on this matter. On the one hand, many see the economic benefits but there are some who have raised concerns about national security.

On July 14 of this year, the Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs Subcommittee held a hearing on the implementation of Public Law 110-29. At that hearing, Governor Calvo testified before the Committee on the critical importance of this visa waiver program in expanding our island's tourism industry to new and growing markets. The hearing was an important opportunity for Guam's leaders to get answers out of DHS on why they hadn't extended parole authority to Guam. It was a chance for Washington to see the "One Guam" approach to this important issue.

From this hearing and subsequent meetings it was clear that there is an ongoing internal debate within this Administration, as it was in previous Administrations, about the risk and benefits of extending visa waiver to Chinese and Russian tourists. I wrote to the Department of Defense to request that they provide DHS with one consolidated position regarding extending parole authority and permanently including Chinese and Russian tourists. I believe that the views of Commanders here on Guam, including Admiral Bushong, are the most valuable and important factors for the Department of Defense to consider when presenting a final opinion. If people raise the issue of security than it is essential for DoD to have their opinion heard during the interagency process.

I will continue to press the Administration to extend parole authority to Guam, so that we will be in a position, in the future, to permanently extend the visa waiver program to Chinese and Russian tourists. In fact, I had the opportunity to meet with President Obama in the White House last Friday. I raised a number of issues with the President, and I requested his attention to the issue of extending parole authority for Guam. The President and his senior staff recognize the economic benefits of this policy and are working with my office, DHS and DoD to get this done for Guam. Vice President Biden, on his recent trip to China, acknowledged that the United States must do more to improve its visa system to encourage greater Chinese visitors to come to the U.S. Our policy fits perfectly into that broader goal.

As with the build-up it is important for us to maintain a "One Guam" approach for advocating in favor of parole authority or permanent extension of visa waiver to Chinese and Russian tourists. I believe that our hearing in July and subsequent meetings have DHS more focused on this issue than ever before. We will continue to work through these issues – the Governor, myself and our Legislature will continue to advocate for a positive outcome for Guam.

There are many other issues that we will continue to work on to improve our tourism product including greater utilization of ESTA and more staffing at Guam International Airport to

reduce waits through customs. I look forward to continuing to work with GVB and local stakeholders to address these issues.

Again, I thank Governor Calvo, General Manager Camacho, GVB Chairman, Monte Mesa, and all members of the Guam Visitors Bureau for their hard work and continuing efforts to increase and improve our visitor industry despite the harsh economic challenges we face.

Thank you for allowing me to speak today and I look forward to our continued work together in promoting our beautiful island as a world-class destination for all our visitors.

Un Dangkulo na si Yu'us Ma'ase and May God Bless Guam!