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THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            S.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  URGING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO EXPAND AND MAKE PERMANENT
    THE TEMPORARY VISA WAIVER PROGRAM ESTABLISHED UNDER THE
    IMMIGRATION CONTROL AND REFORM ACT OF 1986. 


 1        WHEREAS, the United States Congress passed the Immigration
 2   Control and Reform Act of 1986 that established a temporary
 3   visa waiver program to pave the way toward better international
 4   relations and increased visitor travel between the United
 5   States and certain participating foreign countries; and
 6   
 7        WHEREAS, the temporary visa waiver program expired in
 8   September, 1996, and has since been extended on a year-to-year
 9   basis, with the current extension expiring in September, 1999;
10   and
11   
12        WHEREAS, the visa waiver program allows persons with
13   waivers to enter the United States for a period of up to ninety
14   days without a visa; and
15   
16        WHEREAS, twenty-one countries were participating in the
17   visa waiver program with the United States as of 1996, with
18   more being added since then; and
19   
20        WHEREAS, the visa waiver program is critical to boosting
21   the number of international arrivals in Hawaii, with an
22   estimated eighty percent of all international visitors arriving
23   in Honolulu International Airport being under the visa waiver
24   program; and
25   
26        WHEREAS, the addition of Taiwan and South Korea to the
27   visa waiver program by the United States would further boost
28   Hawaii's economy because of the huge numbers of travelers to
29   Hawaii from these countries; and
30   
31        WHEREAS, despite the success of the visa waiver program,
32   Congress has not made the program permanent, instead preferring
33   to extend it on a year-to-year basis; now, therefore,
34   
35        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            S.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 1999, the House of
 2   Representatives concurring, that the United States Congress is
 3   urged to:
 4   
 5        (1)  Make the visa waiver program permanent; and
 6   
 7        (2)  Add Taiwan and South Korea to the visa waiver
 8             program;
 9   
10   and
11   
12        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that members of Hawaii's
13   Congressional Delegation are urged to exert efforts to make the
14   visa waiver program permanent and to add Taiwan and South Korea
15   to the program; and
16   
17        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
18   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Majority Leader of
19   the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States
20   House of Representatives, and the members of Hawaii's
21   Congressional Delegation.