Assistant Secretary Harty's Remarks at the 56th Annual Conference of NAFSA Plenary

Remarks of Maura Harty
Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs
Before the 56th Annual Conference of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, Plenary Session
May 27, 2004

I believe it is more important than ever that responsible citizens become familiar with what their government is doing to ensure their safety and security in the war on terrorism. We need to work together. I am here today to assure you that although security must always be our first priority, we are committed to minimizing the impact of new procedures on legitimate travelers.

The two primary responsibilities of every Consular Officer are assistance to American citizens abroad and protection of our borders. Both of these very broad mandates have become even more important in the post-9/11 world.

The very visible function of adjudicating visa applications of foreign nationals seeking admission to the United States is our topic of interest today. But I would be remiss if I didn't say a brief word about the other things we do.

Consular officers deal with issues that people really care about: citizenship, birth, death, marriage, adoption, illness, arrest, disputes with authorities, disasters, travel, voting and child custody. We also adjudicate some seven million passport applications annually for U.S. citizens who travel abroad. We make decisions and take actions that often form key turning points in people's lives. We know that the visa function is a part of that equation.

Since September 11, we have introduced unprecedented changes to the visa process. Our efforts have been and will continue to be under close scrutiny by Congress and the general public.

We have greatly increased the level of data-sharing between the State Department and the law enforcement and intelligence communities; made available visa information to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers at all ports of entry; tightened interview requirements; enhanced training for Consular Officers in interviewing techniques; and, joined in the creation of the Terrorist Screening Center to provide a more systematic approach to posting lookouts on potential and known terrorists. We have introduced more than 60 standard operating procedures for Consular Officers abroad so that they know what we expect and so that I can be certain we are all reading from the same page.

We will continue to work with other agencies of the U.S. government on procedures that are transparent and predictable specifically so that legitimate travel will be facilitated. We share your goals of enriching our country by continuing to welcome people of good intent. It is that very diversity that has made our nation strong.

America's superb academic institutions are among our largest exporters of complex, high-value services, to say nothing of the good will they engender. As Secretary Powell said recently, “the essential embracing sprit of America's attitude toward people is our greatest asset. We must work together to ensure that our country remains a beacon for students, international tourists, immigrants and business people."

As more travelers visit our shores, they contribute to our nation in ways uncounted. Our travel and tourism sector is an 88 billion dollar industry. One out of every eight civilian adults employed in this country is employed directly or indirectly in the travel and tourism industry. We have a 12 billion dollar student industry, and while that bottom line is important, we should think about the long term national security implications of attracting or failing to attract foreign students to our shores.

If a foreign student goes elsewhere, we don't just lose that student but his parents, who probably influenced the decision and will likely pay for the academic experience. We lose their younger siblings, who will probably follow in their older brothers' and sisters' footsteps or at least study on the same continent. Then, when these young people become civic or business, political, or even religious leaders in their own country and they decide to have foreign experiences, they will likely go back to what they know best.

For generations of foreign leaders that country has been the United States, and we have benefited exponentially from that influence, in the political, social, scientific, economic and commercial fields.

This year, we've issued the first 25 Fulbright scholarships to Iraqi students. They are now in some of our best universities. They're studying law, they're studying business, they're involving themselves in public health education, in journalism, public administration, education and environmental science, picking up the skills they need to go back and help to rebuild their country. They are, of course, having a quintessentially American experience.

Other Fulbrighters just like them have risen to the challenge of leadership during their countries historic transitions to democracy. Fulbright scholars stood at the forefront of Poland's first post-communist government. Poland's foreign minister is a Fulbrighter. A Fulbrighter helped to lead Timor-Leste's struggle for independence. President Toledo of Peru is also a former Fulbrighter. More than 200 of the State Department's international visitors program participants have become heads of state or government. Among those leaders: Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom, President Megawati of Indonesia, President Saakashvili, the new President of Georgia and most of the members of his cabinet, and President Konare, the former President of Mali and now the chairman of the African Union Commission. It is likely that tomorrow's leaders are among the 30,000 men and women who participate each year in our State Department exchange programs.

We hope that the next generation of leaders from the Arab and Muslim world will be found among the students selected for our partnerships for learning initiative. Partnerships for Learning is an outreach effort that we put in place in the wake of 9/11. Under this initiative, 160 young people from predominantly Islamic countries are now studying at American high schools and living in American homes, and over 70 undergraduates from the Middle East countries are studying at American universities.

We know from experience that the personal and professional relationships that are developed during such exchanges form a foundation of understanding and lasting partnerships, not just between young people, but between nations, between societies, and between cultures.

But none of these benefits are possible if we can't get people to come here in the first place. We need to regain travelers' confidence that they will be safe and most of all welcome. To do that we need people in other countries, as well as their sponsors here, to know what we have done to refine our security procedures to make travel to America accessible and desirable.

The Department of State is working closely with the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies to make our promise of Open Doors a reality.

To facilitate student and exchange visitor applicants, I instructed our visa-adjudicating embassies and consulates both this summer and last summer to provide expedited interviews for students. Depending on the facilities at each post, our Consular sections provide special appointment times for students, special interview windows specifically for students or put students at the front of interview lines. We don't want students missing class because they can't get an appointment in a timely fashion.

The personal appearance requirement for virtually all visa applicants fulfills a congressional mandate to collect biometric identifiers from applicants by October 26, 2004. We need to see people to comply with the law. Consular Officers abroad at 143 visa-adjudicating posts are currently collecting two digitally scanned fingerprints from non-immigrant visa applicants. By October 26 of this year, all visa adjudicating U.S. embassies and consulates will be collecting such information. This is a quick, inkless, and non-intrusive procedure.

While there have been notable changes to the way in which visas are processed, the eligibility requirements to be issued a U.S. visa have not changed. U.S. immigration law requires a nonimmigrant visa applicant to demonstrate among other things, that he or she does not intend to stay in the United States, and has not been involved in criminal or terrorist activities to be issued a visa. That has not changed.

The sad reality is that bad news travels the globe ten times before good news gets up for breakfast. So let me share some good news here. I am happy to report that we have made tremendous progress in making the screening process more efficient over the last 18 months. Let me run some numbers for you, which I know some of you have heard before. Last year we adjudicated just over seven million non-immigrant visas. Of that group of people, some 2.2 percent required a special Washington, DC-based name check. Last year that process averaged two months. Today, 80 percent of these clearances are completed within three weeks – and we're working hard on the remaining 20 percent of that 2.2% who require special checks. I know there are true stories of people whose clearances have taken much longer. I regret them. We will not rest until this system is as efficient as it can possibly be. We are also engaged in a “lessons learned” exercise even as I speak. We are looking at which changes make sense and which have perhaps been less useful to us. The goal is to try to facilitate international travel.

In that vein, we recently increased to one year the validity of the clearances granted to certain groups, of scientists and scholars, who participate in joint-research programs. Travelers who need to make repeated visits within a given year may now do so without our Consular Officers having to go back to Washington for an additional name check if they are in these categories.

We are committed to improving the visa process to encourage and facilitate travel by legitimate students and exchange visitors. I would be remiss, however, if I did not make another important point. Clearly, we all have to do a better job of attracting the world's rising generation to come study in America in the first place. There are many factors at work affecting decisions to study in the U.S. as a result of a more competitive, globalized world. The international market for students is much more competitive than it used to be. Our top drawer, best-in-show academic institutions have a product that may not necessarily be selling itself as easily as in the past. If the current trend away from studying in the U.S. is not reversed, we will lose a precious commodity.

For our own well being as a country, and because we have so much to give, we must keep our doors open to the world. We must facilitate legitimate travel while striking the delicate balance between Secure Borders and Open Doors of which I have spoken today.

We are on the same side in this debate. I welcome your continuing contribution and appreciate the productive relationship we have enjoyed over the years. We must continue to work together. I do not think it overstates the case to say that our national security in part depends on our success.

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