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I am very happy to be here today and to have this opportunity to speak to you about the efforts that the State Department, and particularly the bureau of Consular Affairs, are making to balance the needs of national security and legitimate travel: the policy that Secretary Powell often refers to as a balance between “Secure Borders and Open Doors.”

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 your support.

As Abraham Lincoln said, “with public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed.”

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 for temporary visits or for permanent residence 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 make decisions and take actions that often form key turning points in people’s lives. We are aware that every day, in doing our jobs, we are touching people’s lives.

We also adjudicate some seven million passports annually for U.S. citizens who travel abroad. Some 53 million Americans currently hold U.S. passports. I’ll talk more about that later, but for the moment let’s turn to visas.

As consular officers overseas in over 200 embassies and consulates, we push the very borders of the United States out far beyond our nation’s physical limits to try and spot questionable or dangerous travelers well before they reach our shores.

In the post September 11 world, we have introduced unprecedented changes to the visa process. Visa processing has been and will continue to be under close scrutiny by Congress and the general public. As we move forward, we will be guided by our Memorandum of Understanding with our partners at the Department of Homeland Security.

We have greatly increased the level of data-sharing between the State Department and law enforcement and intelligence communities; made available visa information to CBP 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 also introduced more than 60 Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) 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. Before 9/11, we were something of a boutique industry with different consular sections processing cases slightly differently. I need to know that we are following the same procedures everywhere – from Bangladesh to Buenos Aires. The SOPs are also a tacit contract with every consular officer. If, despite all of the additional training, the increased interagency datashare, and their very best efforts, the unspeakable happens and someone who would harm our country actually gets a visa, I want to make sure that procedures are questioned and reviewed rather than officers simply blamed. We owe them the best process upon which to stand and make their very best judgments. Last year, we adjudicated 7.1 million visas and issued 4.9 million of them.

I want to assure you that, in doing these things, we have been aware of the interests many stakeholders have in facilitating legitimate travel to the U.S. We share that goal. State and other agencies of the U.S. government continue to work together on procedures that are transparent and predictable specifically so that legitimate travel will be facilitated.

Security must always be our first priority. At the same time, we are committed to minimizing the impact of new procedures on legitimate travelers. Right now, for example, we are engaged in a worldwide effort to electronically enroll the fingerprints of all visa applicants, a requirement to collect a biometric feature, as mandated by Congress. This will allow us to work more closely with our Homeland Security colleagues at ports of entry so that we can identify and impede the travel of imposters, known criminals, and possible terrorists.

We are doing so in a manner that is quick, efficient, and non-intrusive to the traveler. The electronic fingerprint process takes less than 30 seconds, using a scanning device about the size of the box your checks come in. In fact, feedback from posts indicates that much of the traveling public sees these new requirements as enhancing their security, not just ours. We must never forget that more than 90 nations lost citizens in the September 11 attacks. When we make our nation safer for Americans, we are also making it safer for those who would come here to enjoy what our country has to offer.

We have also invested significant money and time in our namecheck system so that we can move visa applicants more quickly through the interagency clearance process, which I know has been a source of frustration and delays for students and researchers among others. I think we are making real progress in this regard.

For instance, a recently published GAO study that reviewed wait times for students and scholars who require special clearances indicated that it took an average of two months to get a visa last year. In the intervening months, we have made several adjustments and cut that time dramatically.

Today, some 80 percent of such applicants receive their clearances within three weeks. We are not yet where we want to be…. But we are committed to continuing to improve our business processes to facilitate the travel of students, scholars, and all other legitimate travelers.

Additionally, we have recently increased to one year the validity of the clearance granted to certain scientists and scholars returning to participate in the same program. This enables travelers with a need for repeated visits to do so without waiting for a new, Washington-based namecheck every time they need a visa. We also have established a scientific-related point of contact regarding the visa process.

I have asked consular sections worldwide to establish dedicated interview windows for student visa applicants to speed up their processing so that students don’t miss school. Feedback from many students and advisors at universities indicates that this, too, has been helpful.

America ’s superb academic and medical institutions are among our largest exporters of complex, high-value services. To say nothing of the good will they engender. We hear and understand their concerns. I will never stop working to address the visa processing issues that affect them.

I believe the very definition of national security also must include consideration of our economy and the impact our actions may have on it. I know that the U.S. travel and tourism industry is a vital segment of the U.S. economy and one of our largest earners of foreign exchange. Last year, approximately 42 million foreign visitors – whether here for pleasure, work, or study -- spent $83.5 billion on travel to the U.S., compared to $78 billion spent by Americans abroad. Foreign visitors generated $93.2 billion in local, state and federal tax revenue.

The travel and tourism industry is one of America ’s biggest employers, with 24.2 million direct and indirect travel-related jobs, and a combined payroll of $157 billion. One out of every eight people in the U.S. civilian labor force is employed in some segment of the travel and tourism industry.

We work every day with business, industry, the academic community and the general public to see that access to our country is not impeded for those whose presence we encourage and value.

A key message is to encourage advance planning and early visa application. A number of years ago we established a conference organizer point of contact to provide information about visa procedures, just as we did not too long ago on the science side.

We are frequently in contact with U.S. conference organizers, specifically within the scientific community regarding conferences to be held in the U.S. We have found that the meeting or conference organizer is an important conduit in providing appropriate guidance to visa applicants.

One example of overseas outreach is our embassy in Beijing. Beijing has conducted several on-line webchats dealing with visa issues, and has also visited a number of Chinese universities. One recent webchat received over 16,000 hits. We know that we are getting through to people.

Here at home, we are frequently on the road, speaking to immigration attorney groups, local and national chambers of commerce, foreign-based high school counselors, intensive English programs and other educational groups on the visa process.

Let me now turn briefly to the subject of the U.S. passport, which I firmly believe is the world’s most valuable identity and travel document. No country in the world does more to help its citizens in need abroad, and your passport to travel is also the key to those services, should you ever need us. Since it also is primary evidence of U.S. citizenship, many, many attempts to counterfeit or fraudulently alter it over the years have been made by individuals who aspire to live in this country. Keeping it secure, and tamper-resistant is also, for us, a full time concern.

To this end, we are working hard on the next generation U.S. passport, which will have embedded biometrics through the insertion of a contact-less chip, which will store biographic data, including a digital photo.

Embedding enhanced biometrics into passports so that a clear link can be established between the authorized bearer of that passport and the user is an important step forward in the international effort to strengthen border security. It will also expedite inspection at U.S. ports of entry when you are returning from a trip abroad.

Now a word about foreign passports, if I might. Congress established an October 26, 2004 deadline by which travelers from the 27 visa waiver countries who bear passports issued on or after that date must have passports that contain biometrics (digital photos) in order to continue visa-free travel to the United States.

The Visa Waiver Program is of critical importance to the facilitation of travel to this country. For example in FY-2001, a total of 16 ˝ million people entered the U.S. under the VWP; in FY-2002, the number decreased 20.2% to approximately 13 million.

In 2000, the most recent data available to me, travelers from Visa Waiver countries spent an estimated $39.6 billion in the U.S., accounting for 57 percent of overseas tourist spending. They spent, on average, $2,253 in the U.S., compared to $1,274 per individual traveler from other destinations. Direct and indirect spending within the U.S. by VWP travelers added between $75 billion and $102 billion to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product in 2000, and generated $16 billion in tax revenues.

I mention all of the above because many countries in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) have indicated that they will be unable to meet that legislatively mandated deadline of October 26, 2004.

While all are making varying degrees of progress toward complying with the requirement, only one or two countries may have production capability in place on time. As a result, U.S. embassies and consulates abroad may face large increases in the number of visa applications they will need to process.

I wanted to make you aware of these issues in some detail because you will hear about it in the news in the coming weeks and months. We are working hard now to find a solution that meets U.S. security needs, congressional concerns, and the need to facilitate travel to this country by legitimate travelers, who are so important to this nation

I’d like your help.

Our visa numbers overall are down more than 30% since the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001. And although there are a variety of reasons for that, America needs to put its energy into addressing that trend.

When foreign students go elsewhere, we don't just lose that student but their parents, who probably influenced the decision; and their siblings, who will most probably follow in their older brothers’ and sisters’ footsteps, since their parents won’t send them to two different continents. When they then return home to be civic and social and political leaders, and they have an opportunity to engage on an international basis, they will return to what they know best – and it won’t be America. We will have lost an entire generation of foreign leaders, whose influence today is seen in Parliaments all around the world.

When scientists hold conventions in other countries, we lose their business, their brain power in our institutions, their good will. When business travelers and tourists go elsewhere, obviously we lose their money, but it's hard to specifically quantify all of the losses implicit in people's decisions not to come to America. I hope I've made the case today, that we are doing our part to reverse this trend.

If you have ideas, send them to me.

In this post 9/11 era, we need a solid partnership between government, business and NGO's if we are to succeed in making our country safer while staying true to our heritage as a welcoming nation.

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.

I appreciate your interest in this important subject and I thank you for the opportunity to be here today with all of you.