Bill Text: HI HR55 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Resolution 55 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Urges Inclusion of Hong Kong in United States Visa Waiver Program

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-1)

Status: (Passed) 2012-04-05 - (H) Resolution adopted in final form. [HR55 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2012-HR55-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	55
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

urging the federal government to include Hong Kong in the United States Visa Waiver Program and ease visa restrictions and the visa application and approval process for business and tourist travelers with Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passports.

WHEREAS, the United States maintains substantial economic and social ties with Hong Kong, with more than one thousand United States firms and over sixty thousand American residents in that country; and

WHEREAS, American exports to Hong Kong totaled $26.6 billion in 2010 and direct investments in Hong Kong at the end of 2009 totaled approximately $40.5 billion, making the United States one of the largest investors in Hong Kong, along with China, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Japan, and the Netherlands; and

WHEREAS, despite the strong ties between the United States and Hong Kong, the visa application and approval process for Hong Kong business and tourist travelers can be an inconvenient and lengthy process that deters many potential visitors to the United States; and

WHEREAS, one solution to ease this problem is for a country to be admitted into the United States Visa Waiver Program, which allows nationals from foreign countries to enter the United States for tourism- or business-related purposes for as long as ninety days without a visa; and

WHEREAS, to be admitted into the Visa Waiver Program, a country must meet various security and other requirements, such as enhanced law enforcement and security-related data sharing with the United States, timely reporting of lost or stolen passports, and the maintenance of high counterterrorism, law enforcement, border control, and document security standards; and

WHEREAS, as of January 1, 2012, one hundred forty-four countries and territories grant Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport holders either visa-free or visa-on-arrival treatment; and

WHEREAS, Hong Kong is currently not among the thirty-six countries allowed to participate in the United States Visa Waiver Program; and

WHEREAS, allowing Hong Kong to participate in the Visa Waiver Program would strengthen ties between the two countries, eliminate unnecessary barriers to travel, and stimulate business and tourism; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2012, that this body urges the United States Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, and the United States Attorney General to include Hong Kong in the United States Visa Waiver Program and ease visa restrictions and the visa application and approval process for business and tourist travelers with Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passports; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Secretary of the United States Department of State, the Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the United States Attorney General, the Secretary of the United States Department of Commerce, the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation, the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, and the Director of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.