The passage of the Taiwan Policy Act in the US has been blocked by the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, with Republican lawmakers voicing doubts over the handling of safety issues relating to visa-waiver programs by the administration of US President Barack Obama, US Congress sources said.
Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen introduced the Taiwan Policy Act last year to “help ensure that Taiwan’s peace, prosperity and security will be maintained ... [and to] further strengthen commercial relations between the United States and the people of Taiwan” after the Obama administration declined to sell Taiwan F-16C/D aircraft.
The act is still likely to be passed, a source said, but more time is needed to negotiate with those opposing it.
Other lawmakers have recently spoken out against the act in response to the dispute over the import of US beef, sources said.
However, after negotiations and amendments to the wording, those lawmakers are no longer opposed, they added.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith has always been friendly toward Taiwan, sources said, adding that Smith’s aides had confirmed that he was concerned with the overall execution of the visa-waiver program.
The US Department of Justice and the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which are in charge of the process, said that in recent years there has been much concern over national security issues relating to visa-waiver programs, the aide said.
No matter how many times the government has emphasized the national security features in such programs, the DHS has never given a high priority to security requirements appended to visa-waiver programs, the aide said.
Smith and other lawmakers believe that visa-waiver programs relate to the national security of the US and that unless security requirements are rigorously met, they should not be expanded to include more countries, the aide said.
Meanwhile, other sources said that the US presidential election in November is complicating matters, with Republicans and Democrats at loggerheads over immigration and border security issues.
Overseas Taiwanese are encouraging US voters to telephone lawmakers opposed to the act to solicit their support, a source said.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
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