March 2008
The House Democratic Caucus Tuesday voted to appoint Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Berman replaces Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) who passed away February 11 due to complications from cancer. A statement from Berman upon his appointment appears below.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will not accept additional countries into the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) until the agency complies with a Congressional mandate calling for a system that tracks foreign visitors, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Paul Rosenzweig told the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security last week. Rosenzweig reported that the agency has several tracking systems curr
For the Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Concerning State Department Exchanges
U.S. House of Representatives
March 18, 2008
As Chair of the Board of the Alliance for International Educational and Cultural Exchange, I appreciate the opportunity to submit testimony in strong support of the budget request of $522.444 million for the educational and cultural exchange programs administered by the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) in FY 2009. If additional funds are available, the Alliance urges an increase to $600 million in order to deepen the public diplomacy impact of existing activities and to develop new and innovative programs. The Alliance also strongly supports the President’s request for consular resources.
Ms. Goli Ameri, nominated by President Bush for Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), was confirmed by the U.S. Senate yesterday.
The Alliance completed visits this winter to consular posts in South America to discuss visa processing. We visited the following posts: Brasilia, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Lima, and Quito.
