Mike Lawler Asks State Department Official About 'Expanded Social Media Vetting' For Visa Applicants

5 months ago

During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) spoke about vetting visa applicants.

Transcript

00:00Recognize myself for five minutes of questioning. Mr. Cunningham, the State Department's fiscal

00:05year 2026 budget request includes authority to obligate $517 million in projected passport

00:14application and execution fees. And Secretary Rubio noted that, quote, every decision on a visa

00:21application is a national security decision, end quote. Is part of this funding request to deal

00:28with expanded social media vetting, for instance? Thank you for that important question, Chairman.

00:36One of the great joys of my job is being able to work with Consular Affairs. The professionals

00:40that we have on a global basis are doing incredible work, and you are absolutely right to point

00:45out that national security is first and foremost as we move forward. The Consular Affairs team

00:53works diligently to make sure that we are combating passport and visa fraud. We are also addressing

01:01issues related to human trafficking. And then, of course, we work closely with Homeland Security

01:07to ensure that we've got the right kind of entry qualifications for anybody who's coming to the

01:18United States. Part of that effort to make sure that we are addressing national security concerns

01:26is making sure that we do everything we can to look at those individuals who are applying for visas

01:34overseas when they want to come to the United States. Absolutely, a visa to the United States is a

01:43privilege. It is not a right. And particularly, I think we have found, given what we've seen on

01:49college campuses and university campuses over the last year and a half or so, we want to make sure

01:53that we are vetting those applicants to ensure that they are not involved with any kind of anti-Semitism

02:01or terrorism activity. And part of that, of course, is going to be taking a look at their social media

02:07profile, looking at what they have posted in the past, and ensuring that when they come to the United

02:13States, they're here for the reason that they say they are. Hopefully, getting to know America,

02:17learning our values, and studying in these great... So while I agree that the vetting is absolutely

02:24necessary, we do need to make sure that you have all the resources to do it well and prevent delays

02:30or backlogs. Under the prior administration, we saw significant backlogs in processing of passports

02:38and visas, and all of our offices have dealt with that. So is the State Department hiring more staff

02:44to engage in that expanded social media vetting? And how else are you ensuring that this program

02:51remains efficient and does not create a backlog? Thank you for that question, Chairman. In fact,

02:57during the reorg that we've just recently announced, as well as the attendant reduction in force that

03:03went with that and into effect on Friday, I'm pleased to say that Consular Affairs did not take a hit. We

03:10have the necessary manpower and workforce in place to be able to address the issues that you were just

03:18talking about, and we won't have delays. Right now, for a passport, especially through this new online

03:26passport renewal system, we're finding that folks are able to get passports in anywhere from three to six weeks,

03:32average time is about three weeks right now. And then for visas, the median time for receiving a visa is

03:42about one month. Okay. State's fiscal year 26 request includes an $81.7 million reduction in worldwide

03:50security protection funding for Iraq, reflecting equipment returns and a drawdown of operations. As the

03:57department considers scaling back its presence at Embassy Baghdad, what steps are being taken to

04:04ensure that core diplomatic functions such as intelligence gathering, crisis response, and

04:09interagency coordination can continue safely and effectively? It's an excellent question, sir. I must say

04:16that not only pertaining to Baghdad and Iraq, on a regular basis, we are looking at our posture, our global

04:25posture from a security perspective. I'm happy to say that the $28.5 billion request that we have for FY26

04:37is about 48 percent less than the FY25 budget. And so, in essence, what that means is we're able to

04:47return or at least save about 20 billion dollars plus for the American taxpayer. Part and parcel of that,

04:54of course, is just finding opportunities overseas for us to reduce our costs while at the same time

05:00maintaining the security posture that we need, not only bilaterally but also multilaterally. You are

05:07right to point out that in Baghdad we have found significant cost savings by closing down our fixed and rotary

05:15wing aircraft operation there. We are looking for many, many more opportunities for cost containment in

05:27Baghdad in particular, just given the changing nature of the relationship that we have in Iraq,

05:33but also broader and more broadly in the Middle East. Thank you. My time has expired.

Mike Lawler Asks State Department Official About 'Expanded Social Media Vetting' For Visa Applicants

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