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U.S. taking wrong approach in trying to boost security

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., attended a closed-door GOP caucus meeting at the Republican National Headquarters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015. House lawmakers voted Tuesday to approve legislation tightening controls on travel to the U.S. and requiring visas for anyone who has been in Iraq or Syria in the previous five years. “You have more than 5,000 individuals that have Western passports in this program that have gone to Iraq or Syria in the last five years,” said McCarthy. “Those are gaps that we need to fix.”
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., attended a closed-door GOP caucus meeting at the Republican National Headquarters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015. House lawmakers voted Tuesday to approve legislation tightening controls on travel to the U.S. and requiring visas for anyone who has been in Iraq or Syria in the previous five years. “You have more than 5,000 individuals that have Western passports in this program that have gone to Iraq or Syria in the last five years,” said McCarthy. “Those are gaps that we need to fix.” J. Scott Applewhite AP

By an overwhelming majority, the U.S. House of Representatives, including our own Vern Buchanan, voted this week to tighten control on visas for entry into the United States. This was done in response to the mass hysteria fomented by the media and certain presidential candidates who have convinced the public there is a terrorist lurking behind every palm tree.

Apparently the wise men and women in Washington, D.C. were convinced that tightening visa rules would make America safer. History shows us that there is one small problem with that logic.

Each of the 19 hijackers who attacked America on Sept. 11, 2001, was here on a legal visa. The George W. Bush administration even saw fit to automatically extend the visa for several of the attackers six months after their deaths.

Tightening visa restrictions and registering Muslims and monitoring mosques and reporting the whereabouts of anyone with an Arabic surname will not make America safe.

Rather than conjuring up endless hysteria based on fear, perhaps it's time to find out why ISIL and other groups hate America with so much passion. Maybe if we examined the roots of the issue and sought ways to turn lemons into lemonade we could jointly find a peaceful solution to all this conflict.

Tightening the rules about getting a stamp in someone's passport won't make that happen.

Craig Faanes

University Park

This story was originally published December 13, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "U.S. taking wrong approach in trying to boost security ."

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