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S. 653, Secure Travel and Counterterrorism Partnership Act, would grant DHS the authority to waive the Visa Waiver Program's (VWP) low nonimmigrant visa refusal rate requirements with respect to a country's participation in the VWP (i.e., have a low nonimmigrant visa refusal rate for two years) if the country has acceptable travel security measures and assists the U.S. in the War on Terror. It would require DHS to develop a system that collects basic biographical information and flight information of aliens traveling to the U.S.

To implement the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative and other registered traveler programs of the Department of Homeland Security.

The bill would delay implementation of the REAL ID Act’s secure driver’s license/personal identification card standards by two years; would stipulate that if DHS determines that Federal or state electronic systems required to verify the validity and completeness of REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses or identification cards are not available to any state upon the implementation date, minimum standards for driver’s license and/or identification card issuance would not apply to any state until adequate electronic validation systems are available to all states; and would reinstate a disbanded