appropriate congressional committees
(7) Visa waiver information (A) In general In refusing the application of nationals of a program country for United States visas, or the applications of nationals of a country seeking entry into the visa waiver program, a consular officer shall not knowingly or intentionally classify the refusal of the visa under a category that is not included in the calculation of the visa refusal rate only so that the percentage of that country’s visa refusals is less than the percentage limitation applicable to qualification for participation in the visa waiver program. (B) Reporting requirement On May 1 of each year, for each country under consideration for inclusion in the visa waiver program, the Secretary of State shall provide to the appropriate congressional committees— (i) the total number of nationals of that country that applied for United States visas in that country during the previous calendar year; (ii) the total number of such nationals who received United States visas during the previous calendar year; (iii) the total number of such nationals who were refused United States visas during the previous calendar year; (iv) the total number of such nationals who were refused United States visas during the previous calendar year under each provision of this chapter under which the visas were refused; and (v) the number of such nationals that were refused under section 1184(b) of this title as a percentage of the visas that were issued to such nationals. (C) Certification Not later than May 1 of each year, the United States chief of mission, acting or permanent, to each country under consideration for inclusion in the visa waiver program shall certify to the appropriate congressional committees that the information described in subparagraph (B) is accurate and provide a copy of that certification to those committees. (D) Consideration of countries in the visa waiver program Upon notification to the Secretary of Homeland Security that a country is under consideration for inclusion in the visa waiver program, the Secretary of State shall provide all of the information described in subparagraph (B) to the Secretary of Homeland Security. (E) Definition In this paragraph, the term “appropriate congressional committees” means the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives.