July 19, 2006

The Co-chairs of the Congressional Romanian Caucus Express
Their Support for the Visa Waiver Program

Rep. Curt Weldon, Ambassador Sorin Ducaru and George Sfedu, Honorary Consul of Romania in Pennsylvania, state which includes Rep. Weldon’s district

On July 18, 2006 , Romanian Ambassador Sorin Ducaru met with Rep. Curt Weldon (R, Pa) and Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D, TX), the co-chairs of the newly re-established Congressional Romanian Caucus. During the meetings, Ambassador Ducaru thanked the US Congress members for re-launching the Caucus and discussed details of the first Caucus meeting which will take place during the visit to the US of Romanian President, Traian Basescu, on July 27, 2006 .

The main objectives of the Caucus' activity - increasing the visibility of Romania in the US Congress, as a strategic ally of the US ; taking advantage of the bussiness oportunities offered by Romania ; and including Romania in the Visa Waiver Program - were reiterated during the meetings. “I support extending the visa waiver to Romanian people - we trust them, they are our friends, they are our partners, they are our allies, and the best evidence of that is to give them that status so they are not hassled when they want to travel back and forth, that they understand in a very real, dynamic way that they truly are our partners in the 21 Century”, said Congressman Weldon.

Together with Rep. Solomon Ortiz, co-chairman of the Congressional Romanian Caucus

At the same time, both parties underlined the importance of the Romanian American community to contact their representatives in the US Congress and encourage them to join the Caucus.

As you know, on July 12, 2006 , the two co-chairs of the Congressional Romanian Caucus sent out a Dear Colleague letter inviting fellow members of Congress to join the Caucus (Please find attached the text of the letter).