by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 3:57 PM ET, Wed February 8, 2023
The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would eliminate vaccination requirements for foreign visitors who travel to the United States by air.
In a vote on Wednesday, the House voted 227-201 to do away with the vaccination rule, which mandates that all adult visitors who are not citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. show proof that they've been vaccinated for COVID before being allowed to get on a flight bound for this country.
H.R. 185 also prevents the CDC from rolling out a mandate of its own requiring visitors to show proof of vaccination.
While COVID-19 may not be the threat it once was, the Biden Administration has said it is not ready to eliminate the hotly contested vaccination requirement.
In a press release issued Tuesday, the administration, which in June dropped its requirement that travelers who come to the U.S. must test negative for COVID, underscored its continued opposition to Congressional action to reverse vaccination rules.
The administration said the current "policy has allowed loved ones across the globe to reunite while reducing the spread of COVID-19 and the burdens it places on the health care system in the United States."
The White House has previously announced its plans to end the country's COVID public health emergency on May 11, which would include doing away with the vaccination requirement for air visitors.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Travel Association issued a statement Wednesday afternoon applauding the House vote on H.R. 185.
Traveling during the COVID-19 pandemic. (photo via andresr/E+)
"The need for this requirement has long since passed, and we appreciate the bipartisan action by the U.S. House to end this outdated policy," U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes said .
Emerson Barnes added that the U.S. Travel Association sees no reason to uphold the vaccination requirement until May.
Continuing the requirement at a time when inernational visitors from around the world are busy planning spring and summer travel would have a detrimental affect on the U.S. travel industry, Emerson Barnes said. The United States is the only country that has continued to maintain such a vaccination policy.
"This may have been necessary policy during the pandemic. It is not a necessary policy today. In fact, the U.S. is the only country in the world that has a vaccine requirement for international visitors," U.S. Travel CEO Geoff Freeman said during a press conference last week.
The organization has said in previous statements that every day the vaccination requirement remains in place, it encourages some travelers to avoid the U.S. costing the country valuable visitor spending and delaying efforts to reignite inbound travel.
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