Arriving at U.S airports, like JFK in New York, will soon come with an extra fee

Lawmakers in Europe today lashed out at U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in reference to the idea of a $10 surcharge to enter the States. European visitors to the U.S. already have to go through such annoying obstacles like filling out a visa waiver online before they can even plan their next trip to the United States.

Austrian lawmaker Ernst Strasser told Napolitano during a hearing that, "The measures … are even harder than they were under the previous
(U.S.) government and that for us is a contradiction that we in the
European Parliament cannot accept." Strasser continued, "We really have to
insist on our European values, that European data protection laws and
European civil liberties also have to be taken account of."

While Napolitano said she would listen to the concerns of the European Parliament lawmakers, she refused the idea of dropping the new fee, which was added in September, but has yet to be signed into law my President Obama. Napolitano stated that unlike Europe, the United States currently does not have an agency in place to promote travel and tourism. The new fee would

This is such a bad move by the politicians in DC, as tourism to the United States is already down due to the poor economy. Hopefully something can be worked out with this issue, but unfortunately it looks like that may just be wishful thinking.

Source Associated Press & picture courtesy of Flickr member ricoeurian.