US Senators tell Administration Jan. Passport deadline 'unrealistic'

[Kathryn41 3,205]

U.S. senators tell administration January passport deadline 'unrealistic' at 18:45 on June 12, 2007, EDT.

WASHINGTON (CP) - Two U.S. senators, among a growing chorus of critics in Congress, are urging American administration officials to acknowledge they won't be ready to implement the passport requirement at Canada-U.S. border crossings in January.

Democrat Patrick Leahy and Republican Ted Stevens say public statements about sticking to the looming deadline are adding to a chaotic mountain of passport applications.

"We remain concerned that your continued public insistence on full implementation of the land and sea provisions in January 2008 is unrealistic and unachievable," the senators said in a letter this week to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Homeland Security's Michael Chertoff.

"We urge you to announce that your agencies will use the time allotted by Congress, until June 2009 under current law, to execute the (security requirement) sensibly."

Other U.S. legislators, fielding calls from irate constituents whose travel plans have been scuttled by the backlog of passport applications, say the requirement at border crossings will only make everything worse.

The House of Representatives was considering late Tuesday whether to withhold US$100 million from a total US$250 million for the project in 2008 to force Homeland Security to slow down.

The measure was pushed by New York Democrat Louise Slaughter, who wants a delay until officials investigate whether high-tech driver's licences might work just as well.

And New York Representative Thomas Reynolds, a Republican, wants the Government Accountability Office to investigate why the passport backlog occurred and study the impact of requiring passports at land border crossings.

Moving forward is "impossible and impractical," Reynolds said this week. "I want to know how they plan on dealing with an influx of passport demands in the future."

Air travellers from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda who enter the United States have officially needed a passport since Jan. 23.

But the U.S. administration was forced last week to give American flyers a break until the end of September in a bid to get passport waiting times down. Right now it could take 12 weeks or even longer to get a passport.

There are similar waiting times in Canada, where officials simplified the application rules last week.

Canadian air travellers without passports actually haven't been prevented from flying, and that flexibility will continue.

Air travel is a small part of overall cross-border traffic.

About six million more Americans will need passports to travel by air, while the estimated need for land crossings is more than four times that at 27 million over the next five years, according the government estimates.

The numbers don't include regular year-to-year demand.

"With every passing day, it appears the January deadline is unrealistic," said Paul Frazer, a former top Canadian diplomat and now a Washington consultant.

"Not only is political opposition growing but citizens are angry and fed up. There is no silver lining here," he said.

"There's nothing there to indicate they can possibly meet the numbers that will be required. It's that reality Canadians have been warning about all along."

Leahy and Stevens were behind legislation last year demanding a 17-month delay in the second part of the so-called Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative or WHTI.

Homeland Security officials, intent on implementing security plans in the post-Sept. 11 era, have always insisted they'll get the plan off the ground on time. The State Department has appeared more flexible.

Last week, the two departments said they have plans for a "phased implementation" at land and sea crossings.

But officials won't say whether that means flexibility for a certain period of time for those without the documents.

U.S. plans governing border crossings will be made public in a couple of weeks.

Canada has long advocated waiting until 2009 to get the security plan right and supports enhanced driver's licences as alternatives to passports.

British Columbia and Washington state are conducting a pilot project to see if they work.

http://www.940news.com/nouvelles.php?cat=24&id=61250

Edited June 14, 2007 by Kathryn41

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Canada has long advocated waiting until 2009 to get the security plan right and supports enhanced driver's licences as alternatives to passports.

I think Canada has the right idea.