President Signs Bill With Leahy's Measure to Delay Border-Crossing
President Signs Bill With Leahy’s Measure
To Delay Border-Crossing ID Requirements
Until Bush Administration Certifies
Better Coordination And Preparation
Leahy Also Beats Back Bid
To Curb First-Responder Grants
To Vermont And Other Smaller States
http://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/200610/100406.html
WASHINGTON (Wednesday, Oct. 4) – President Bush Wednesday signed into law a homeland security funding bill that includes two significant policy wins for Vermont, engineered by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).
Leahy’s legislation in the bill will buy more time to improve implementation of the controversial PASS Card system for border crossings – a system that will require new identity cards and methods for crossing U.S. borders, including the Northern Border with Canada. Leahy was joined by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) in writing and offering the amendment, which would postpone implementation of the PASS Card system – part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) -- for 17 months, until June 1, 2009, or earlier, if the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State certify to Congress that several standards in the amendment are met before the program moves forward. Leahy is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and of its Homeland Security Subcommittee, which handled the Senate’s work in drafting the annual appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security. Leahy was also a leading Senate conferee on the bill.
Leahy says the lack of sufficient coordination on the PASS Card system between DHS and State, and between the Bush Administration and the Government of Canada, has spelled trouble for the system, unless its problems are corrected.
"This buys time to fix the flaws in this new ID system for our borders,” said Leahy. “Poor planning and lack of coordination by federal agencies have been spelling disaster for this plan, and a bad plan would clog our borders while making us less secure.”
The certification requirements in Leahy’s WHTI amendment will require the two departments to:
1.) Ensure that the technology for any Passport Card (PASS Card) meets certain security
standards – and that the National Institutes of Standards and Technology certify the
technology chosen by DHS and State.
2.) Share the technology with the governments of Canada and Mexico.
3.) Justify the fee set for the PASS Card.
4.) Develop an alternative procedure for groups of children traveling across the border under adult supervision with parental consent.
5.) Install all necessary technological infrastructure at the ports of entry to process the cards and train U.S. agents at the border crossings in all aspects of the new technology.
6.) Make the PASS Card available for international land and sea travel between the United States and Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean and Bermuda.
7.) Establish a unified implementation date for all sea and land borders.
DONALD TRUMP INVESTS IN ROSARITO! |
| | | Trump to Build ‘Condotel’ Near San Diego Executive Donald Trump and a Los Angeles-based developer have announced plans for a 526-suite “condotel” 30 minutes south of downtown San Diego. Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico will be situated on cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Rosarito, Mexico. Developer and investment company Irongate partnered with the Trump Organization on the project. The cost of the project is undisclosed. Trump said in a press release that the resort’s proximity to downtown San Diego increased the property’s appeal. “Being just 30 minutes from downtown San Diego makes this an ideal locale for a premier resort property,” said Trump Prices for the condo/hotel’s studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom residences start in the mid-$200,000 range. Room sizes range from 532 to 2,200 total square feet of indoor and outdoor space. Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2006, with the first of the 25-story towers of the condotel slated for completion in late 2008. — Andy Killion SD Business Journal |
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