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| Democrat Blocks Passport Requirement at Canada, Mexico Borders |
| 2007-12-24 |
| Sen. Patrick Leahy is preventing the Bush administration from requiring passports next year from people crossing the U.S.-Canada border and the U.S.-Mexico border by land. The Leahy-sponsored measure - rolled into the omnibus spending bill - will prevent the passport requirement from taking effect until Jan. 1, 2009 at the earliest. It will buy "breathing room to try to find better and more sensible answers for border security, especially on the Northern Border," Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, said in a news release. Leahy said the passport requirement would create "major hassles for law-abiding citizens and communities all across the longest peaceful border in the world. It adds nothing to our security while costing Vermont and our national economy billions in lost commerce," he said in a news release. He said it would cost much less to beef up intelligence and "[work] with Canada to seek out potential terrorists long before they even get near our borders." Leahy complains that the Bush administration has "rushed to implement passport checks before the necessary technology, infrastructure and training are in place at our border stations. That's a guarantee for long lines and lengthy delays," he said. Leahy also is annoyed that the Bush administration plans to start requiring birth certificates instead of passports at the U.S.-Canada border next month. He's written to Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff, criticizing the birth certificate requirement and asking Chertoff to cite his authority for imposing it. Leahy indicated that that "oral declarations" of citizenship are good enough for the time being. Chertoff on Thursday questioned the priorities of those who want to postpone the passport requirement, which he considers a key element of national security. Chertoff told a group of Hearst Corp. executives that the administration will move ahead with plans to require passports for anyone crossing into the U.S. from Mexico or Canada. "I want to get as close as possible to getting this implemented as I can during this president's term in office," Chertoff told the Hearst executives. "Delaying this documentation requirement is keeping the door to illegal immigrants open," Chertoff was quoted as saying. "It is a little silly to spend a lot of money building a fence when you're kicking the door wide open and saying anybody can come in if they can wave a piece of paper that they can (easily counterfeit)." |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #2 Leahy needs special mention in the updated Quisling NYT Anti-Patriot '08 awards. Nice hiding job in the Omnibus Ear Mark bill, Pat. |
| Posted by: Phinater Thraviger 2007-12-24 19:46 |
| #1 Thank you Leahy for making our country safer and making it harder for terrorists to come in. Thank you very much! /sarcasm Asshat. I hope when the next terrorist strike hits because of this insanity, it hits his house first. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-12-24 17:49 |