Letter: To Michael Chertoff, Secretary, US Department of Homeland Security; Henrietta H. Fore, Under Secretary for Management, US Department of State

Letter: To Michael Chertoff, Secretary, US Department of Homeland Security; Henrietta H. Fore, Under Secretary for Management, US Department of State

Dear Secretary Chertoff and Under Secretary Fore:

As members of the Congressional Northern Border Caucus, we are writing to renew our call for a review of the available facts, including a comprehensive economic analysis, in advance of any proposed rule for final implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI).

In the Fiscal Year 2007 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act, Congress extended the deadline for WHTI implementation to June 1, 2009. This extension was granted so that WHTI could be implemented properly and all of the economic and technical impacts of the Initiative could be fully considered. We urge you to use the time that Congress has provided you. WHTI is an enormous change, and a rushed or flawed implementation process has the potential to be economically devastating for Northern Border communities.

As you know, in May 2006 the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report expressing concerns about the ability of DHS and State to meet the original January 2008 deadline. This report was one of the factors that led Congress to extend the deadline to June 2009. While DHS and State have the legal authority to begin implementing WHTI as soon as January 2008, we are concerned about the impact that such an ambitious schedule would have on border communities. If your departments intend to implement WHTI before June 2009, we ask that you provide Members of Congress with a full accounting of how you plan to overcome the challenges outlined in the GAO Report and in this letter. We are requesting a written response stating your intentions with regard to WHTI implementation, including a summary of your current progress in the following areas:

1.) Technology: What is the current state of the PASS Card program? How will the proposed PASS technology address the privacy, cost, and travel delay concerns that have been raised by Members of Congress?

2.) Resources: What are the levels of funding, technology upgrades, staffing increases and other support that will be required to implement WHTI at all border crossing locations? What steps are being taken to ensure that equipment and personnel will be ready to work with the new system? What steps are being taken to ensure that the new system does not cause excessive travel delays in its first few months of operation?

3.) Economic Impact: Members of the Northern Border Caucus have repeatedly called for a complete economic analysis to take place in advance of any WHTI rule. Studies by the Canadian Tourism Commission and other groups have suggested that American businesses stand to lose hundreds of millions of dollars if the new requirements interfere with existing trade and tourism. The stakes for Northern Border communities are extremely high: Canadian travelers spent over $10 billion dollars in the United States in 2005, and the vast majority of those travelers entered the country by land. Any economic or bureaucratic impediments to travel could jeopardize thousands of local jobs in border states. We ask that the Departments of Homeland Security and State address these concerns as part of their overall WHTI plan.

We are especially concerned in light of the WHTI Air Rule issued in November, which characterized the economic impact of WHTI Air implementation as "marginal," and its impact on small businesses as "not significant." We hope that the economic analysis for WHTI land and sea implementation will take the potential economic impact of WHTI more seriously. While there is room for debate about the scale, experts agree that WHTI implementation has the potential to cause severe economic dislocation on both sides of the border, especially if the new system is implemented in a rushed or disorganized manner. Any fair economic analysis must address and include these concerns. American businesses deserve a full accounting of the potential cost of WHTI, so that we can have an informed public discussion before any final rule is proposed.

As you know, the law requires a complete economic analysis for any regulatory action of this size. We ask that this analysis be produced in advance of any proposed final rule for WHTI and that it address the concerns listed above. The economic stakes involved in WHTI implementation are extremely high, and it is imperative that the final regulations be based on the best available economic and technical information. We believe that it is possible to ensure border security without compromising the trade and travel that our communities depend on and we look forward to a final rule which takes the economic well-being of border communities into account.

http://www.house.gov/list/press/mi01_stupak/WHTILetter022107.html