Buffalo News
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/105374.html
The Department of Homeland Security is fast becoming the gang that
can’t shoot straight in the eyes of area politicians.
The agency came under fresh attack Saturday from Rep. Thomas M.
Reynolds for considering “anti-terror” regulations that would restrict
recreational boating, while Rep. Brian Higgins accused it of
underestimating the economic impact of requiring travelers to show
passports at U.S.-Canadian border crossings.
The department reportedly will propose requiring boaters to take a
proficiency test, carry a new form of governmentissued identification
and equip their craft with expensive transmitters, which would have “a
chilling effect” on boaters and boatmakers, said Reynolds, R-Clarence.
“If the passport fiasco is any indication, recreational boaters should
be very wary of these potential regulations,” Reynolds said.
With a Fuhrmann Boulevard marina as a backdrop, Reynolds said that, in
addition to tests and new identification requirements, the department
might set up a new database listing every licensed boat owner and
wants every boat to carry an electronic transmitter costing $500 to
$1,000.
He urged the department to work with boating trade associations and
marinas “to develop a security plan that is both workable and
plausible.” Recreational boaters can be the “eyes and ears” of
maritime security “if [the Homeland Security Department] just gets out
of the way,” he added.
Higgins, D-Buffalo, noted that the department had based its estimate
that the passport requirement would cost the U.S. economy only $200
million annually on a projected 3.7 percent decrease in crossings by
frequent travelers and a 10.7 percent to 10.9 percent drop in casual
travel.
Noting that Homeland Security has eliminated the passport requirement
for sea cruises because it supposedly would lead to a 74.4 percent
decrease in short cruises, Higgins asked: “How can it be that . . .
casual, infrequent visits to Buffalo by Torontonians would decrease by
only 10.7 to 10.9 percent?”
“From their misguided justification for a northern border passport
mandate to their inability to process the very passports they are
requiring, this administration has demonstrated gross incompetence,”
Higgins added.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is scheduled to visit
Buffalo on Monday to discuss the border requirements with area officials.
Reynolds said he was not surprised to be left off the list of those
invited to the meeting. “He knows where I stand on this,” Reynolds
said. “If he has a plan, I’m all for it.”
*****************
From Boating in Canada News
http://boatingincanada.blogspot.com/
U.S. border crossing changes postponed
======================================
Canadians and Americans entering the United States by car or boat
won’t need a passport until at least the summer of 2008, U.S. security
officials said June 20. With both countries struggling with an
avalanche of passport applications, driver’s licences and birth
certificates will be accepted at the U.S. border after the original
January 2008 date set for requiring passports for land and sea entries
to the United States. The House of Representatives has already passed
a measure forcing Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to wait
until mid-2009 at land and sea crossings. (Rules for entering Canada
remain the same.)
--
Pat Drummond (delete INVALID from address)
http://BoatinginCanada.com 10th Anniversary
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