Opening Comments Of Senator Patrick Leahy
Hearing On The Department Of Homeland Security FY 2007 Budget
Subcommittee On Homeland Security
Committee On Appropriations
February 28, 2006

Mr. Secretary, many Northern Border States are highly skeptical about the development and implementation of the border crossing card that is called PASS Card. 

Setting aside whether having this card is good policy or not, I see an economic and cultural train wreck on the horizon.  Commerce and travel will slow to a crawl if you do not ask for relief from implementing a border crossing card. 

This card threatens to create damaging bottlenecks on what is currently the longest, most efficient and safest border in the world.

Clear signs of trouble are converging on the horizon and I hope you will pay attention to the looming problems.

With only 18 months to go before requiring all U.S. citizens to have a PASS card or passport, here is the technical situation:

·       DHS and the State Department are promoting two different technological infrastructures for the card.

·       DHS is promoting an “open” UHF design that is not secure.  It is an architecture designed for tracking freight pallets!  If the open UHF standard is adopted, DHS may actually reduce safety along the border, which is the exact opposite of what this program is supposed to accomplish.

·       Not only is an open UHF design less secure, it is completely different technology than what CBP is installing now to read information off chips in the new e-Passports.  DHS would need an entirely separate, new and costly reader system for the border-crossing PASS card.

Because none of the technical issues have been resolved, the logistical planning for issuance and reading of the PASS cards is also confusing and delayed. 

And finally, regardless of how the Administration implements the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, there is another half of this equation, which DHS seems to be ignoring:  Our close allies, friends, and in my state, our relatives, who live across the border in Canada. 

The Canadian government is not moving under the same deadline for a similar card for their citizens.  Thus DHS is simply expecting more Canadians to apply for passports. 

While DHS recognizes the need to have a lower-cost alternative for U.S. citizens, its disregard for our Canadian friends and neighbors is stunning, not to mention counterproductive. 

If the problems with the PASS card somehow get worked out, DHS is only considering half the travel and trade across the border.  The reduction in trade and travel from Canadians would be devastating.  This “head in the sand” mentality is not the treatment our neighbors to our North deserve.

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