Leahy And Stevens Urge State And DHS
To Take More Time To Work Out Kinks
In WHTI Border-Crossing Plans

WASHINGTON (Monday, June 11) -- Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) – leaders of Senate efforts to fix flaws in plans to implement the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) -- are asking the State and Homeland Security Departments to use the extra time their legislation allows to work out the problems in the border-crossing scheme, before it is implemented.

They said current passport processing backlogs that have snarled thousands of Americans’ travel plans in recent weeks are a hint of worse chaos to come if the Administration holds to its current schedule for land and water deployment of the new border-crossing scheme next January.

Leahy and Stevens, senior members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, last fall pushed through to enactment their legislation giving the two departments up to 17 extra months, until June 1, 2009, to address WHTI’s many problems.  The Leahy-Stevens Amendment sets out seven requirements that must be certified to Congress before the program can be implemented.  So far, the Bush Administration has maintained that it will not use and does not need extra time to be ready.  The current passport processing backlog followed the Administration’s recent launch of WHTI’s first phase, for air travel in the Western Hemisphere.  On Jan. 1, the Administration plans to begin a much larger phase, for those crossing borders by land or by sea.

In their letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, the lawmakers write:  “In light of this decision to delay implementation of the rule for air travelers, we hope your agencies now will take all the necessary time allowed under the law to implement the land and sea provisions properly.  Air composes a fraction of the overall cross border travel between the United States and Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.  There is another train wreck on the horizon if your agencies continue pushing forward with full implementation of the WHTI before the necessary policies and procedures are in place to handle the lengthy delays that are sure to come . . . . We urge you to announce that your agencies will use the time allotted by Congress – until June 2009 under current law – to execute the WHTI sensibly.”

The text of their letter follows. It is also available as a PDF.

June 11, 2007

The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Secretary
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC 20520                                   

The Honorable Michael Chertoff
Secretary
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528

Dear Secretary Rice and Secretary Chertoff:

As you know, on January 1, 2007, the Administration implemented a new requirement that all passengers traveling by air to and from the United States and Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean must have a passport.  As a direct result of this new requirement, thousands of travelers across the country have been discovering they cannot get their passports in time for their air flights and many have had to cancel their plane tickets and travel plans.  Hundreds of Vermonters and Alaskans have been calling our offices for assistance, and we know that our Senate colleagues have experienced high levels of urgent requests from their constituents, as well.  We have been doing what we can – passport by passport. 

Despite Administration claims that the air rule implementation was proceeding smoothly, the U.S. Departments of State and Homeland Security announced last week a temporary delay in implementation of the air provisions of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) due to the logistical failure in processing passport applications nationwide.  We feel this was a necessary adjustment in response to these backlogs.

In light of this decision to delay implementation of the rule for air travelers, we hope your agencies now will take all the necessary time allowed under the law to implement the land and sea provisions properly.  Air composes a fraction of the overall cross border travel between the United States and Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.  There is another train wreck on the horizon if your agencies continue pushing forward with full implementation of the WHTI before the necessary policies and procedures are in place to handle the lengthy delays that are sure to come. 

Since your agencies underestimated the passport demand with air implementation, we remain concerned that your continued public insistence on full implementation of the land and sea travel provisions in January 2008 is unrealistic and unachievable.  Public comments by you, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, and Department of Homeland Security spokespeople about the firmness of the January 2008 date for the land and sea deadline have not been constructive in informing the American people about the true status of the program.  Instead, such statements have added confusion and chaos to the entire WHTI rollout, perhaps exacerbating the passport delays.

Therefore, we would urge that you and all your agency officials acknowledge that the WHTI needs additional time for successful implementation and cease pressing the January 2008 implementation date.  We urge you to announce that your agencies will use the time allotted by Congress – until June 2009 under current law – to execute the WHTI sensibly.  In addition, we hope that you will continue working to meet the certification requirements provided in the Leahy-Stevens amendment incorporated in the Fiscal Year 2007 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill.  Your work to comply with these criteria has already produced a better-designed overall WHTI program for the future.

Thank you in advance for your consideration of these requests.  We look forward to continuing our efforts to implement the WHTI in a reasonable and prudent manner. 

Sincerely,

PATRICK LEAHY 
United States Senator

TED STEVENS
United States Senator