Senate bill would boost DHS spending but stall border card plan

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

The DHS appropriations bill the Senate approved yesterday would delay a requirement that U.S. citizens returning from Western Hemisphere countries present secure identification, such as the new border-crossing card the administration is developing.

The Homeland Security Department appropriations bill the Senate approved yesterday would delay a pending requirement that U.S. citizens returning from Western Hemisphere countries such as Mexico, Canada and the those in the Caribbean present secure identification, such as the new border-crossing card the administration is developing.

The Senate's version of the fiscal 2007 DHS spending bill includes $32.8 billion in discretionary spending, which is $1.5 billion more than in 2006, excluding emergency supplemental appropriations. The floor vote was unanimous.

The House passed its version of the DHS spending bill on June 6.

The Senate appropriations panel provided a summary of the DHS spending draft that highlighted several technology-laced programs the Senate seeks to pump up, generally in line with decisions made by the Homeland Security appropriations subcommittee's recommendations.

However, the Senate approved two floor amendments sponsored by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.). One would add $648 million for port security assessments, inspectors, equipment, aircraft, ships, and grants, according to the appropriations panel summary. The other Byrd amendment would provide for $350 million for border infrastructure projects and programs, to be funded by increased immigration fees paid by foreigners.

The appropriations bill would delay the requirement that citizens present passports or People Access Security Services smart cards under a program called the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative for 17 months, until June 1, 2009, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said in a press announcement.

Current law and practice allows U.S. citizens to re-enter the country without a secure identification documents, and, in some cases, with no identification whatsoever.

The Senate approved a similar amendment in May as part of pending immigration legislation. The immigration reform bill's future now has been cast into doubt by conflicts over other issues, such as whether and how to change the immigration status of millions of illegal aliens. So the delay amendment's sponsors, Leahy and Ted Stevens (R-Ak.), inserted it in the must-pass DHS spending bill to improve their proposal's prospects for enactment.

The bills PASS card provision requires the Homeland Security and State departments to certify to Congress that the cards meet several standards before the program begins.

The House version of the DHS spending bill does not include the PASS card provisions or the 17-month delay in the requirement. House and Senate negotiators will resolve the difference in a conference committee.

Leahy has charged that the lack of coordination on the PASS card between DHS and State as well as between the White House and Ottawa spells trouble.

'This has been shaping up as a bureaucratic nightmare that could clog our borders while making us even less secure,' Leahy said in the statement. 'We need to prod these agencies to come to grips with these problems and fix them beforehand, not afterward.'

The Leahy-Stevens amendment would, according to the statement, require the two departments to certify several aspects of the PASS card program:

  • Ensure that the technology for any passport card meets certain security standards'and that DHS and State agree on that technology

  • Share the technology with the governments of Canada and Mexico

  • Justify the fee set for the passport card

  • Develop an alternative procedure for groups of children traveling across the border under adult supervision with parental consent

  • Install all necessary technological infrastructure at the ports of entry to process the cards and train U.S. agents at the border crossings in all aspects of the new technology

  • Make the passport card available for international land and sea travel between the United States and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda

  • Establish a unified implementation date for all sea and land borders.
X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.