Washington Wire - 2006-06-05

Senate Delays Hemispheric Passport Rules
The U.S. Senate last month voted to delay new, more stringent documentation requirements for travelers between the United States and other Western Hemisphere countries, including Canada, Mexico and most Caribbean locations.

The Senate unanimously adopted an amendment to a comprehensive immigration bill offered by Sens. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) that delays until June 1, 2009, the requirement that travelers to the United States from Western Hemisphere countries present a passport or other secure document to gain entry. The Senate adopted the broader immigration bill on May 25 and is set to begin talks this month with the House of Representatives on a final measure that reconciles differences between the two chambers. The House measure doesn't include any delay on the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, announced by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State on April 5, 2005.

"We are grateful to Sen. Stevens and Sen. Leahy for recognizing the importance of this issue for travel and tourism and for demonstrating real leadership once again," said Jonathan Tisch, chairman of the Travel Business Roundtable and chairman and CEO of Loews Hotels. TBR and other organizations worry the enhanced security measures will disrupt legitimate travel and commerce across the borders.

In his statement submitted for the Congressional Record, Stevens said Alaska "is the only state in the nation which cannot be accessed by land without passing through a foreign country. Alaskans are very concerned about the impact this initiative will have on travel to and from our state." Stevens said the 17-month delay would provide more time to properly test and implement the new guidelines. The delay is a long way from becoming law, however.

The House of Representatives has taken a dramatically different approach to the immigration provisions in the bill, making it a felony to reside in the country illegally or aid an illegal immigrant.

The Senate's immigration bill provides a "path to citizenship" for the country's 11 million illegal immigrants, which House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said is staunchly opposed by House Republicans.

House Rejects $1.3B Air Security Tax Hike
The House Appropriations homeland security subcommittee rejected a $1.3 billion increase in airline ticket taxes to pay for more airport security for a second straight year, even as it approved $6.4 billion in funding for the Transportation Security Administration and air marshals program.

The broader House of Representatives postponed a vote on the entire $32.1 billion homeland security funding measure until after the Memorial Day recess ends this week, after lawmakers were unable to muster enough votes. Committee chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.), said the Bush administration erred by seeking for a second straight year to increase the ticket tax, which is opposed by airlines. The administration last year proposed a $1.5 billion increase in the levy, which airlines said they would be forced to absorb.

"We told them last year, 'Don't ever do this again,' " Rogers said on May 17, when the House Appropriations Committee adopted the spending measure. "I hope somehow this message gets through."

The Air Transport Association, the Washington trade group that represents the major U.S. carriers, said the administration's proposal to more directly tie such services as airline security screening to user fees amounted to multiple layer of taxation on a struggling industry.

"The rejection of this tax increase is a step in the right direction," said ATA president James May.

The overall spending bill is $1.1 billion more than Bush originally requested.