OLYMPIA – Gov. Christine Gregoire and British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell have written President Bush that federal rules requiring passports of all travelers in 2008 will send a chill through tourism and trade on both sides of the border.
The two join a growing number of civic, business and political leaders concerned about the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative requiring a passport to be shown by all people entering or re-entering the United States by Jan. 1, 2008.
The law, to be phased in starting next year, emerged from recommendations of the Sept. 11 Commission as a means of tightening security at U.S. borders.
Gregoire and Campbell argue in a Dec. 8 letter to the president that the costs exceed the benefits.
“We absolutely support reasonable security measures for the safety of our citizens,” they wrote. “We are concerned that stringent requirements are being developed that will significantly alter the quality of life and economic prosperity for law abiding citizens, while terrorists will continue to falsify any ID process we put into place.”
Today, passports are not required to get into or return from Canada.
Passports also are not required of travelers from Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda entering the U.S.
A birth certificate and photo identification, such as a driver’s license, are sufficient.
Starting Dec. 31, 2006, all air and sea travelers from those countries will be required to show a passport. A year later, the law will cover people crossing the border on land.
The law allows alternatives that contain a photo and proof of citizenship, said Jarrod Agen, a Homeland Security Department spokesman. An existing ID card known as NEXUS is likely to be approved, he said.
Since the department announced the passport rule in April, more than 2,000 responses have been received, Agen said. Updated guidelines will be issued by the agency in the spring.
Gregoire and Campbell do not seek a delay in the law or propose specific revisions.
They cite the success of existing border security measures in capturing Ahmed Ressam in 1999 at a Washington state ferry terminal. Ressam, who was trying to smuggle in nitroglycerin, has since been convicted on terrorism-related crimes.
Gregoire and Campbell suggest protection can be beefed up without dampening economies of the state and the Canadian province.
Tourism is the primary concern, especially with the prospects of an economic boomlet coming when the 2010 Winter Olympics are held in Vancouver, B.C.
“Our tourism communities fear that the proposed regulations will create unnecessary hardships on legitimate travelers and businesses that could potentially lead to billions of dollars in lost visitor revenue in both countries,” they wrote.
For Washington, 13.5 percent of all visitors to the state in 2004 came from Canada, nearly every one through British Columbia. Canadians spent an estimated $372 million that year, according to a soon-to-be-released study done for the state Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development.
Washington has not calculated potential losses from the passport rule.
The Canadian Tourism Commission predicted 7.7 million fewer trips into Canada from the U.S., and 3.5 million fewer trips from Canada into the U.S., between 2005 and 2008. That could mean a loss of $1.7 billion for Canada and $785 million for the U.S.; both figures are in Canadian dollars.
“Not only will (the initiative) adversely impact travel, tourism and cross-border trade, but it will not make our citizens any safer,” Gregoire and Campbell wrote.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com
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