Speech #990030907

Mr. President. today I am introducing legislation which will facilitate trade and commerce between the United States and Canada by making it possible for busdrivers from Canada to enter the United States on appropriate visas. In past years. there has been a problem obtaining visas for Canadian citizens who are employed by Greyhound Bus Corp.. and who drive on routes which service points in both Canada and the United States. First one solution and then another have been tried to extend the interpretation of current visa categories to inc~ude these busdrivers. However. a strict reading of the immigration law indicates there is no appropriate visa classification for busdrivers who are transporting passengers across international boundaries on regularly scheduled routes. This bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow busdrivers to come under the same provision of the immigration law as commercial airline pilots and ship captains and crew. Without this legislation the Greyhound Corp. will be forced to suspend operation of its service between Canada and parts of Northeastern United States. including New York and Vermont. because it will no longer be able to hire Canadian busdrivers. Not only will Greyhound not be able to use Canadian drivers on these routes. but the Canadian Government will no longer permit American drivers to drive these routes in Canada. This decision of the Canadian Government was taken recently when it became clear that no administrative remedy was possible which would enable the Canadian busdrivers to obtain the necessary visas. Therefore. not only will passengers suffer from lack of bus service in the area. but American busdrivers will lose Jobs as service Is cut back. On the other hand. if Canadian busdrivers can obtain the necessary visas. they would in no way deprive the resident labor force of employment opportunities. wages or working conditions since Americanbased employees would continue to enjoy privileges of working into Canada. I had hoped that this legislation. which is offered as a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act. could be included in any immigration reform package which may be introduced in the Senate at a later date. However. the urgency of this matter will not allow any delay in taking action to remedy the situation. I hope the Senate will act quickly to approve this legislation so that we can avoid disruption of commercial bus service between Canada and the United States.