Speech #1050075960

The more than $1 billion of goods and services trade that crosses our border daily adds enormously to the daily traffic flow. If the United States were to implement the entry and exit procedure required by section 110. congestion would turn into a nightmare at the border. After the Immigration Reform Act passed last year. Chairmen SIMPSON and SMITH of the Senate and House Judiciary Subcommittees on Immigration. respectively. wrote to Canadian Ambassador Raymond Chretian assuring him that "we did not intend to impose a new requirement for border crossing cards or I94s on Canadians who are not presently required to possess such documents." Mr. Speaker. consistent with the intent of the United StatesCanada Accord on Our Shared Border to open and improve the flow of United States and Canadian citizens across our common border. and to prevent the intolerable congestion that would result from implementation of section 110 as it now stands. I am offering an amendment to the Immigration Reform Act. My bill simply exempts from section 110 Canadian nationals who are not otherwise required by law to possess a visa. passport. or bordercrossing identification card. This correction of an oversight in the 1996 Reform Act is the right thing to do. the practical thing to do. and it follows through on assurances made to the Canadian Ambassador that it was not congressional intent to reverse decades of practice with respect to Canadian nationals. The text of the bill follows: H.R. To amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to clarify that records of arrival or departure are not required to be collected for purposes of the automated entryexit control system developed under section 110 of such Act for Canadians who are not otherwise required to possess a visa. passport. or border crossing identification card. Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.