WASHINGTON - Canada's push for an alternative to passports at the border is getting a major endorsement from two U.S. senators who want to give Americans the option of using secure driver's licences at land crossings.
Minnesota's Norm Coleman and Susan Collins of Maine, both Republicans, have introduced a measure to create a national licence program, saying recent technological advances have made the documents a safe bet for weeding out terrorists.
Their amendment would also require U.S. officials to wait on the passport plan until a pilot project using driver's licences at crossings between British Columbia and Washington state is evaluated.
That project doesn't start until January 2008, the date when the U.S. Homeland Security Department wants to start the land and sea phase of the so-called Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.
Air travellers have needed passports since Jan. 23, leading to long delays in getting the documents, a problem still plaguing many Canadians.
"We would be foolish not to allow Americans to voluntarily enrol in a program to allow (licences) for driving to Canada'' said Coleman.
"The Washington state project ... should be tested and applied nationwide, sooner rather than later.''
Maine residents need quick and easy border crossings, said Collins, to go to work, attend church and visit family and friends.
"It is critical that we strike a balance between the security of our nation's borders and the free flow of commerce and travel to and from the United States.''
If the licence measure passes Congress, it would provide a huge boost for Canada's hopes of using a similar type of document.
Ontario is developing a new high-tech licence and Tourism Minister Jim Bradley has predicted U.S. authorities will warm to the idea of allowing it.
But U.S. officials say a passport is the one sure document that will be accepted from Canadians starting some time next year.
The Senate bill proposed by Coleman and Collins follows similar efforts by the House of Representatives to delay the security rule that requires proof of citizenship and other identifying information from travellers.
The House passed measures earlier this month requiring Homeland to do a time-consuming study of the costs and benefits of requiring passports.
Like the Senate bill, the House has called for proof that U.S. passcards being developed as a cheaper alternative to passports will work and that special readers are in place at the border.
The senators also want Americans to get a break on processing fees for passports and passcards, as well as mobile enrolment teams for easy access.
U.S. officials have given mixed signals about when the program will officially start.
Homeland is pressing for this January despite the fact that Congress has already given them an unbinding extension until June 2009. The State Department appears to be more flexible.
David Wilkins, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, predicts it will be sometime next year, before President George W. Bush leaves office in January 2009.
