[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 22, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S7481]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              ENTRY-EXIT CONTROL SYSTEM AT CANADIAN BORDER

 Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, as an original cosponsor of 
legislation to repeal Section 110 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 
Immigrant Responsibility of 1996, I am pleased that this bill contains 
language to prevent traffic delays at the Canadian border.
  Section 110, which was scheduled to go into effect on September 30, 
1998, would have required the Immigration and Naturalization Service 
(INS) to document every alien's arrival in and departure from the 
United States through an automated entry-exit control system. The 
Omnibus appropriations act for FY1999 included a compromise provision I 
cosponsored to delay Section 110 for 30 months. I stated then that 
Section 110 should not be just delayed, but repealed, because the cost 
of any such entry-exit system would far exceed its benefits. The vote 
today replaces the requirements of Section 110 with a feasibility study 
to determine whether any such system could be developed without 
increasing congestion or border crossing delays.
  Section 110, if applied to Canadian nationals would place an 
unnecessary burden on the hundreds of thousands of motorists who cross 
the border daily. In 1996, over 116 million U.S. and Canadian border 
crossers traveled by land to the United States. Instituting a check for 
each one of these border crossers would create enormous delays at the 
250 points of entry, and would have an especially damaging impact on 
the businesses, trade, and tourism in Michigan and other northern 
border states. U.S. trade with Canada, our largest trading partner, 
generates approximately $1 billion of commerce and tourism daily. Any 
loss of this revenue would be devastating to my State.
  This provision to repeal the Section 110 requirements at land border 
and sea ports is vital for Michigan communities and businesses, and I 
am very pleased that the Senate is addressing this important 
issue.

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