[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10965]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 EXPEDITING TRAFFIC AT THE PEACE BRIDGE

  (Mr. HIGGINS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HIGGINS. Madam Speaker, the Peace Bridge is the second-busiest 
crossing at the U.S.-Canada border. Expediting traffic at the bridge is 
essential to the economic future of western New York.
  The historic Beyond the Border agreement between the United States 
and Canada raises the possibility of pre-inspecting much of the U.S.-
bound cargo traffic on the Canadian side of the border crossing. I have 
repeatedly advocated that the Department of Homeland Security initiate 
a pilot program for commercial pre-inspection at the Peace Bridge. Last 
week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo added his strong support for this 
proposal.
  What Governor Cuomo understands, Madam Speaker, is that the pre-
inspection at the Peace Bridge would go a long way toward improving 
congestion at the bridge and, thereby, further integrating the western 
New York economy with that of southern Ontario. The success of the 
western New York economy is undoubtedly tied to predictable, reliable 
access into and out of Canada. Let's take the steps necessary to open 
up this bottleneck.

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