IMPROVING SECURITY AND FACILITATING COMMERCE AT THE NORTHERN BORDER HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE, DRUG POLICY AND HUMAN RESOURCES OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION DECEMBER 10, 2001 Serial No. 107–130 Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Reform ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house http://www.house.gov/reform U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 82–583 PDF WASHINGTON : 2003 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:43 Jan 15, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 C:\DOCS\82583.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1 COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM DAN BURTON, Indiana, Chairman BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York HENRY A. WAXMAN, California CONSTANCE A. MORELLA, Maryland TOM LANTOS, California CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut MAJOR R. OWENS, New York ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York JOHN M. MCHUGH, New York PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania STEPHEN HORN, California PATSY T. MINK, Hawaii JOHN L. MICA, Florida CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York THOMAS M. DAVIS, Virginia ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, Washington, MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana DC STEVEN C. LATOURETTE, Ohio ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland BOB BARR, Georgia DENNIS J. KUCINICH, Ohio DAN MILLER, Florida ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, Illinois DOUG OSE, California DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois RON LEWIS, Kentucky JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia JIM TURNER, Texas TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania THOMAS H. ALLEN, Maine DAVE WELDON, Florida JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois CHRIS CANNON, Utah WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri ADAM H. PUTNAM, Florida DIANE E. WATSON, California C.L. ‘‘BUTCH’’ OTTER, Idaho STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts EDWARD L. SCHROCK, Virginia ——— JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont ——— ——— (Independent) KEVIN BINGER, Staff Director DANIEL R. MOLL, Deputy Staff Director JAMES C. WILSON, Chief Counsel ROBERT A. BRIGGS, Chief Clerk PHIL SCHILIRO, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE, DRUG POLICY AND HUMAN RESOURCES MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana, Chairman BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, Illinois JOHN L. MICA, Florida, BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont BOB BARR, Georgia DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois DAN MILLER, Florida JIM TURNER, Texas DOUG OSE, California THOMAS H. ALLEN, Maine JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia JANICE D. SCHAKOWKY, Illinois DAVE WELDON, Florida EX OFFICIO DAN BURTON, Indiana HENRY A. WAXMAN, California CHRISTOPHER DONESA, Staff Director and Chief Counsel NICHOLAS P. COLEMAN, Professional Staff Member CONN CARROLL, Clerk JULIAN A. HAYWOOD, Minority Counsel (II) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:43 Jan 15, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\DOCS\82583.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1 C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on December 10, 2001 ...................................................................... 1 Statement of: Brown, Rear Admiral Erroll M., Commander, 13th Coast Guard District, U.S. Coast Guard; Thomas W. Hardy, Director, Field Operations North- west Great Plains Customs Management Center, U.S. Customs Service; Robert S. Coleman, Jr., Director, Seattle District, Immigration and Naturalization Service; and Ronald H. Henley, Chief Patrol Agent, Blaine Sector, U.S. Border Patrol, Immigration and Naturalization Service ............................................................................................................ 10 Gardner, Georgia, senator, Washington State Senate; Pete Kremen, Whatcom County executive; Jim Miller, executive director, Whatcom Council of Governments; Pam Christianson, president, Blaine Chamber of Commerce; Barry Clement, president, National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 164; and Jerry Emery, vice president, American Fed- eration of Government Employees, National INS Council, Local 40 ........ 87 Meredith, Val, member of Parliament, House of Commons; David Ander- son, president, Pacific Corridor Enterprise Council; Terry Preshaw, member, Vancouver Board of Trade; and Gordon Schaffer, president- elect, White Rock & South Surrey Chamber of Commerce ....................... 54 Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by: Anderson, David, president, Pacific Corridor Enterprise Council, prepared statement of ................................................................................................... 61 Brown, Rear Admiral Erroll M., Commander, 13th Coast Guard District, U.S. Coast Guard, prepared statement of ................................................... 13 Christianson, Pam, president, Blaine Chamber of Commerce, prepared statement of ................................................................................................... 117 Clement, Barry, president, National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 164, prepared statement of .......................................................................... 123 Coleman, Robert S., Jr., Director, Seattle District, Immigration and Natu- ralization Service, prepared statement of ................................................... 29 Emery, Jerry, vice president, American Federation of Government Em- ployees, National INS Council, Local 40, prepared statement of ............. 129 Gardner, Georgia, senator, Washington State Senate, prepared statement of ..................................................................................................................... 90 Hardy, Thomas W., Director, Field Operations Northwest Great Plains Customs Management Center, U.S. Customs Service, prepared state- ment of ........................................................................................................... 21 Henley, Ronald H., Chief Patrol Agent, Blaine Sector, U.S. Border Pa- trol—Immigration and Naturalization Service, prepared statement of ... 38 Kremen, Pete, Whatcom County executive, prepared statement of ............. 102 Meredith, Val, member of Parliament, House of Commons, prepared statement of ................................................................................................... 56 Miller, Jim, executive director, Whatcom Council of Governments, pre- pared statement of ........................................................................................ 107 Preshaw, Terry, member, Vancouver Board of Trade, prepared statement of ..................................................................................................................... 75 Schaffer, Gordon, president-elect, White Rock & South Surrey Chamber of Commerce, prepared statement of ........................................................... 78 Souder, Hon. Mark E., a Representative in Congress from the State of Indiana, prepared statement of ............................................................... 4 (III) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:43 Jan 15, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\DOCS\82583.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:43 Jan 15, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\DOCS\82583.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1 IMPROVING SECURITY AND FACILITATING COMMERCE AT THE NORTHERN BORDER MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2001 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE, DRUG POLICY AND HUMAN RESOURCES, COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM, Blaine, WA. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:30 p.m., at the Senior Center, 763 G Street, Blaine, WA, Hon. Mark E. Souder, (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Souder and Larsen. STAFF PRESENT: CHRISTOPHER DONESA, STAFF DIRECTOR AND CHIEF COUNSEL; NICHOLAS P. COLEMAN, PROFESSIONAL STAFF MEMBER; AND CONN CARROLL, CLERK. Mr. SOUDER. Good afternoon and thank you for coming. Today our subcommittee will explore the status of the Blaine, WA border crossing. Even before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, this subcommittee was considering ways to improve both the secu- rity of our Nation’s borders and the efficient flow of international commerce, travel and tourism. Continuing problems with illegal immigration and the smuggling of drugs and other contraband over the Southern and Northern borders, and the threat of terrorism, have prompted calls to hire more Federal law enforcement officers and to expand the physical and technological infrastructure needed to allow those officers to work effectively. The attacks of September 11th have only heightened our sense of urgency in dealing with the terrorist threat as well as the prob- lems of narcotic interdiction and illegal immigration. At the same time, long delays at border crossings and a sharp reduction in com- mercial and commuter traffic resulting from the increased security measures put in place after September 11th have raised concerns about the effect of these policies on trade, tourism and travel. Con- gressman Larsen has been a leader in making sure that we are aware of this balance as has both senators in Washington State. Congress has been considering numerous proposals to deal with these problems, and our subcommittee is open to exploring all of them. However, finding and implementing solutions is more dif- ficult than simply identifying problems. For example, the House of Representatives and the Senate recently passed anti-terrorist legis- lation that, among other measures, authorizes the tripling of the number of Border Patrol agents, INS