The Passport Requirement of the WHTI Needs to be Implemented Without Delay

By Michael Cutler

I was quoted in the Canadian press concerning the arrest of 17 terrorism suspects in Canada several weeks ago. I was subsequently contacted by a staffer from the Canadian Senate who asked me to prepare a paper concerning my position on the WHTI (Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative) which will require citizens of Canada and the United States to carry a passport or other secure identity documentation to be developed, when they cross the border separating our two countries.

Needless to say, I was honored to have been contacted by the Canadian government so that I could provide them with my perspective on this important issue. I have complied with this request and a copy of my paper that I have provided to the Canadian Senate follows. I have been told that it will be circulated among all of the members of the Canadian Senate's Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce which is involved with this issue.

It is my belief that in the perilous times in which we live, the requirement established by the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) that citizens of the United States and Canada carry passports when they travel across the international border that separates these two countries is entirely reasonable and should be implemented without any additional delay.

I am a New Yorker and on September 11, 2001, the ashes from the conflagration at the World Trade Center site that was to come to be known as “Ground Zero” fell on my home and my neighbors’ homes. On that terrible day, I recall seeing the images of the North Tower already ablaze on television when, as I watched the live coverage of that disaster, I saw the second airliner strike the South Tower. I raced around to gather up my children who were attending different schools to make certain that they were safe. In the days that followed, all too many of my neighbors tied yellow ribbons to the trees in front of their homes, signifying that a family member was missing. In those dark days after 9/11 I gave up counting how many cars drove by with photos in their windows with a simple question attached to the photos: “Have you seen my son?” “Have you seen my wife?” “Have you seen my dad?”

The terrorist attacks committed against the United States and our way of life, has forever changed the way that we now have to do business. As I have often stated in public appearances, the “All clear” has not yet sounded. Indeed, the attacks in Spain and England and the arrests of other terrorism suspects throughout the world, including Canada, serve as continuing reminders that we remain at risk.

It is critical that we restore as much of normalcy to our lives as we can. To curl up in the fetal position and become paralyzed with fear would give the terrorists the victory they so desperately want. However, while we must live our lives and travel and do all of those things that have been such an integral part of our individual lives as well as the lives of our respective nations before the terrorist attacks against the United States, we need to take certain prudent yet reasonable measures to help protect ourselves against those who would destroy us. One of the points I made when I testified at a Congressional hearing in Washington, D.C. is that no American city is safe if any American city is attacked. We most certainly can make the same statement about those nations that practice democracy and permit people of all cultures and religions to participate fully in the political and social life of that nation. Canada certainly has a justifiably proud tradition of Liberalism where the acceptance of people of all backgrounds is concerned. This attribute, however, can also represent a vulnerability to the security of your nation as well as the United States. I have read a number of reports that indicate that as many as 50 terrorist organizations may well be operating within your nation’s borders. This is something that imperils your safety and survival as well as the safety and survival of the United States. I can also tell you that there are undoubtedly terrorists and terrorist sympathizers who live in the United States who imperil the United States and Canada, as well.

Terrorists have apparently used Canada as a staging point for carrying out, or attempting to carry out terrorist attacks in the United States. The ease with which they can move between our two countries is certainly an inducement for terrorists to come to Canada with the anticipation that they could then move easily across our border to carry out an attack in the United States. This factor also may well attract terrorists to enter Canada as a part of their overall plan to attack the United States. Meanwhile, as they live in Canada, their presence may well also represent a threat to your country as well. The recent arrest of terrorists in Canada, while a tribute to the effectiveness of your law enforcement officials, also makes it clear that Canada is also a potential target for those who are engaged in terrorism.

I can tell you from personal experience, having worked closely with law enforcement officers from Canada, most often with members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, that where these dedicated men and women are concerned; Canada has every reason to be proud of them. They are every bit as competent and professional as are the best law enforcement officers to be found in the United States. The best law enforcement officers alone, however, cannot be the most effective that they can be without the support of the legislators who establish the laws and regulations that facilitate their efforts when they are on duty.

The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, (WHTI), establishes a deadline whereby a requirement will be implemented that when citizens of our respective nations travel between out two countries that they carry with them passports or at the least, suitable identity documents to help screen out those who might be traveling into our respective nations who pose a threat to our safety. This would make it more difficult for terrorists and criminals to enter our respective nations under false identities to conceal their true identities and the true purposes of their travel. This requirement is the direct result of the findings of the Presidential Commission on the Attacks of September 11, 2001. This requirement may well represent an inconvenience to the citizens of both of our nations who desire to travel across our mutual border, but in my judgment, this measure would provide both of our nations with enhanced security.

I have made many trips to Canada, I have been to Toronto, Montreal and Quebec and I plan to make many more trips to Canada and I can tell you the passport requirement will not deter me from traveling north. In the United States, because of the many fatalities our motorists have suffered in automobile accidents, caused by drunk drivers and drivers who have been operating cars under the influence of drugs, so-called “Sobriety Checkpoints” have been set up, especially during the various holidays to help deter drunk driving. These check points are quite frankly, a nuisance to most of us because it often causes traffic delays. However, these checkpoints, while inconvenient, have improved automotive safety on my nation’s roads. Drunk drivers have been caught and have been arrested and their cars seized. These enforcement actions have also resulted in the arrest of motorists who were driving without a license or with suspended licenses. Occasionally, these checkpoints result in criminals being apprehended. Through these efforts, our roads have been made safer. It would seem reasonable to me to think of the passport requirement of the WHTI in the same way that we have come to think of Sobriety Checkpoints. While this represents an inconvenience, I believe that the citizens of both of our nations realize that the threat of terrorism requires greater vigilance on the part of our law enforcement authorities. In New York City, for example, when the alert level increases as it does, periodically, vehicles entering various tunnels may be searched. We all get to airports an hour or more earlier than we used to in anticipation of the more stringent searches being conducted on passengers.

I know that there have been proposals that the deadlines for the implementation of the requirements of the WHTI should be pushed back. While it might make things more convenient for the moment, I would respectfully request you consider two factors where the delay of the implementation of WHTI is concerned. First of all the attacks of September 11, 2001 occurred nearly five years ago. I would remind you that when the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the war was joined by the United States nearly immediately after that attack and in less than four years, the Second World War was brought to a successful conclusion. It required that fleets of new airplanes and warships were designed and built. It required that atomic weapons be constructed with revolutionary new technology. Here we are, nearly 5 years after the worst terrorist attack ever carried out against the United States and some basic commonsense measures are still being discussed and have yet to be implemented. When I testified before the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims in May of last year I made the point that if America fought World War II the way we are fighting the War on Terror, I fear that a different flag would be flying over my nation’s Capitol today.

The second point I would like you to consider, is that if there is, God forbid, another terrorist attack, the loss of human life could be far worse than it was on September 11, 2001 (horrific as that attack was). The financial impact of such an attack could be catastrophic for the economies of both of our countries. World-wide travel would be brought to a screeching halt and commerce would be decimated.

Admittedly the implementation of the WHTI will not solve all of the security issues that we need to address as the world remains at risk for additional terrorist attacks, but it does represent a good step in the right direction. It is important that our nations be able to more effectively screen international travelers who cross our borders. When I was an inspector at JFK International Airport in the 1970’s I was always concerned about the practice of not requiring passports or secure identity documents to properly identify arriving passengers who claimed to be citizens of the United States. Of course, that was long before the threat of an attack being carried out inside the United States was on my country’s radar scope. We admitted returning United States citizens on the ‘honor system.’ Simply stated, the honor system only works when you are dealing with honorable people. Needless to say, terrorists and criminals are anything but honorable.

These factors should make it clear that while the WHTI might represent an inconvenience, it would represent an opportunity to provide our respective nations with enhanced security, an objective that has to be of primary consideration given the on-going threat of terrorism. It is in the best interest of both of our nations that the WHTI be implemented on schedule, without any delay.

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