DHS Resists Congressional Effort to Delay Passport Rule

The Department of Homeland Security is fighting a proposal by Congress to delay the implementation of a new rule that would require any U.S. citizen re-entering the country by land or sea from Mexico, Canada, Bermuda or the Caribbean to show a passport, USA Today reports. The same counter-terrorism measure was rolled out this January for travelers entering the country by air.

The change quickly gummed up the system, creating major backlogs at passport centers as people scrambled to get their IDs in order. Officials pushed the rule's deadline back to September. Now Congress wants to do the same thing for land and sea travelers, shifting the deadline from January 2008 to June 2009. Concerns about an even bigger backlog are one reason. Border states also argue that making it harder for frequent travelers to move about will hurt local economies.

DHS says it doesn't matter. This is a safety issue America cannot ignore. From the USA Today story:

"Security leaders say Congress is 'tempting fate'
by seeking the delay and are dead set against it, said Homeland
Security spokesman Russ Knocke. 'That is just simply not acceptable to us. There are very bad people in this world who want to find ways to get into our country and kill Americans, and it seems to me that equipping frontline personnel with every tool and authority we can … would be something that any officials at any level of government or in any party would want to do,' Knocke said."