William F. Smith: “Mr. Speaker, Congress has required the Immigration and Naturalization Service to develop and implement a system to track…”

“Mr. Speaker, Congress has required the Immigration and Naturalization Service to develop and implement a system to track the entry and exits of those crossing our borders. The purpose of this bill is to make sure that such a system will not substantially impede trade or traffic across our borders, both northern and southern. The intent is, first, to set a reasonable time frame for the development and implementation of an exit/entry system and, second, to reaffirm that it is the policy of this Congress that such a system is to be developed so that, upon implementation, it will not substantially impede trade or border crossings. Understandably, this matter may be of particular concern to those States along our northern border. Unlike the southern border, there are relatively few northern border entry points and they already are congested by high volumes of traffic frequently using one- and two-lane highways and bridges. Any further slowdown in the flow of such traffic could be seen as hurting the economies of many States, especially New York, Michigan, and Washington State, but also Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maine, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Vermont, and New Hampshire.”