U.S. Senate Environment and Public
Works Committee
Field Hearing
Brownsville, Texas
August 11, 2003
Testimony by S.F. Vale on behalf of
the Border Trade Alliance
U.S. Senate Environment and Public
Works Committee
Field Hearing
Brownsville, Texas
August 11, 2003
Testimony by S.F. Vale on behalf of
the Border Trade Alliance
Chairman
Inhofe, Senator Cornyn, my name is Sam F. Vale. I am a businessman here in the Rio Grande Valley involved in
various aspects of cross-border trade as the CEO of the Starr-Camargo Bridge
Company, as well as president of the local Telemundo television affiliate. But I appear here today as Chair of the
Strategic Planning Committee of the Border Trade Alliance, an organization of
which I am a founding board member and for whom I have served as chairman.
As you may
know, since 1986 the BTA has served as the voice for free and efficient trade
for our border communities, north and south.
Our mission is to initiate, monitor and influence public policy and
private sector initiatives for the facilitation of international trade and
commerce through advocacy, education, issue development, research and analysis,
and strategic planning. Throughout our
history, the BTA has had numerous occasions to testify before Congressional
committees such as this one, and we welcome the opportunity to join you here
today.
I would
like touch on a few topics here today that I hope will be of interest to the
committee as it examines the state of affairs of our borders and our
international ports of entry. First,
I’ll provide some comments on BTA’s position on border region transportation
funding. Secondly, I’ll touch on the
subject of border region infrastructure.
Finally, I’ll close with subject of great
importance to both the U.S.-Canada
and the U.S.-Mexico borders: Entry and exit controls, or, as the entry/exit
project is now known, US VISIT.
In 1998, a program and funding
stream was established to help border communities and communities along
international trade corridors handle the increased traffic they faced from
growing NAFTA trade. The funding for
the Borders and Corridors program, sections 1118 and 1119 of the Transportation
Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), will be reauthorized this
year.
In 1998, the Borders and Corridors
Program was authorized at $140 million per year for fiscal years 1999 through
2003.
A total of 43 corridors were
identified in this program, with a provision to add corridors at a later date;
and every border port of entry in the United States was eligible for
funding. In addition, the designated
funding stream was heavily earmarked, making even fewer dollars available for
border communities and true international trade corridors, as funds were
diverted to the interior of the country and other non-trade corridor projects.
The corridor applicants to the
program were allocated 86 percent of the program funding, while border
communities were allocated 14 percent of the funding.
The Border Trade Alliance (BTA)
supports the following changes in the structure of the Borders and Corridors
Program:
In
addition, we encourage a significant part of the funding allocated for the
borders be dedicated to projects within 50 miles of the U.S. border and that
are directly related to the movement of goods from land border ports of entry
to interstate highways.
The division of these programs will also help with
the implementation of many of the new measures aimed at increasing the security
of our homeland. Operations at our
ports of entry play an integral role in the security of our borders and our
supply chain. Additional funding,
dedicated for borders, would help fund even more increased security measures at
all ports of entry.
A final point, that is not
directly related to the Borders and Corridors Program but that is relevant to
border communities and transportation funding, is the issue of population based
formulas used in determining a community’s allocation of its state’s total
federal funding. Currently, border
communities are allocated money from their state’s share of TEA-21 based on a
population formula. This is
insufficient. Laredo, Texas, for
example, has one percent of our state’s population, and is therefore allocated
one percent of the TEA-21 funding from this state. However, Laredo, Texas is second in the nation in the amount of
trade traffic they process on a daily basis.
Border communities are also
unique in that their metropolitan areas are not completely in the United States
and therefore their total metropolitan area populations are not accounted for
in population-based formulas. Border
communities are often only blocks away from their sister cities on the other side
of the border, a shorter distance than many cities that are grouped together in
the Metropolitan Statistical Area within the States. We need to create formulas that take the unique geography and
realities of border communities into account.
Status quo of the Borders and
Corridors Program is unacceptable. The
BTA believes that these changes will enhance the ability of goods to move
quickly and efficiently through our ports of entry and into the rest of the country
so that consumers may continue to benefit.
The BTA has long called for
improved infrastructure and technology at our land border ports of entry. The men and women who secure our borders
while processing ever increasing volumes of trade deserve efficient facilities
that make it possible for them to carry out their important jobs to the best of
their abilities.
While the BTA does not take
positions on individual projects proposed by various border communities, we can
say that our borders need new and improved bridges, and new land crossing
facilities. With the coming
implementation of US VISIT, the Department of Homeland Security’s entry and
exit control system, the need to install modern functional infrastructure has taken
on even great importance.
The Border Trade Alliance’s
various positions on border transportation and infrastructure are now colored
by the coming implementation of the US VISIT entry/exit system. US VISIT is the acronym for the United States
Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program.
According to a Department of
Homeland Security press release issued on April 29, US VISIT “will utilize a
minimum of two biometric identifiers, such as photographs, fingerprints or iris
scans, to build an electronic check in/check out system for people coming to
the U.S. to work, study or visit.”
The BTA has been the border trade
community’s watchdog on entry/exit since the subject first arose in the Illegal
Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, and the subsequent
legislation that amended the 1996 law, the INS Data Management and Improvement
Act of 2000, or DMIA.
According to DMIA, an integrated
entry and exit control system is to be installed and the 50 largest land border
ports of entry by December 31, 2004 and at all remaining land border ports of
entry by then end of 2005.
As these deadlines inch ever
closer, we in border communities are faced with the prospect of severe traffic
congestion at our southbound lanes, and damage to our local economies as the
hassle of crossing our borders increases, thus discouraging legitimate tourists
and shoppers. It is vitally important
to the continued economic health of border communities from San Diego to
Brownsville that when US VISIT is implemented that it is done in manner that is
in the best interest of border communities.
The
Department of Homeland Security claims that US VISIT will enhance traffic flow
for individuals entering or exiting the U.S. for legitimate purpose by:
·
Facilitating travel and commerce;
·
Respecting the environment;
·
Strengthening international cooperation; and
·
Respecting privacy laws and policies.
If US VISIT is poorly
designed and implemented and does not, as it claims it will, enhance the border
crossing process, then we run the risk of inflicting economic damage on our
communities the likes from which we may never recover.
The Border Trade
Alliance thanks you for this opportunity to offer our testimony on these
important issues affecting the Texas-Mexico border region. We are committed to ensuring that the border
region’s transportation, infrastructure, and security needs are met for
the 21st century.