C of C Members Urged
To Fight Passport Law

Members of the Randolph Chamber of Commerce have been encouraged to send a letter to Washington D.C. asking Congress to push back the date that passports will be required to go in and out of Canada.

"This new law is affecting travel and therefore commerce between Canada and Vermont," said interim Executive Director Judy Moore in a letter to all members, at the behest of the Chamber board.

Presently, the date for requiring passports has been set at June 1, 2008 which, Moore said is "far too soon."

"You have probably noticed that there is an unbelievably long wait to get a passport and that it is very expensive."

She said that the Chamber hopes that the date is pushed back a year, or that alternative ID documents will be considered.

Passports have never been required for travel to Canada, and people in the border towns, in particular, travel back and forth in great numbers—sometimes as school groups, etc.

Moore attached a letter modeled by the Chamber. She said the letters should reach Washington by Sept. 17.

U. S. Sen. Bernie Sanders also spoke out last week about his "deep concerns" about long delays crossing the border. He invited Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to come to Vermont and to "put an end to this absolutely unacceptable situation."

The senator also established a committee of Vermont state and local officials, law enforcement authorities, business owners and others affected by increasing border crossing problems.

Jay Peak President Bill Stenger called the problem "a crisis that could unhinge the Vermont economy." The ski area attracts thousands of skiers from Canada.