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GCN Home > 07/31/06 issue

PASS card debate enters next round

Factions argue which technology would work best for credentials at the border

By Wilson P. Dizard III, GCN Staff

The bell rang last week for a new round in the tag-team wrestling match over the best technology for border crossing credentials.

The border credential smackdown will reach its climax after Congress’ August recess, when a conference committee on the Homeland Security Department appropriations bill is set to decide the matter.

The People Access Security Service, or PASS, card project forms part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which would require a secure credential that verifies the citizenship and identity of U.S. nationals who re-enter the country.

The debate heated up over the past month as industry associations started lobbying lawmakers, and 21 House members pressed the White House for a delay.

In one corner is the Information Technology Industry Association of Arlington, Va., which worked to throttle a proposed legislative mandate of smart-card technology for the PASS project. ITAA prefers that no specific standard be named in the bill.

In the other corner is the Smart Card Industry Alliance of Princeton Junction, N.J., which worked to preserve an amendment in the Senate version of the DHS funding bill that would recommend smart-card technology based on the International Standards Organization 14443 standard for the PASS card.

Government players

Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)—who introduced the amendment to delay the PASS Card 17 months, until June 2009—loomed large in the fray, poised to back the Senate version of HR 5541. Both senators will sit on the conference committee.

The executive branch team includes the Office of Management and Budget, and the State and Homeland Security departments. They seek to knock the Leahy/Stevens amendment out of the ring—passing out talking points to lawmakers who support the PASS Card as originally planned.

As all this debate continued, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) last week issued a statement reflecting the views of 21 fellow Empire State House members, who wrote to OMB in March criticizing WHTI’s costs and the prospect of its choking travel and trade with Canada.

“We cannot allow the current WHTI proposal to unnecessarily destroy the economic and cultural ties between the U.S. and Canada,” Slaughter said. “If we do not fix the plan, DHS and State will continue down a course that will prove disastrous for both countries. We can simultaneously achieve both strong border security and economic security with Canada, but only if Congress acts soon.”

More news on related topics: Authentication / Identity Management, Homeland Security, Photo Gallery



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