A budget request from U.S. Customs and Border Protection to conduct a study on charging vehicles and pedestrians a fee to cross the border into the U.S. has been getting some opposition in Congress.
On July 24, 2013, U.S. Congressman Rick Nolan responded to a letter Cook County Board Chair Jan Hall had written on behalf of the county board opposing the proposed border crossing fee.
“I agree that we should support proposals that encourage economic activity, not stifle it, as this proposal would do,” Nolan wrote. “For communities like Grand Marais, economic cooperation with Canada is central to local economic vitality. Every day, Canadians and Americans cross over to get to work, go to the doctor, run errands, attend a sports game, go to the theater, do their shopping, and much more. Efficient border crossings are essential in making these everyday activities as seamless as possible.
“Congress has recognized that a border fee such as the one proposed by DHS [the Department of Homeland Security] would discourage these daily crossings, bringing adverse economic impacts to an area already hampered by border crossing decreases due to the global economic downturn.”
Nolan said language was inserted into the 2014 Homeland Security appropriations bill that prohibits funding to study or impose border crossing fees for pedestrians and passenger vehicles. Nolan said that while this language blocks the proposal in the House, “perpetual budget uncertainty requires that additional efforts be made.”
Nolan said that he and other northern border colleagues co-sponsored H.R. 1886, the Promoting Border Commerce and Travel Act, which would prohibit DHS from imposing a border crossing fee on pedestrians and passenger vehicles at the U.S.-Canada border.
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