II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 35 

To amend section 7209 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention 

Act of 2004 and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 22, 2007 

Mr. COLEMAN (for himself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend section 7209 of the Intelligence Reform and 

Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Western Hemisphere 

5 Traveler Improvement Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CERTIFICATIONS. 

7 Section 7209(b)(1) of the Intelligence Reform and 

8 Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (8 U.S.C. 1185 note) 

9 is amended— 

10 (1) in subparagraph (B)— 


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1 (A) in clause (v)— 

2 (i) by striking ‘‘process’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘read’’; and 

4 (ii) inserting ‘‘at all ports of entry’’ 

5 after ‘‘installed’’; 

6 (B) in clause (vi), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

7 end; 

8 (C) in clause (vii), by striking the period at 

9 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

10 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(viii) a pilot program in which not 

12 fewer than 1 State has been initiated and 

13 evaluated to determine if an enhanced driv14 er’s license, which is machine-readable and 

15 tamper-proof, not valid for certification of 

16 citizenship for any purpose other than ad17 mission into the United States from Can18 ada, and issued by such State to an indi19 vidual, may permit the individual to use 

20 the individual’s driver’s license to meet the 

21 documentation requirements under sub22 paragraph (A) for entry into the United 

23 States from Canada at the land and sea 

24 ports of entry; 


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1 ‘‘(ix) the report described in subpara2 graph (C) has been submitted to the ap3 propriate congressional committees; 

4 ‘‘(x) a study has been conducted to 

5 determine the number of passports and 

6 passport cards that will be issued as a con7 sequence of the documentation require8 ments under subparagraph (A); and 

9 ‘‘(xi) sufficient passport adjudication 

10 personnel have been hired or contracted— 

11 ‘‘(I) to accommodate— 

12 ‘‘(aa) increased demand for 

13 passports as a consequence of the 

14 documentation requirements 

15 under subparagraph (A); and 

16 ‘‘(bb) a surge in such de17 mand during seasonal peak travel 

18 times; and 

19 ‘‘(II) to ensure that the time re20 quired to issue a passport or passport 

21 card is not anticipated to exceed 8 

22 weeks.’’; and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(C) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

25 after the initiation of the pilot program deVerDate Aug 31 2005 19:15 May 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S35.IS S35

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1 scribed in subparagraph (B)(viii), the Secretary 

2 of Homeland Security and the Secretary of 

3 State shall submit to the appropriate congres4 sional committees a report, which includes— 

5 ‘‘(i) an analysis of the impact of the 

6 pilot program on national security; 

7 ‘‘(ii) recommendations on how to ex8 pand the pilot program to other States; 

9 ‘‘(iii) any appropriate statutory 

10 changes to facilitate the expansion of the 

11 pilot program to additional States and to 

12 citizens of Canada; 

13 ‘‘(iv) a plan to scan individuals par14 ticipating in the pilot program against 

15 United States terrorist watch lists; 

16 ‘‘(v) an evaluation of and rec17 ommendations for the type of machine18 readable technology that should be used in 

19 enhanced driver’s licenses, based on indi20 vidual privacy considerations and the costs 

21 and feasibility of incorporating any new 

22 technology into existing driver’s licenses; 

23 ‘‘(vi) recommendations for improving 

24 the pilot program; and 


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1 ‘‘(vii) an analysis of any cost savings 

2 for a citizen of the United States partici3 pating in an enhanced driver’s license pro4 gram as compared with participating in an 

5 alternative program.’’. 

6 SEC. 3. SPECIAL RULE FOR MINORS. 

7 Section 7209(b) of the Intelligence Reform and Ter8 rorism Prevention Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–458; 8 

9 U.S.C. 1185 note) is amended by adding at the end the 

10 following new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR MINORS.—Notwith12 standing any other provision of law, the Secretary of 

13 Homeland Security shall permit an individual to 

14 enter the United States without providing any evi15 dence of citizenship if the individual— 

16 ‘‘(A)(i) is less than 16 years old; 

17 ‘‘(ii) is accompanied by the individual’s 

18 legal guardian; 

19 ‘‘(iii) is entering the United States from 

20 Canada or Mexico; 

21 ‘‘(iv) is a citizen of the United States or 

22 Canada; and 

23 ‘‘(v) provides a birth certificate; or 

24 ‘‘(B)(i) is less than 18 years old; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) is traveling under adult supervision 

2 with a public or private school group, religious 

3 group, social or cultural organization, or team 

4 associated with a youth athletics organization; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(iii) provides a birth certificate.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. TRAVEL FACILITATION INITIATIVES. 

8 Section 7209 of the Intelligence Reform and Ter9 rorism Prevention Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–458; 8 

10 U.S.C. 1185 note) is amended by adding at the end the 

11 following new subsections: 

12 ‘‘(e) STATE DRIVER’S LICENSE AND IDENTIFICATION

13 CARD ENROLLMENT PROGRAM.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

15 provision of law and not later than 180 days after 

16 the submission of the report described in subsection 

17 (b)(1)(C), the Secretary of State and the Secretary 

18 of Homeland Security shall issue regulations to es19 tablish a State Driver’s License and Identity Card 

20 Enrollment Program as described in this subsection 

21 (hereinafter in this subsection referred to as the 

22 ‘Program’) and which allows the Secretary of Home23 land Security to enter into a memorandum of under24 standing with an appropriate official of each State 

25 that elects to participate in the Program. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Program 

2 is to permit a citizen of the United States who pro3 duces a driver’s license or identity card that meets 

4 the requirements of paragraph (3) or a citizen of 

5 Canada who produces a document described in para6 graph (4) to enter the United States from Canada 

7 by land or sea without providing any other docu8 mentation or evidence of citizenship. 

9 ‘‘(3) ADMISSION OF CITIZENS OF THE UNITED

10 STATES.—A driver’s license or identity card meets 

11 the requirements of this paragraph if— 

12 ‘‘(A) the license or card— 

13 ‘‘(i) was issued by a State that is par14 ticipating in the Program; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) is tamper-proof and machine 

16 readable; and 

17 ‘‘(B) the State that issued the license or 

18 card— 

19 ‘‘(i) has a mechanism to verify the 

20 United States citizenship status of an ap21 plicant for such a license or card; 

22 ‘‘(ii) does not require an individual to 

23 include the individual’s citizenship status 

24 on such a license or card; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) manages all information regard2 ing an applicant’s United States citizen3 ship status in the same manner as such in4 formation collected through the United 

5 States passport application process and 

6 prohibits any other use or distribution of 

7 such information. 

8 ‘‘(4) ADMISSION OF CITIZENS OF CANADA.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

10 other provision of law, if the Secretary of State 

11 and the Secretary of Homeland Security deter12 mine that an identity document issued by the 

13 Government of Canada or by the Government 

14 of a Province or Territory of Canada meets se15 curity and information requirements com16 parable to the requirements for a driver’s li17 cense or identity card described in paragraph 

18 (3), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

19 permit a citizen of Canada to enter the United 

20 States from Canada using such a document 

21 without providing any other documentation or 

22 evidence of Canadian citizenship. 

23 ‘‘(B) TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS.—The 

24 Secretary of Homeland Security shall work, to 

25 the maximum extent possible, to ensure that an 


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1 identification document issued by Canada that 

2 permits entry into the United States under sub3 paragraph (A) utilizes technology similar to the 

4 technology utilized by identification documents 

5 issued by the United States or any State. 

6 ‘‘(5) AUTHORITY TO EXPAND.—Notwith7 standing any other provision of law, the Secretary of 

8 State and the Secretary of Homeland Security may 

9 expand the Program to permit an individual to enter 

10 the United States— 

11 ‘‘(A) from a country other than Canada; or 

12 ‘‘(B) using evidence of citizenship other 

13 than a driver’s license or identity card described 

14 in paragraph (3) or a document described in 

15 paragraph (4). 

16 ‘‘(6) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER REQUIRE17 MENTS.—Nothing in this subsection shall have the 

18 effect of creating a national identity card or a cer19 tification of citizenship for any purpose other than 

20 admission into the United States as described in this 

21 subsection. 

22 ‘‘(7) STATE DEFINED.—In this subsection, the 

23 term ‘State’ means any of the several States of the 

24 United States, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

25 Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 


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1 the District of Columbia, Guam, the Virgin Islands 

2 of the United States, or any other territory or pos3 session of the United States. 

4 ‘‘(f) WAIVER FOR INTRASTATE TRAVEL.—The Sec5 retary of Homeland Security shall accept a birth certifi6 cate as proof of citizenship for any United States citizen 

7 who is traveling directly from one part of a State to a 

8 noncontiguous part of that State through Canada, if such 

9 citizen cannot travel by land to such part of the State 

10 without traveling through Canada, and such travel in Can11 ada is limited to no more than 2 hours. 

12 ‘‘(g) WAIVER OF PASS CARD AND PASSPORT EXECU13 TION FEES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

15 provision of law, during the 2-year period beginning 

16 on the date on which the Secretary of Homeland Se17 curity publishes a final rule in the Federal Register 

18 to carry out subsection (b), the Secretary of State 

19 shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) designate 1 facility in each city or 

21 port of entry designated under paragraph (2), 

22 including a State Department of Motor Vehicles 

23 facility located in such city or port of entry if 

24 the Secretary determines appropriate, in which 

25 a passport or passport card may be procured 


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1 without an execution fee during such period; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) develop not fewer than 6 mobile en4 rollment teams that— 

5 ‘‘(i) are able to issue passports or 

6 other identity documents issued by the 

7 Secretary of State without an execution fee 

8 during such period; 

9 ‘‘(ii) are operated along the northern 

10 and southern borders of the United States; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(iii) focus on providing passports and 

13 other such documents to citizens of the 

14 United States who live in areas of the 

15 United States that are near such an inter16 national border and that have relatively 

17 low population density. 

18 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATION OF CITIES AND PORTS OF

19 ENTRY.—The Secretary of State shall designate cit20 ies and ports of entry for purposes of paragraph 

21 (1)(A) as follows: 

22 ‘‘(A) The Secretary shall designate not 

23 fewer than 3 cities or ports of entry that are 

24 100 miles or less from the northern border of 

25 the United States. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall designate not 

2 fewer than 3 cities or ports of entry that are 

3 100 miles or less from the southern border of 

4 the United States. 

5 ‘‘(h) COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS.—Prior to publishing 

6 a final rule in the Federal Register to carry out subsection 

7 (b), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall conduct a 

8 complete cost-benefit analysis of carrying out this section. 

9 Such analysis shall include analysis of— 

10 ‘‘(1) any potential costs of carrying out this 

11 section on trade, travel, and the tourism industry; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(2) any potential savings that would result 

14 from the implementation of the State Driver’s Li15 cense and Identity Card Enrollment Program estab16 lished under subsection (e) as an alternative to pass17 ports and passport cards. 

18 ‘‘(i) REPORT.—During the 2-year period beginning 

19 on the date that is the 3 months after the date on which 

20 the Secretary of Homeland Security begins implementa21 tion of subsection (b)(1)— 

22 ‘‘(1) the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

23 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

24 a report not less than once every 3 months on— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the average delay at border crossings; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) the average processing time for a 

4 NEXUS card, FAST card, or SENTRI card; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(2) the Secretary of State shall submit to the 

7 appropriate congressional committees a report not 

8 less than once every 3 months on the average proc9 essing time for a passport or passport card. 

10 ‘‘(j) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

11 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘appropriate congres12 sional committees’ means— 

13 ‘‘(1) the Committee on Appropriations, the 

14 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

15 Affairs, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

16 Senate; and 

17 ‘‘(2) the Committee on Appropriations, the 

18 Committee on Homeland Security, and the Com19 mittee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa20 tives.’’. 

21 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING IMPLEMENTA22 TION OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE TRAV23 EL INITIATIVE. 

24 The intent of Congress in enacting section 546 of the 

25 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 


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1 2007 (Public Law 109–295; 120 Stat. 1386) was to pre2 vent the Secretary of Homeland Security from imple3 menting the plan described in section 7209(b)(1) of the 

4 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 

5 2004 (8 U.S.C. 1185 note) before the earlier of June 1, 

6 2009, or the date on which the Secretary certifies to Con7 gress that an alternative travel document, known as a 

8 passport card, has been developed and widely distributed 

9 to eligible citizens of the United States. 

10 SEC. 6. PASSPORT PROCESSING STAFF AUTHORITIES. 

11 (a) REEMPLOYMENT OF CIVIL SERVICE ANNU12 ITANTS.—Section 61(a) of the State Department Basic 

13 Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2733(a)) is amend14 ed— 

15 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘To facilitate’’ 

16 and all that follows through ‘‘, the Secretary’’ and 

17 inserting ‘‘The Secretary’’; and 

18 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘2008’’ and 

19 inserting ‘‘2010’’. 

20 (b) REEMPLOYMENT OF FOREIGN SERVICE ANNU21 ITANTS.—Section 824(g) of the Foreign Service Act of 

22 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4064(g)) is amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘to facili24 tate’’ and all that follows through ‘‘Afghanistan,’’; 

25 and 


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1 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘2008’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘2010’’. 

3 SEC. 7. REPORT ON BORDER INFRASTRUCTURE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor6 tation, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Se7 curity, shall submit to the appropriate congressional com8 mittees a report on the adequacy of the infrastructure of 

9 the United States to manage cross-border travel associ10 ated with the NEXUS, FAST, and SENTRI programs. 

11 Such report shall include consideration of— 

12 (1) the ability of frequent travelers to access 

13 dedicated lanes for such travel; 

14 (2) the total time required for border crossing, 

15 including time spent prior to ports of entry; 

16 (3) the frequency, adequacy of facilities and any 

17 additional delays associated with secondary inspec18 tions; and 

19 (4) the adequacy of readers to rapidly read 

20 identity documents of such individuals. 

21 (b) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

22 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con23 gressional committees’’ means— 

24 (1) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com25 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental AfVerDate Aug 31 2005 19:15 May 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S35.IS S35

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1 fairs, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

2 Senate; and 

3 (2) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com4 mittee on Homeland Security, and the Committee on 

5 the Judiciary of the House of Representatives. 

Æ 


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