Coalition Urges Passage of US-Canada Preclearance Legislation
A coalition of 25 businesses sent a letter (here) to the four top appropriators across the House and Senate urging them to retain previously introduced provisions to expand CBP preclearance facilities at land, marine, air and rail ports of departure in Canada, in the final fiscal 2017 appropriations package. In the Nov. 18 letter, the associations representing “millions of businesses” called on Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., Ranking Member Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., and Ranking Member Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., to work to ensure inclusion of the preclearance provisions outlined in Senate appropriators’ pending fiscal 2017 Department of Homeland Security spending bill in any final funding legislation.
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The pending DHS spending bill contains provisions of the Promoting Travel, Commerce, and National Security Act of 2016, which would give the U.S. jurisdiction over prosecutable incidents involving U.S. personnel in Canada, per the terms of the 2015 preclearance agreement (see 1603020015). The Canadian American Business Council on Oct. 25 urged Congress to pass lame-duck legislation that would fully implement the 2015 U.S.-Canadian Preclearance Agreement (see 1610250040). “Action on this legislation this year is critical to ensure that the United States can expand and improve its collaboration with Canada to expedite and process cross-border travel and trade,” the letter says. “Expanding and improving preclearance activities will have important benefits for U.S. business and other travelers and set a precedent for expanding such activities to cross-border trade, all of which will promote important commercial and broader economic and security benefits."