By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – Congresswoman Louise Slaughter unveiled her own legislation Thursday that would delay a requirement for travelers to have a passport or alternative document to cross the border.
Last weekend, Congressman Tom Reynolds proposed a bill that calls for a similar delay.
For now, the changes are scheduled to take effect at the start of 2008. But Slaughter's bill would push that back until September 2009. She says easy cross border travel between Buffalo and Fort Erie is essential to the region's continued viability.
"Both of us on both sides think of ourselves as living in one community that has a river that runs through it," Slaughter said. "New Yorkers and Canadians cross, back and forth, to visit family or go to work. We have done it peacefully, and we have done it well."
Slaughter says spontaneous travelers from the US should also be allowed to re-enter the country without documentation.