Border Trade Alliance

On Monday December 10, 2007, at the 2008 Homeland Security Outlook Conference in Washington, D.C. Lurita Doan, head of the General Services Administration outlined a strategy for her agency to move swiftly to improve infrastructure at our nation’s ports of entry (POE).

Administrator Doan communicated recent efforts by GSA to move forward in addressing issues impacted by overburden infrastructure and facilities at POEs along both the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico border. Specifically, Administrator Doan identified the growing concern of increased wait-times experienced at our border crossings.

“The Border Trade Alliance (BTA) appreciates Administrator Doan’s leadership and commitment to dedicate federal resources and improve infrastructure at our nation’s ports of entry,” said Maria Luisa O’Connell, President of the BTA, “What is good for our ports of entry is good for the health of our national economy.”

Earlier this year, the BTA led the call for federal attention to the issue of growing delays at our borders and continues to work closely with GSA, the Department of Transportation, Customs and Border Protection and other federal agencies to identify best practices and innovative solutions to leverage limited federal resources to facilitate legitimate trade and travel at our borders and keep the United States competitive in a global economy.

The following is an excerpt from Administrator Doan’s remarks:

Several months ago in a speech to the border community, I told them that they could expect a bolder and more energetic effort from GSA at our Ports of Entry (POEs). This was the beginning of a fundamentally new approach to help speed the flow of legitimate trade and cargo across our nation’s borders. Today, I am going to tell you what we have done during the last few months to make good on my promise, and then I am going to tell you what we will be doing next.

Back in September 2002, the President announced a clear and unambiguous policy for our national borders; put bluntly, President Bush committed the nation to improving border security while at the same time ensuring that we do not restrict the free flow of goods and traffic from legitimate trade and travelers. Huge investments have been made in any number of different technical and more sophisticated security systems. Progress has been made and there can be absolutely no doubt that the nation is safer.

But we need to also admit that we have NOT YET successfully implemented the second part of the President’s border strategy, and that is to expedite the free flow of legitimate trade and travel.

Our POEs are the nation’s cash registers, where over $2 billion in trade crosses each day. But years of inattention coupled with explosive growth in trade with Mexico and Canada have turned many of our POEs into large parking lots where legitimate trade and travel is bogged down in mile-long delays that sometimes extend for more than four hours. Truckers in 18-wheelers idling away costly fuel and wasting time in line erode American competitiveness, drive up costs for all Americans, pollute the air and confound the spirit. I read one report from Texas recently that things had gotten so bad that the City of Laredo has contemplated buying port-a-potties that would be deployed along the highway for desperate travelers caught in the long queues leading to the border.

Long lines of frustrated travelers at our POEs, are simply not acceptable. This is not what we want foreign visitors to have as the first glimpse of our great nation and it is not the policy that the President has outlined. We can do better; we MUST do better, and so GSA is taking the lead in that effort.

Let me tell you now what we have been working on over the past few months and why I am so optimistic about the future:

Read Administrator Doan’s full remarks here.

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