US: photo identification to cross the border from Canada

President Bush said yesterday that officials are reviewing a new law that requires Americans to use &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/main/2002/06/20/30745.html ' target=_blank>passports to re-enter the country after traveling to Canada and Mexico because the requirement could "disrupt the honest flow of traffic." Bush, speaking to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, said he is aware that the requirement could be onerous at border crossings already tied up by large volumes of traffic, tells Journal Now.. The president said he was surprised by the proposed rules announced last week by the &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/columnists/2002/08/06/33961.html ' target=_blank>State and Homeland Security departments. In December, Bush signed into law an intelligence overhaul that requires tighter border security and was the basis for the passport proposal. The White House did not immediately say why the president was unaware of the plans announced by his administration just a week earlier. The proposed guidelines would require passports or a select number of other secure documents from anyone including Americans entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, the Caribbean and Panama. The rules were scheduled to become final this fall after a public comment period and to be phased in by 2008, reports ABC News. Currently, Americans generally need to show a driver's license or other government-issued &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/politics/2001/12/21/24194.html ' target=_blank>photo identification to cross the border from Canada. Customs officials usually require more proof from Americans returning from the other countries; a driver's license plus a birth certificate to prove citizenship, for example. NR

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