WASHINGTON - A top American legislator is circulating a proposed bill forcing U.S. officials to consider allowing enhanced driver's licences at land border crossings.
The draft legislation, obtained by The Canadian Press, would commit the United States to at least one pilot project on using driver's licences instead of either passports or a high-technology ID card dubbed passport lite.
It would also ensure the Homeland Security and State departments take advantage of the extra time Congress gave them, until June 1, 2009, to ensure there won't be traffic tie-ups and damage to cross-border trade.
Democrat Louise Slaughter, a New York congresswoman who chairs the powerful rules committee in the House of Representatives, has been building support for the measure.
Canadian and U.S. citizens under 17 would be exempt from the rules and Americans without the proper ID would get a break for six months after the deadline goes into effect.
Some U.S. legislators have been miffed that officials are determined to proceed without considering alternatives and the possible adverse effects on trade and tourism. Canada has long advocated for more time to implement the rules properly and consider high-tech driver's licences because they'd be less costly and something most people would need to get anyway.
