Bush expresses surprise at announced plan for passports to/from Canada

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-041405bush_lat,0,1122459.s
tory?coll=la-home-nation


Bush Orders Revamp of Border Passport Plan
 By Edwin Chen
 Times Staff Writer

 2:48 PM PDT, April 14, 2005

 WASHINGTON ‹ President Bush has ordered State Department and immigration
officials to find a less onerous way to secure America's borders than to
require U.S. citizens to show passports or some other specialized documents
when reentering the country from Mexico and Canada.

 Bush disclosed his action during an appearance today at the American
Society of Newspaper Editors convention here.

 The president also indicated that he was caught off-guard when officials at
the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department announced the
plan last week and said it would be implemented by 2008.

 "When I first read that in the newspaper," Bush told the journalists, "I
said, 'What's going on here?' I thought there was a better way to expedite
legal flow of traffic and people."

 On Social Security, Bush acknowledged tacitly that he has failed so far to
persuade a majority of the public, much less Congress, that the retirement
program urgently needs to be restructured in order to avoid insolvency.

 But he expressed fresh determination to press his case around the country
and suggested that those who oppose him may pay a political price at
election time.

 "I'm absolutely convinced that, when it's all said and done, inaction will
create a political problem for people," the president said. "The third rail
of politics will be failure to solve the problem."

 During a wide-ranging question-and-answer period, Bush also rued his loss
of personal


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