High fees concern senator, By LISA KACZKE, Staff Writer

U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman is concerned high passport fees could impact travel across the border, which in turn could affect the economic vitality of a border town.
Coleman shared his remarks about the fees with The Daily Journal Tuesday following his testimony in a Committee of Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing on the passport issue.
The hearing examined whether the federal government is prepared to implement the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which calls for new border crossing regulations. During his testimony, he wanted assurance that the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department will continue to ease the burden on Minnesotans, especially those who live near the border, according to Coleman’s Press Secretary Luke Friedrich.
Passports will be required to cross the border beginning in June 2009. Staff have been added following a passport backlog last year and no problems are anticipated when the new requirement goes into effect, Coleman said.
“I think they learned a lot from the mess,” Coleman said.
New passport cards are expected to be offered as an alternative to passport books this spring. The wallet-size cards are less expensive, smaller and more convenient for those who travel frequently across land borders. The fee for new passport cards is $45 for adults and $35 for children.
Coleman said he is pushing for the fee to be brought down to the $20-$25 range. Coleman noted that $25 of the total fee is a postal fee for mailing the card. He suggested that a new passport office scheduled to be opened in the Twin Cities could alleviate that fee.
The panel is going to discuss the possibility of cutting the price down if the application is directly handled by Homeland Security, according to Coleman.
The lowering of the cost will lower the burden on families in border towns such as International Falls, which he mentioned during the hearing, he said. It is critical to the economy and to families that travel back and forth between the United States and Canada for activities such as hockey, church and work.
Coleman crossed the border between International Falls and Fort Frances in January when a requirement for two documents to cross the border was implemented. Acceptable documents include a birth certificate. Without a passport, passport card or NEXUS card, two documents, such as a driver’s license and birth certificate, may be used until June 2009.
A NEXUS card allows prescreened travelers to enter a designated lane at the border station and swipe the card, which will be read electronically. It will also alleviate the need for an I-68 card, which allows prescreened U.S. citizens to enter the U.S. by boat and declaring entry by calling into a border station.
A NEXUS card application center is still slated to open in International Falls. The center is expected to be located in the former state information center on Fourth Street, but a date has not been set to open the center, according to Linda Lovless, port director at the International Falls crossing.