http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/arti ... e_id=15294

Hillary Clinton offers help on border
Senator will ask Homeland Security officials to view situation

By David Iman II, M.B. Pell and Steve Virkler
Times Staff Writers
Tuesday, October 04, 2005

U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will ask the Homeland Security Department to send representatives to the north country to see the effects on the region of an impending new requirement for passports for all people entering the United States from Canada.

Sen. Clinton, D-N.Y., addressed the concerns of residents Monday at Massena International Airport , where she told 250 people in attendance that she will meet with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Wednesday. Opponents say the rule will discourage border traffic.

The senator later made stops in Watertown and Lowville during a daylong north country swing.

Performers at Gotta Dance Studio on North Raquette River Road, just a few minutes from where Sen. Clinton spoke in Massena, travel around the state and the East Coast performing. Studio owner Jane E. Dubray said $100 passports for her 45 dancers and their family members would be burdensome. Before this proposal, they had considered performing in Montreal.

"If we have to have passports, we're just not going to go there," she said.

The new passport requirement says that American citizens entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, Caribbean nations, Bermuda, Central America and South America through airports and seaports must present a U.S. passport starting Dec. 31, 2006; and American citizens entering the United States from Canada and Mexico across land border crossings must present a U.S. passport starting Dec. 31, 2007.

Visitors from Canada, Mexico, and other nations in the Western Hemisphere also will be required to present their passports to enter the United States.

Sen. Clinton said she believes those proposing the rule do not understand how open the border is.

"It is not something that they can grasp, apparently. So that's the reason why I'm asking them that they come up and see for themselves," she said.

Pressure from the Bush administration has led the House of Representatives to undercut Senate efforts to stop the rule's implementation, Sen. Clinton said.

Officials from both sides of the border said the rule would stifle travel, hurting commerce and tourism. More importantly, it would break up communities that have become interdependent.

"My fear today is that the passport requirement will put a virtual wall up," said Mike A. Lalonde, executive manager of Cornwall & Seaway Valley Tourism.

The rule would create problems on the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, which stretches across the border.

About 70 percent of border traffic in the area is composed of Mohawks, who often take several trips each day, Chief James W. Ransom said. The rule could interrupt the cross-border travel of 1,300 Mohawk students living on the Canadian side who attend the Salmon River and Massena school districts.

"The Akwesasne Mohawk Casino attracts over 600,000 visitors annually, with approximately 50 percent of them from Canada," Mr. Ransom said, adding that an informal poll of Mohawk business owners showed 20 percent of their customers were from the other side of the border.

The loss of those customers could cut the tribe's revenues in half, Mr. Ransom said.

Farmers ask for help

Jefferson County farmers and agriculture specialists are hoping that the squeaky cheese curd gets the grease. On Monday afternoon at the Best Western Carriage House Inn in Watertown, farming experts called for more money to maintain safety net programs, develop organic products and markets, research renewable energy resources and implement environmental regulations.

W. Edward Walldroff, owner of Homestead Fields Farm, LaFargeville, asked that Sen. Clinton work to extend the Milk Income Loss Contract, which expired Sept. 30 and paid farmers when milk prices fell below a federal target.

The senator said the program pumped $186.2 million into the state and $9 million into Jefferson County.

"So I think it had a dramatic impact in the county and across the state," she said. "We're going to keep working to get the milk program reauthorized."

Sen. Clinton also voiced support for providing farmers with money to meet the Clean Air and Clean Water Act.

"If we don't figure a way to empower you to meet those regulations, you won't be able to be good stewards, and that's a lose-lose," she said.

The senator spoke passionately on one issue that was not even discussed by local agricultural specialists, but elicited nods of agreement. She said her "big beef" with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development is that the agency has not enforced laws requiring food distributors to place country-of-origin labels on all products.

Sen. Clinton said if food producers in other countries have the competitive advantage of not having to conform to U.S. health regulations when growing and making food, U.S. consumers should have the advantage of being allowed to select healthier products.

"I think that is wrong, because I think a lot of New Yorkers and Americans would buy food products if they know it's from the United States," she said.

The senator said she will continue to work to provide research money to develop renewable sources of energy and organic products.

She said organic products could be particularly profitable for farmers in the state because New York and Los Angeles are the two fastest-growing markets for organic food.

"So if we can be the epicenter of organic products, we already have a built-in market," Sen. Clinton said.

Agriculture, schools touted

The senator also touched on agricultural issues during a late-afternoon stop at a Lewis County Chamber of Commerce forum at Lowville Academy and Central School, but she also tackled education, renewable energy, the environment and job growth.

"I know you've got more cows than people," Sen. Clinton said. "And they're happy cows."

However, she said, consumers in New York City and politicians in Washington, D.C., don't realize the scope of the agriculture industry in this state.

Over the past few years, Sen. Clinton said, she has tried to promote New York agricultural products and get "our fair share" of federal farming assistance dollars. She specifically cited Roxaina L. Hurlburt, marketing director of Mercer's Dairy Inc. of Boonville, as a "wonderful example of how we need to tell people in the rest of the world about New York agricultural products."

Mrs. Hurlburt and other area representatives, with assistance from Sen. Clinton's office, have showcased north country products at a variety of events throughout the Northeast in the past few years.

"Education is one of the best insurance policies we have," Sen. Clinton said, stating that Lewis County schools are "well-known for their results."

The senator, who on Monday afternoon toured the Maple Ridge Wind Farm project on Tug Hill, commended county landowners and officials for being "ahead of the curve."

"What's happening here in Lewis County is so profoundly important," she said. "We have to end our addiction to foreign oil."

Sen. Clinton commended local efforts to clean up the Black River watershed, noting that water may soon be a global commodity. She also touted recent initiatives she has introduced to bring more investment to upstate New York and to market local goods on eBay.

Sen. Clinton commended the work of her north country liaison, Susan R. Merrell, a Lowville resident. "She doesn't ever let us forget Lewis County," the senator said.

While a few protesters greeted Sen. Clinton outside Lowville Academy with signs stating "Hillary Aborts Babies" and "Life Yes. Hillary No," attendees in the packed school auditorium gave her a standing ovation.

The LACS Jazz Ensemble and Select Chorus entertained the crowd until Sen. Clinton arrived. Lowville Superintendent Kenneth J. McAuliffe, wind farm project Manager of Development William M. Moore, Tug Hill Commission Executive Director John K. Bartow Jr., Lowville Farmers Co-op General Manager Brian R. Sheley and Lewis County Opportunities Executive Director Karl Reutling also spoke at the Lowville forum.