By BETH GORHAM
WASHINGTON - American legislators have taken a major step toward granting the extension Canada wants on a deadline for tough new identification measures at the border.
A bipartisan committee of top senators and representatives agreed Monday to a 17-month delay in requiring passports or another high-technology document from everyone entering the United States by land.
The measure is in a funding bill for the Homeland Security Department and many observers expect it to pass Congress this week before legislators hit the campaign trail for the mid-term elections in November.
Canadian officials have long argued the time frame is too tight to implement the security measure without causing havoc at the border.
The deadline would move to June 1, 2009, from Jan. 1, 2008.
In Ottawa, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said he's optimistic Congress will formally adopt the delay and was quick to claim credit.
Business groups on both sides of the border have also been furiously lobbying politicians, estimating the cost of lost commerce from traffic tie-ups and less tourism at some $2 billion for Canada and about half that in the United States.
The delay in implementing the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, passed by Congress in 2004, has been championed by politicians from border states, as well as states like Florida and California where a lot of Canadian money is spent.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper raised the issue with President George W. Bush when he visited the White House in July, saying the terrorists will have won if the United States becomes more closed to its friends.
Bush said then he wouldn't stand in the way if Congress changed the time frame. "If Congress provides flexibility, of course we will work with the Canadian government to extend deadlines," said Bush.
Business officials welcomed the news Tuesday while cautioning that there's still a lot to do.
"It buys some time to begin to address the underlying challenges we face," said Scotty Greenwood, executive director of the Canadian American Business Council.
"But make no mistake. The issue hasn't been solved. The amount of time is good. The challenge is what you do with it."