Letter to Hon. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House; Hon. Charles Schumer, Senate Majority Leader - Daines, Stefanik Call for Passage of their Bill to Open the Northern Border

Letter

We write to urge immediate action on our bicameral legislation, the Restoring Northern Border
Travel Act, to reopen the U.S. -- Canada border for non-essential travel and revitalize American
jobs and tourism. It is past time for Congress to act and bring long-overdue relief to families and
businesses in northern border communities, who have suffered nearly 18 months of hardship and
uncertainty due to the travel restrictions.
The closure of the northern border was implemented as a temporary measure to limit the spread
of COVID-19 in March 2020, yet the restrictions have been extended 17 times without any
adjustments or relief for family members or homeowners despite the immense progress we have
made in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. The reduction in cross-border traffic has had a
significant impact on local economies along the northern border, including agriculture, small
businesses, and tourism. These industries are the lifeblood of many northern border communities
from New York to Montana that continue to inordinately feel the economic repercussions of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
To the frustration of many, including the Democrats and Republicans alike who represent
communities along the northern border, the Biden Administration recently extended the
restrictions on non-essential travel into the U.S. through September 21st. While the Canadian
government opened its border to fully vaccinated American travelers on August 9th in clear
recognition of the close bilateral partnership our nations share, the Biden Administration failed to
reciprocate these measures and delayed reopening the border for at least another month. To make
matters worse, the Biden Administration has provided zero transparency on the metrics and
decision-making process guiding these continued restrictions and still has not established any
plan on how cross-border travel will eventually be restored.
The Biden Administration's unilateral decision to extend the border closure continues to unfairly
punish American businesses and ignores the success of the vaccine rollout in both countries. We
implore you to immediately consider our legislation to end more than 500 days of economic
hardship on our northern border communities.
We appreciate your attention to this urgent matter and look forward to working with you to get
this much-needed bill enacted.

Source