Homeland security chief touts benefits of 'EZ-Pass' system

The nation's homeland security chief on Wednesday highlighted new ways that technology is helping the United States meet its long-term goals for better security along borders and within transportation systems, while not suffocating commercial industry and economic growth.

"There is a very interesting thing happening up in Canada," White House Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge told an audience at the National Association of Manufacturers. "We're working on visa passes with our Canadian friends using biometrics. We have permanent residents on both sides who apply for it and get approved, so they've got an EZ-Pass."

The system, Ridge said, would provide a well-defined way for officials to identify individuals and representatives from commercial firms who cross borders without creating heightened-security problems like two-hour traffic jams. The EZ-Pass system, which includes an individual's personal information on a card, also has been floated as a broader plan for airports to decrease manpower while alleviating other security concerns.

Canada and the United States conduct more than $1 billion in commercial trade daily. "Nearly 2 million manufacturing jobs depend on our exports to Canada and to Mexico," Ridge said. "We want to expand [an EZ-Pass system] not only to people but ... to commerce."

"We have to do a better job at our borders to make sure those who get a visa ... leave when it expires," he added. "Again, technology is a very important part of the infrastructure we are going to put in place."

Border security is just one aspect of the Bush administration's four-part budget plan to boost homeland defense. The plan also features funding increases for "first responders" to emergencies; improvements to the nation's public health system; and revisions to the way agencies share information.

Though federal agencies are progressing in their efforts to link information to reduce the likelihood of terrorist attacks, Ridge said, "we still don't have the sharing of information in a 21st-century way." But he cautioned that major budget allocations would not be expended on information technology until the government has a firm blueprint for how to fix the infrastructure for sharing data.

"I believe, and certainly the president believes ... that once we decide what our priorities are, once we decide what the organization should look like ... then you have to have the technology overlay on top of it," he said. "You can't get the technology until you decide what you want to do and what the priorities are, and then you create the infrastructure."

As part of the homeland-protection strategy, Ridge emphasized the need for involvement from all levels of government, the public and the private sector. To date, he said the involvement of the private sector has been "substantial," and he welcomed further input from industry officials.