Governor Gregoire addresses border symposium

February 24, 2009

*AS WRITTEN*

Good afternoon and thank you for the introduction.

I�m pleased to be here � especially to talk about something so vital to our regional economy, and to our safety, as cross-border cooperation with our neighbor to the north � Canada.

And I want to thank this great partnership for all that it is doing to help us on both sides of the border knock down obstacles and strengthen our regional economy.

More than 7 million jobs in the United States and 3 million jobs in Canada depend on the Canada-U.S. border working well. Communities on both sides of the border have a strong interest in ensuring that the border remains open and convenient for legitimate trade and travel.

All of us � Canadians and Americans � also have a vital interest in making sure we can help each other in potential emergencies such as natural disasters, epidemics, or terrorist attacks.

I can tell you, since I took office more than four years ago, I�ve devoted a lot of care and attention to improving cooperation and mobility at our shared border.

For starters, I decided to lead the country by working closely with British Columbia and the US -- and now Washington and British Columbia travelers can get what was the first Enhanced Driver�s License in the country.

The Washington license gets you into any land or sea border in Canada or Mexico. BC�s license works anywhere on the US-Canada border.

I can tell you the day the idea for the EDL was born: June 20, 2006. Premier Campbell and I were meeting that day and among other things, we talked about how the U.S. �Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative� would impact trade and tourism.

That was also the day I asked director of my state Department of Licensing, Liz Luce, to take a hard look at creating a drivers license for BC and Washington � one that we could bring to my Congressional delegation and the federal government.

And now we have the result.

We are working with the federal government to allow this license for air travel, as well as looking to have a priority lane at the Blaine border, currently being evaluated by US Customs and Border Patrol.

Our Enhanced Driver�s License is now a model, and other states are following in our footsteps. Vermont and New York are already issuing EDLs, and Michigan and Arizona have committed to issuing them. Several other states are now in discussions to issue EDLs.

And north of the border, several provinces have expressed their intent to issue EDLs and I would like to thank British Columbia for showing its sister provinces how to do it.

I�m very proud of our Enhanced Driver�s License, and it�s just one step of many we are taking and will continue to take to make it easier to grow our economies on a regional level.

And you know -- this kind of work starts at the top. Premier Campbell and I have an excellent relationship.

And as always, good relationships are everything. And I�m not talking about ceremonial get-togethers. We do real work together, from our regional approach to global warming to our joint effort to clean up our shared waters.

We know we need regional solutions if we want our families, our trade, and our shared economies to prosper. In fact, we have to get it right. We can�t afford not to.

So our work doesn�t stop with just the Enhanced Driver�s License when it comes to improving access and safety between our state and BC.

For example, we and BC have done a huge amount of work to prepare for the Vancouver Winter Olympics a year from now.

We want the tourists and game-goers to drop on down to our state, and we want to make it easy for them. The same goes for BC.

We know Canadian security at the games will be exceptionally tight. And we couldn�t let terrorists believe that security is any less tight just a few miles away in our state.

I reaffirmed, very strongly, my predecessor�s decision to establish an Olympic Coordination Center on the US side of the border during the games.

The Center was originally envisioned to help local agencies respond to any event that might disrupt the border or in any way affect the Olympic experience for those on either side of the border.

As the Royal Canadian Mounted Police planned for Games� security, they included their US counterparts, including the state of Washington, at every appropriate point.

The two sides have stayed in close touch -- and joined in both planning and training for every eventuality.

Along the way, the two sides realized that cooperation needn�t be limited to planning and training.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police will be joining us in Bellingham, with a representative right inside our Center.

We believe the result will be a safer and more enjoyable Olympic experience for those on both sides of the border.

By working together to improve mobility and trade, we have made significant strides in other areas as well. For example:

We and BC have built new travel lanes for what we call �trusted travelers,� both individuals and freight haulers. This saves them a tremendous amount of time at border crossings during peak travel times.

We and BC also provide Web information allowing travelers to check border wait times before they travel, including constantly updated pictures of highways and of border crossings.
We also provide message signs along the highways advising travelers of the fastest way to go.

And with our BC partners, we have invested more than $200 million in major Port of Entry and highway expansion leading to the border. And we are building new Border Port of Entry Facilities at Peace Arch.

With a new day in Washington, DC -- with real partners in the White House and Congress -- I believe the federal government is taking notice of the work our region has done on both sides of the border to create a more seamless economy to benefit our citizens.

I believe we have created a model � and one that continues to evolve.

And I believe that in the coming years, what we�ve learned and what we�ve done will not only inform the federal government as it takes steps to benefit our trade, tourism, and our shared economies, but other states, provinces and regions across the United States and Canada.

Thank You