http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/32662-1.htmlHundreds of thousands of Americans have applied voluntarily for new and expanded border-crossing identification cards that will serve as alternatives to U.S. passports under the Bush Administration?s Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, officials said.
The travel initiative is to be fully in effect by June 2009. Under its terms, U.S. citizens must show either a U.S. passport or other approved document at the border, such as a passport card, enhanced driver?s license, or a Nexus, Fast or Sentri trusted-traveler card.
To date, more than 143,000 people have applied for the U.S. Passport Card to be issued by the State Department in cooperation with the Homeland Security Department, Derwood Staeben, senior adviser to the Bureau of Consular Affairs, testified on April 16. The passport card will be similar in size to a credit card and will contain a radio frequency identification tag and a photograph.
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The RFID tag to be used in the passport cards and enhanced driver?s licenses is a recent and proven technology, Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a statement released earlier this month.
?The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative will be implementing the latest state-of-the-art RFID technology, which has been assessed and tested to achieve a 95 percent read rate of up to 8 occupants in a vehicle at a range of 10 to 15 feet,? Chertoff said.
