DETROIT, Mich. — The Canadian Consulate in Detroit today hosted a tour of Detroit-Windsor border crossings for more than a dozen U.S. Congressional staff.

Congressional staff were also taken on a tour of manufacturing facilities in both Ontario and Michigan.

The purpose of the tour was to allow the U.S. government officials to see first-hand how the economies of Canada and the United States are integrated; how important it is to get trucks across the border efficiently; and to view some of the recent security initiatives (such as FAST and Nexus), first-hand.

CTA’s CEO David Bradley and Ron Lennox, VP Regulatory Affairs, accompanied the congressional staffers on their border tour, which included a visit to the Lear Seats plant in Windsor and a GM assembly plant in Detroit as well as stops at the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge.

The two provided commentary as a truckload of seats was delivered from Lear to GM. Bradley also made a presentation on what’s needed to "fix the borders" at a roundtable that took place at the GM assembly plant. Tonight, CTA and the Canadian Consul General will host the U.S. visitors at Joe Louis Arena for a Red Wings hockey game.

According to Bradley, "the Canadian consulate is to be congratulated for organizing such a worthwhile event. CTA greatly appreciates the opportunity to have participated. The dialogue with the US congressional folks was very constructive and certainly provided everyone with a better understanding of the various issues and concerns at the Canada-US border. It is so difficult for Canadian business groups to be heard in Washington, so this is a great opportunity for us. I’m sure the dialogue will continue now that we have met each other."

In addition to assistants for individual congressmen, representatives of the following committees were also on hand:

Senate Governmental Affairs Committee — Proposed legislation creating a Department of Homeland Security long before the Administration adopted the approach… It also confirms the senior ranks of DHS (e.g., Secretary Tom Ridge, Admiral Loy, Asa Hutchinson).

The Select Committee on Homeland Security — Coordinates the efforts between Congress and the Federal agencies in charge of protecting the U.S. from attacks. It is charged with primary oversight of DHS. It has five subcommittees, which deal with: border and transportation security; intelligence and infrastructure protection; science and technology; emergency preparedness; and general oversight.

Homeland Security Committees Subcommittee on Infrastructure and Border Security — Comprises senior members of the House and was formed as a bridging mechanism to help in the re-organization of Congressional committees to match the creation of the Homeland Security Department.

Northern Border Caucus — Founded after implementation of the NAFTA in 1994. Since then, this bipartisan caucus has highlighted policy concerns and issues affecting US and Canadian relations and our economic partnership. Active on such as the rewrite of Section 110, CBP’s computer modernization, improvements to infrastructure at ports of entry and monitoring closely the progress of the DHS in terms of border efficiency.

Congressional Research Service — Branch of the Library of Congress that provides non-partisan research reports to members of the House and Senate. CRS is the research tool of first resort for Members of Congress.

House International Relations Committee — Jurisdiction includes: U.S. relations with foreign nations generally; export controls; international conferences and congresses; intervention abroad and declarations of war; measures to foster commercial interests with foreign nations and to safeguard American business interests abroad; measures relating to international economic policy; and protection of American citizens abroad and expatriation.

Democratic Senate Finance Committee Tax policy analysis.
Office of Canadian Affairs, U.S. Department of State — U.S./Canadian Border Security Issues (including the Ridge/Manley process) and also covers Canadian National Politics.