Secretary Clinton and the Peace Bridge
WASHINGTON -- The residents of the endangered historic Buffalo neighborhood near the Peace Bridge will soon probably have a friend at the State Department.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the New York Democrat whom President-elect Barack Obama has nominated to be secretary of state, has long been a big booster of "shared border management," the idea of building a huge new U.S. truck-clearing facility in Canada rather than Buffalo.
So it would stand to reason that Clinton could use her considerable clout to rekindle negotiations between the United States and Canada on the issue -- although government auditors noted this summer that the obstacles to an agreement are immense.
Clinton's appointment "does offer greater hope for shared border management than there would be were she not becoming secretary of state," said retired Rep. John J. LaFalce, D-Town of Tonawanda.
But LaFalce asks an important question.
Shared border management "might take so long that we might want to ask: Is it wise for the Peace Bridge, or will it hold the project for another 20 years?"
-- Jerry Zremski
