"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 9 Mar 2007 13:26:50 -0500, "Wilbur Hubbard"
said:

Imagine that. A US citizen must have federally issued "papers"
that prove he's a citizen before he can return to his own country.

Guess you haven't done much foreign travel.

I have. But by air. That's a different situation. Public transportation.
What if an airplane had mechanical problems and went out into the
Atlantic a couple hundred miles, then turned around and came back and
landed. Would I have to clear customs to get back into the country?
Negative sarge. When you're in your own registered or documented vessel
there's plenty enough paperwork that proves who you are without having
to show a passport. The very word passport means passing through a port.
When I arrive from off shore to my dock I don't pass any ports. Why
should I be required to have a passport? Answer that and answer it
realistically, please. Keep in mind that the new law applies even if I
never clear into any foreign country. All that is necessary for me to
have to clear back in is to arrive from offshore. That's three miles or
more out. So if I leave territorial waters and spend a day or so sailing
offshore I have to clear back in? Give me a break.

Wilbur Hubbard