BILLINGS, MT - Montana's Congressman, Denny Rehberg, released the following statement regarding the closure of the Canadian border crossing at the Whitetail Port of Entry near Scobey, MT.  The port made national news (http://www.nyegateway.com/2009/09/wasting-millions-of-stimulus-money-on-remote-montana-canada-border-posts.html) recently when it was announced that $8.5 million in stimulus funds are being spent to modernize the port, which averages only five vehicles per day making it the least used port of entry on the U.S./Canadian Border.

Rehberg hosted listening sessions yesterday in Daniels and Sheridan Counties where the port situation was a hot topic of conversation.  With the news that the Canadian government was closing its side of the border, the Whitetail Port will now only allow cars to enter the United States from Canada.  U.S. travelers will be unable to enter Canada at that crossing.  However, the Scobey Port of Entry remains open, just 12 miles away.

"You might expect the folks actually living near the Whitetail Port to be the port modernization’s biggest cheerleaders, but after personally talking with many of them, that's just not the case.  As taxpayers, they're on the hook to pay for these wasteful projects, and they're not happy about it.

“In fact, the 'so-called' stimulus has literally wasted billions of dollars on projects that were approved with little to no public input or Congressional oversight.  This money should have been used to pay down America’s huge national debt or beef up security along the northern border instead of being used to remodel a barely utilized, one-way port of entry.  It's no wonder Montanans from across the state are telling me they’re outraged by the wasteful spending going on in Washington.  They rightly believe their tax dollars shouldn’t be wasted building a nicer, more modern port for Canadian travelers."

Rehberg is the co-chairman of the House Northern Border Caucus.