Editorials
Wednesday, March 5, 1997

Immigration checks
could hurt tourism

SENATOR Inouye is asking the federal government to delay implementation of a new law that could hurt Hawaii tourism. The law, which is scheduled to take effect April 1, requires the Immigration and Naturalization Service to inspect all passengers arriving at international airports, including those passing through en route to other countries. This could lead foreign airlines to bypass U.S. airports, including Honolulu, on some flights.

The result would be lost income from landing fees and other services, but even more from tourists who would otherwise be coming to Hawaii. Air New Zealand, Qantas, Air Canada and Canadian Airlines might curtail or end service here if the law is implemented.

The tourism industry is almost entirely dependent on airline service to bring its customers to Hawaii. Any development that threatens to reduce airline service to the islands must be resisted.

Inouye has urged Immigration Commissioner Doris Meissner to delay the inspections. The senator estimated that as many as 200,000 passengers a year passing through Hawaii would have to be inspected. The INS is preparing a bill that would restore the attorney general's discretion to determine where the immigration inspections are warranted.

Governor Cayetano said the law could mean a loss of tens of millions of dollars a year to Hawaii. He has asked other governors to join him in requesting a review of the law by the Department of Justice.

There may be a need for checks of persons passing through the United States, but it should be left to the discretion of the relevant agencies to make that determination on an airport-by-airport basis. This law could needlessly hurt Hawaii. Congress should correct its error as quickly as possible.

Genetic information

INSURANCE companies traditionally have assessed a person's health risks before agreeing to provide life, disability-income or long-term care insurance. Advances in genetic technology promise to give companies the ability to learn much more about those risks - too much, according to supporters of a bill that would amend the state insurance code to bar discrimination based on DNA findings. But insurance companies should not be denied information that their applicants agree to supply.

Singapore oppression

HARASSMENT of the few opposition candidates who dare to challenge the government has become a trademark of Singapore's ruling People's Action Party (PAP). Now the party has taken those tactics to new depths.

Tang Liang Hong, a little-known lawyer, ran for a parliamentary seat in the January elections as a candidate of the opposition Workers' Party. Eleven members of the PAP, including Senior Minister Lee Kwan Yew and Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, have filed lawsuits against Tang, claiming that he defamed them.

In the elections,the People's Action Party won all but two of the parliament's 83 seats. Still it doesn't seem satisfied. Its harassment of the opposition makes any claim to real democracy a bad joke. This is barely disguised authoritarianism in one of the richest countries in the world.



Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited Partnership

Rupert E. Phillips, CEO


John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher


David Shapiro, Managing Editor


Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor


Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors


A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor



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