Thank you, Representative Higgins, for joining us this afternoon. Thank you for all you do to promote the binational region and the strong ties that bind our countries and the residents who live in our communities. As I said earlier, it's not an international border for those who live in the area. It's just a river that divides friends and families, in fact. Thank you for everything you've done.
We had the pleasure of meeting several months ago at your Buffalo office as well as recently in Washington to discuss several binational issues and, of course, the underused housing tax issue came up. For a little information and perhaps some history for the committee, when were you first apprised of it? When were you beginning to get contacts? How many contacts have you had?
What have been some of your efforts working with your American colleagues to notify Canada of the concerns you have?