A new report raising alarm about the U.S.-Canada border may finally spur more action on protecting our national borders.

Now that U.S. senators from northern states that share a border with Canada are taking a bigger interest in that open and unguarded 4,000-mile border, maybe they, too, will become more excited about the high risk for terrorists getting a free pass into this country.

Until recently, about the only senators and representatives showing any concern about the deplorable situation along the U.S.-Mexico border were those from Arizona, California, Texas and New Mexico. The rest of the country, and the White House, gave lip service to the situation, but there has been little meaningful and effective action to stop the increasing number of illegal crossings.

However, a recent report by the Senate Homeland Security Committee said Americans face a high risk of terrorist activity along the 4,000-mile U.S.-Canada border, only 1 percent of which is adequately protected.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., said, “To me, this report is absolutely alarming.” The chairman of the Senate committee said the border, which extends from Maine to Washington state, is providing “easy passage into America by extremists, terrorists and criminals whose purpose clearly is to harm American people.”

The Senate committee report said the northern border poses a higher risk to public safety now than the U.S.-Mexico border. Lieberman pointed out the northern border is nearly twice as long and is lined with large population centers that make it more difficult to detect criminal activity. In addition, he said Canada now has more Islamist extremist groups than does Mexico.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said with so much focus on securing the U.S.-Mexico border, terrorists “will look to the north to gain entry to the country, looking for the weak link in the system.”

Collins, whose state shares a 600-mile border with Canada, said, “It is truly shocking that we have total control of 32 miles of a 4,000-mile border.”

Again, maybe now more senators, Republicans and Democrats, will become alarmed about our sieve-live borders and who is coming into our country. How many of these illegals are not merely Mexicans looking for better jobs and opportunities but rather are well-disciplined, well-trained men and women from countries such as Iran, various African nations and other areas that encourage hatred and violence against the United States? They move into Mexico or Canada, become assimilated to the local culture, learn more about the United States and then walk across the border to blend in with the U.S. landscape, ready to do damage whenever directed.

Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and Californian officials have been asking for help for years, but too few Americans seem to realize the danger. It wasn’t in their backyards. Now, with more lawmakers from states on the U.S.-Canada border showing alarm about our leaking borders, maybe they will demand action from the White House.

How much more dangerous does it have to become before a sufficient number in Congress, and the public, say enough is enough and demand tough, effective protection of our borders?