House Votes To Ease Passport Backlog

HOUSE VOTES TO EASE PASSPORT BACKLOG

Congresswoman Gwen Moore expressed support for today's passage of legislation that would ease the nation's passport crisis by hiring experienced former State Department employees to handle a severe backlog of passport applications.

Due to inadequate preparation, the State Department is experiencing a severe logjam in processing passport applications, forcing citizens across the nation to lose millions of dollars in canceled or delayed vacations. This legislation would lessen the workload by allowing the State Department to recruit and hire Foreign Service retirees to assist in processing passport and visa applications.

"It is unacceptable that this Administration did not have the foresight to prepare for a highly anticipated influx of passport applications for travel to our bordering countries and beyond. My Congressional office has been working diligently with State Department personnel to try to help solve passport problems for travelers throughout Milwaukee," Congresswoman Gwen Moore said. "This bill would help ease the backlog and speed up the process so that Milwaukee travelers can go on their vacations without any worries."

There was a sharp, but expected, rise in passport applications following the implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative on January 23, 2007, which requires U.S. citizens traveling to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda by air to have a passport.

The passport problem has had a negative impact on the entire nation. Passports that were typically processed in 4-6 weeks now are taking an average of 12 weeks and some 500,000 passport applications have taken over 12 weeks. The backlog has caused increased casework for Congressional offices nationwide, as they grapple with solving the problem.

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