The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2007

Passports: “Woefully Inadequate Planning and Resources” On June 8, the Bush administra- tion was forced to ease the require- ment, in effect as of January, that Americans traveling by air to and from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean must carry passports ( www.state.gov/ r/pa/prs/ps/2007/jun/86241.htm ). Part of a broader package of immi- gration rules spurred by the 9/11 attacks, the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative was to be implement- ed in phases, with air travelers first. Land and sea travelers to Western Hemisphere destinations will require passports as of January 2008. But by early June the plan had run amok as thousands were being forced to cancel or delay long-planned holi- day trips because they still had not received passports they had applied for months before. “I do not believe the current implementation plan is realistic and have serious concerns regarding how the department failed to anticipate and prepare for the increased de- mand,” Senator George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio, ranking member of the Over- sight of Government Management Subcommittee told Sec. Rice in a June 7 letter ( http://voinovich.sen ate.gov/public/index.cfm ). “Sum- mer travel is not a new phenomenon. Notwithstanding the department’s use of mandatory overtime and the hiring of additional personnel, it is clear that the existing planning and resources are woefully inadequate.” Voinovich said the volume of calls to his office from constituents seeking passport assistance had increased from 76 calls in the whole of 2006 to 1,000 in the first five months of this year. In March and April, the State De- partment set new records for passport production, issuing more than three million passports in two months. This year, it expects to process about 18 million passports, some 30 percent more than the 12.1 million processed in 2006. As of mid-May, one of the 13 regional U.S. passport agencies had a backlog of 90,000 cases. Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Maura Harty says the department hired 145 people in May to work on the backlog, and would hire 400 more this quarter. The relaxation of rules in effect until September allows travelers to board their vacation flights with a gov- ernment-issued ID and a State De- partment receipt showing they had applied for a passport. But it does not address the schedule for land and sea travel implementation. The Depart- ment of Homeland Security insisted that this provision would go into effect in January 2008. But by late June Congress had moved to force its post- ponement until June 2009. Sen. Voinovich is also backing a measure to create a nationwide secure driver’s license program for cross-bor- der travel and delay the WHTI imple- mentation until a test of the pilot pro- gram in Washington state is complete. It would also require the Secretary of State to certify that adequate passport staff are in place, and make low-cost alternatives to passports, such as pass- port cards, available in early 2008. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Passport Services Ann Barrett says the State Department will make the less expensive, more convenient passport card available next spring. Action on Iraqi FSN Visas On June 20, the eve of World Refugee Day, a bipartisan group of senators, led by Sen. Edward C YBERNOTES 50 Years Ago... Many of the Foreign Service’s troubles over the last few years were at least partially the result of the almost total lack of public understanding of what the Service is and does. In a recent New York Times article commenting on congressional cuts in the department’s budget, James Reston listed as one of the reasons the fact that “Little has been done by the administration itself to dramatize the great achievements and contributions of the career Foreign Service to the security of the nation.” — Editorial welcoming the announcement of a forthcoming CBS television series on the Foreign Service, “Silent Service,” that would reach 20 mil- lion viewers, FSJ, July 1957. 10 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 7