[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 113 (Monday, July 16, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H7805-H7807]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1545
PASSPORT BACKLOG REDUCTION ACT OF 2007
Ms. WATSON. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
Senate bill (S. 966) to enable the Department of State to respond to a
critical shortage of passport processing personnel, and for other
purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
The text of the Senate bill is as follows:
S. 966
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Passport Backlog Reduction
Act of 2007''.
SEC. 2. REEMPLOYMENT OF FOREIGN SERVICE ANNUITANTS.
Section 824(g) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22
U.S.C. 4064(g)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``; or'' and inserting
a semicolon;
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; or''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph--
``(C)(i) to provide assistance to consular posts with a
substantial backlog of visa applications; or
``(ii) to provide assistance to meet the demand resulting
from the passport and travel document requirements set forth
in section 7209(b) of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism
Prevention Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-458; 8 U.S.C. 1185
note), including assistance related to the investigation of
fraud in connection with an application for a passport.'';
and
(2) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by striking ``The authority'' and inserting ``(a) The
authority''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs:
``(B) The authority of the Secretary to waive the
application of subsections (a) through (d) for an annuitant
pursuant to subparagraph (C)(i) of paragraph (1) shall
terminate on September 30, 2008.
``(C) The authority of the Secretary to waive the
application of subsections (a) through (d) for an annuitant
pursuant to subparagraph (C)(ii) of paragraph (1) shall
terminate on September 30, 2009.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Watson) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.
General Leave
Ms. WATSON. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from California?
There was no objection.
Ms. WATSON. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill and
yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, the U.S. passport system is broken and the average
Americans are paying the price. We have heard their call for help and
are here today to pass the Passport Backlog Reduction Act to help the
State Department address this bureaucratic crisis.
Every citizen of our Nation has the right to hold a passport and
getting one should only take a few weeks at most, but millions of
Americans have had to wait for months on end simply for the right to
travel abroad. People are lining up at dawn every day at passport
offices around the country trying to salvage trips at the last minute.
They are desperate to get the one document that will let them see
ailing relatives overseas, conduct important business, or begin
studying abroad programs.
A passport is much more than a travel document, and these delays are
much more than an inconvenience. A passport is proof of American
identity and, for many Americans with immigrant heritage, a passport is
proof of their identity and commitment to America and the American
idea. A passport must be available to any American citizen who requests
one, and delays that are currently clogging our system are preventing
American citizens from fully exercising their right of citizenship as
well as freedom of travel.
Three years ago, Congress passed the law requiring travelers to show
passports if they were returning from anywhere in the Western
hemisphere. Demand for passports in the last year has been at record
highs, but poor planning by top officials meant that the State
Department was unprepared to cope with the surge in applications.
My colleagues and I on the Foreign Affairs Committee have been
outraged by this poor planning and the resulting bottleneck. Last week
the committee held a hearing on passport delays, and we heard testimony
about the hard-working employees who are working through the night and
giving up their weekends to clear the backlog of applications. At
passport bureaus across the country the State Department has shipped in
junior staff, government fellows, and rehired retirees to meet the
crushing demand. Yet, phone calls to regional passport bureaus and to
consular affairs offices have often gone unanswered on tens of
thousands of occasions. Meanwhile, congressional offices
[[Page H7806]]
are being flooded with phone calls from outraged citizens. They wonder
if their passports have simply disappeared.
The Passport Backlog Reduction Act will assist the State Department's
efforts to get all of the filed passports back to waiting travelers,
and keep up with the demand in the coming months. This bill lifts legal
impediments so that the agency can hire retired foreign service
officers to process passport applications. Some of these officers will
also be permitted to assist the officials who investigate passport
fraud to ensure that passports only go to those citizens who are
eligible for them and who do not pose a security risk.
Endless delays in exercising every citizen's right to a passport are
outrageous and absolutely unacceptable. So, I urge my colleagues to
support this bill so the House can take one additional step to ensure
that our citizens' demands for their passports are met expeditiously.
Madam Speaker, I strongly support this legislation, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I rise in support of Senate bill 966, the Passport Backlog Reduction
Act. All of us have heard from our constituents. Millions of Americans
are facing unprecedented delays in the processing of their passport
applications. As weeks become months, these painful holdups have
wrecked long-planned travel, job opportunities, and family obligations
for thousands of our fellow citizens. This situation is
incomprehensible and inexcusable. Officials should have anticipated and
planned for this increased demand when the new travel security
requirements were legislated 3 years ago.
Furthermore, the State Department has been collecting additional
surcharges under authority granted by Congress 1\1/2\ years ago for the
express purpose of meeting the increased demand for passports. But as
we learned at last week's hearing before the Foreign Affairs Committee,
officials did not adequately prepare for the increased demand that
everyone knew would be coming, and there is no good explanation why.
At the same time that the planning was botched by their superiors, I
want to praise the dedicated and hardworking individuals who have been
working on an extended and overtime schedule to address this backlog.
Madam Speaker, I am particularly impressed by the men and women of the
Miami passport processing center who have maintained their
professionalism and their courtesy even in this high pressure
situation.
The bill before us will help in a limited but an important way to
restore the timely passport processing that the American public has
every right to expect. By easing certain reemployment restrictions, it
will enable retired Foreign Service officers to come back to work on
passport and visa processing on more than a part-time basis. It will
also allow them to assist with passport fraud investigations which have
not kept pace with the dramatic increase in passport applications.
Of course, this bill is only a temporary measure that will ease but
will not fix the larger problem. Senate bill 966 is no substitute for
the budgeting, hiring, and training that must be part of the
Department's annual and long-range planning. We appreciate the solemn
assurances at last week's hearing that the Departments of State and
Homeland Security are now treating these problems with the seriousness
that they deserve. I have no doubt that the Committee on Foreign
Affairs under Chairman Lantos' leadership will follow up to ensure that
the current problems are remedied promptly and avoided in the future.
The bill before us, Madam Speaker, is a small part of that remedy and
deserves our unanimous support.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. WATSON. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Texas, Representative Ruben Hinojosa.
Mr. HINOJOSA. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Passport
Backlog Reduction Act of 2007, or S. 966.
As I represent a district in south Texas, ensuring a safe and secure
border which remains conducive to trade and travel is among my most
urgent priorities in Congress. For that reason, I greatly appreciate
the work of Senators Schumer and Biden, as well as my colleagues
Congressman Capuano and Congresswoman McCarthy, in bringing this
legislation forward.
Several months ago, my constituents began reporting to me that they
were not receiving the passports they needed for spring and summer
travel from the State Department within the Department's own posted
timelines. As spring has turned to summer, many Americans have been
unable to travel abroad and have missed many business, educational, and
vacation opportunities as a result of the State Department's failure to
provide them with required travel documents.
This bill will help to ease the backlog of passport applications
caused by the State Department's mismanagement by allowing retired
workers to voluntarily return to work without jeopardizing their
pension eligibility. These volunteers will provide immediate assistance
to the thousands of American travelers who have requested their travel
documentation in a timely manner and expect the State Department to
facilitate their travel plans.
I hope that my colleagues will join me in providing relief to
American travelers.
Mr. MANZULLO. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of S. 966, which gives
the Department of State the authority to re-hire Foreign Service
retirees without harming their pensions through October 1, 2010 to
temporarily increase more personnel to reduce the backlog on passport
applications. S. 966 has already passed the Senate and it is time to
send this bill on its way to the President's desk for his signature. I
appreciate the expeditious consideration of this legislation to give
the State Department another tool to help them deal with the massive
increase in the number of passport applications.
I hate to say ``I told you so'' but in 2005 I predicted this train
wreck. When I chaired the Small Business Committee, I held a hearing on
the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) in 2005 primarily to
examine the effect of WHTI on small business. At the time, I said that
because of the amount of commerce within the Western Hemisphere it
``may make it next to impossible to fulfill the statutory mandate to
require this enhanced documentation.''
I recognize that Congress gave the Departments of State and Homeland
Security a difficult mission to implement within a short time period. I
was one of the 75 Members to vote against the Intelligence Reform and
Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 that contained the WHTI mandate.
However, since WHTI was implemented on January 23, my office has been
inundated with frantic calls from constituents seeking passports to
travel overseas. So far this year, my office has assisted 491
individuals with problems in obtaining their passports for travel. For
all of 2006, my office helped just 51 constituents with passport
problems. These calls are dominating the time of the caseworkers in my
district offices.
Although we have been 99 percent successful in getting people the
passports they need to travel, it has not been easy. Our caseworkers
spend countless hours on the phone each day with panicked constituents
who face the prospect of losing thousands of dollars and missing out on
dream vacations if we cannot help them. And it seems we are always in
crisis mode. Many passports do not get issued until two to three days
before departure, and that is done with a continual push from my staff.
Despite constant monitoring and advocacy by my staff, some
constituents do not receive their passports within 48 hours of
departure. The last resort for these constituents is to take a day off
work and travel to downtown Chicago--about two hours away--to get their
passports on an emergency basis. I am told that although these
constituents arrive before the required 7:00 a.m. opening time, it
generally takes all day to get their passports.
Madam Speaker, you might not feel as bad if these were people who did
not follow the rules and who waited until the last minute to get their
passports. But a vast majority of the people who seek our assistance
have done everything our Government asked of them. They applied for
their passports well within the allotted time to receive their
passports on time for their departures. And yet, their vacations and
thousands of dollars of investments are in jeopardy.
I applaud the State Department and DHS for trying to ease the
situation last month when they agreed to allow people traveling to
Mexico, Canada or the Caribbean to depart as long as they had receipts
in hand showing they had applied for their U.S. passports. But problems
still occur. Some have applied, but
[[Page H7807]]
the State Department website indicates their applications cannot be
found and thus a receipt cannot be secured. In addition, some of the
cruise lines in the Caribbean do not accept these receipts. This
situation causes even more anxiety for my constituents.
I understand the goal of the WHTI, but its implementation has been
difficult. It has caused unnecessary anxiety and enormous amounts of
work for my constituents and my staff. We must come up with an
alternative way to enhance our security or make severe adjustments in
the way we manage WHTI so we don't leave high and dry the people who
followed the rules to get their passports.
That is why I applaud the prompt scheduling of S. 966 so shortly
after the Senate passed the bill at the end of last month. I urge my
colleagues to pass S. 966 so that the bill can be signed into law by
the President as soon as possible.
Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Madam Speaker, our Nation is facing a
serious backlog in the processing of passports. Since the new travel
rules have been enacted, the number of Americans applying for a
passport has increased dramatically. Unfortunately, the number of
Foreign Service officers responsible for the processing of passport
requests remains far below the necessary capacity. This discrepancy has
led to long lines at passport offices nationwide and extended
processing times.
During the summer months, travel typically increases to and from the
United States. To assist U.S. residents with the passport backlogs, I
have introduced H.R. 2845, a bill that allows for an increase in
Foreign Service officers trained to handle passport requests. My good
friend from New York, Senator Schumer, successfully moved similar
legislation through the Senate, which we will be voting on today.
I am encouraged to see the House act on this important and time
sensitive issue and am hopeful the President will quickly sign S. 699
to help alleviate the tremendous passport backlogs facing our
constituents.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong
support of S. 966, the Passport Backlog Reduction Act of 2007. We are
all very concerned by the extreme backlog in the passport system, and
even more so by the apparent lack of adequate preparation that has led
to the severe delays that our constituents are now experiencing. I
would like to thank Senator Schumer for introducing this important
legislation.
Madam Speaker, we all recognize the need to protect our Nation and to
secure our borders. As a senior member of the Committee on Homeland
Security, this has long been a priority for me, and I appreciate the
need to continually review and update the policies we use to permit
entry into the United States. However, I believe that the current
delays are far in excess of what is excusable.
I have witnessed the suffering of those waiting to receive passports
first I hand in Houston, where my office shares a building with the
passport agency. I have spoken with many of the countless Americans who
have carefully planned and saved money for family vacations, only to
lose the money spent on plane tickets and hotel rooms when they are
unable to procure passports. Families in which only one of many
children receives a passport in time for travel. U.S. citizens
desperate to travel overseas to see ailing relatives. Businessmen and
women who are unable to complete necessary overseas travel while
waiting to receive their documents. These individuals and families
lined up on the streets of Houston are indicative of the huge numbers
of Americans who are suffering as a result of the U.S. Government's
failure to adequately prepare for the swell in passport demands.
I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the men and women
in the Houston field office, who have worked tirelessly to ensure that
as many Americans as possible receive the necessary travel documents.
Washington has let them down by failing to provide them with the
adequate resources and personnel to successfully do their job, and it
has failed the American people. This is a situation that demands
leadership from the top.
The Department of State Crisis Response Act of 2007 is an important
first step toward alleviating the massive passport backlog that has
developed since the recent implementation of the Western Hemisphere
Travel Initiative, or WHTI. It allows the State Department to employ
retired Foreign Service officers to process passport applications. Many
Foreign Service retirees already possess the necessary training and
security clearance for these functions, and could therefore be rapidly
deployed to meet the ongoing crisis.
Under the provisions of this act, Foreign Service retirees can work
without forgoing pension payments, provided that they either provide
assistance to consular posts with a substantial backlog of visa
applications, or they provide assistance in meeting the passport
backlog resulting from the WHTI.
I firmly believe we must do all in our power to keep the American
people, and our Nation itself, safe. This includes constantly reviewing
and, as need be, revising our entrance policies. However, I also
believe that we owe it to the American taxpayers to do everything that
we can to allow free travel. We must work to ensure that such a serious
problem does not occur in the future, while also working to immediately
address the ongoing passport backlog. I strongly support this
legislation, which is an important first step toward alleviating the
existing passport delays, and I would like to encourage my colleagues
to do the same.
Mr. LOEBSACK. Madam Speaker, I rise today to voice my strong support
for the Passport Backlog Reduction Act.
Our country's passport system is broken. The backlog in processing
passport applications has been a severe burden on businesses and
families. My constituents have been forced to cancel or delay travel
plans; pay thousands of dollars for international flights they were
unable to board; and lose deposits on accommodations they were unable
to use. The current situation is unacceptable.
The administration had 3 years to plan for the new passport
requirements, yet the Department of State was caught flat-footed by the
surge in applications. Eliminating the backlog as swiftly as possible
should be a matter of priority for the State and Homeland Security
Departments, and new passport requirements for land and sea travel
should not be enacted until the staffing infrastructure is in place to
do so.
This bill allows the State Department to re-hire retired Foreign
Service employees to staff passport processing centers. By providing
access to highly qualified staff, this bill will assist the State
Department in reducing the backlog in passport applications.
The administration's lack of foresight and planning has created
significant problems for families in Iowa and across the Nation. I
strongly urge the passage of this bill as a crucial step towards fixing
our country's passport system.
Ms. WATSON. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 966, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the Senate bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________