U.S. delays passport rules

Tacoma News Tribund ^ | The Associated Press | DEVLIN BARRETT

[JmyBryan]

... At a Senate hearing Tuesday, Maura Harty, assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, took the blame for the passport mess, even as she offered a wide array of explanations.

Part of the problem, she said, was that in 2005 Hurricane Katrina reduced the capabilities of the agency’s New Orleans passport office. She also said the agency had not expected so many Americans to actually obey the new law. And, she said, many people were applying for passports with no specific travel plans in mind — but that is precisely what northern state lawmakers had warned would happen for those living along the U.S. border who do not plan such trips far in advance. ...

[JmyBryan]

Un - freaking - believable.

And these guys think they can implement immigration reform?

[sheana]

She also said the agency had not expected so many Americans to actually obey the new law.

Telling......noone else obeys the law so why should actual citizens?

[Congressman Billybob]

Well, we were planning to go to Italy on our honeymoon, and I applied for my new passport 100 days in advance. The waiver, however, only affects people going close-by, Caribbean, etc. So we have an alternative plan to go to Disneyland.

We want to see a Mickey Mouse outfit. So I figured our choices were Disneyland or Washington, D.C. I've been taken for a ride many times before in D.C., so Disneyland it is. LOL.

We'll go somewhere next year. I figure the Passport Office can get on top of things in 465 days. Ya think?

Congressman Billybob

Latest article, "Bar Fight in the Blue Ridge: The Battle for NC 11"

[GoldCountryRedneck]

But 24-hour immigrant background checks are "No sweat" - uh huh...

Ya know -she even looks like a Washington DC b'crat...

[Morgan in Denver]

Thanks for posting. Since you seem to be following this, do you know how many passports were submitted?

[freeperkiki]

This woman has some pretty lame excuses. First, what is the significance of mentioning Hurricane Katrina/New Orleans Passport Office? Another location couldn’t be used? Second, who pays for and applies for a passport with no specific travel plans? Third, we travelers really don’t have a choice regarding compliance with the law. If you don’t have a passport, you don’t get to board the plane. I am so tired of the complete incompetence of our government AND the sorry excuses they follow with. Truly insulting!

[Illuminatas]

Second, who pays for and applies for a passport with no specific travel plans?

Me. When you work in an industry like oil&gas production I might get a call to go to Calgary at a moments notice. Am I going to wait 200 days before I can respond?

[freeperkiki]

I understand there are lots of folks working in positions where they could be called out of the country suddenly; however, I interpreted her statement as folks are just clamoring for passports just because. I am in the process of applying for my husband and myself because we know we will be going to the Bahamas next April. Most of the folks I know have passports and look at us like we have two heads when they find out we don’t have them. The look one would get if spotted talking on a “brick” or “bag” phone. We aren’t among the world travelers in our circle.

[Freedom4US]

I let mine lapse in 2003, I think it was. Can I keep the old one and still receive a new one?

[dennisw]

Maura Harty ...... google her for some fun. She's a nasty piece of work

She looks like Barbara Mikulski's niece

[FreedomPoster]

As Travis McGee has noted, these are the same fools who sent visa renewal notices to several of the 9/11 conspirators, several months after the event.

[Not A Snowbird]

And these guys think they can implement immigration reform?

Wrong agency. This is the State Department.

[Not A Snowbird]

I let mine lapse in 2003, I think it was. Can I keep the old one and still receive a new one?

They'll send your old one back with the new one. You get to keep it for posterity.

[Not A Snowbird]

Second, who pays for and applies for a passport with no specific travel plans?

I did. Does that make me weird?

[Red_Devil 232]

When my company decided to suddenly transfer me to Venezuela in 1990 I went to the New Orleans office that morning and was told to come back that afternoon. 2:00 pm I had a passport!

[Enchante]

This Maura Harty is the kind of deranged lib who seriously endangers our nation. Oooops, we have to put a lot of RINOs in the same category, don't we?

[from 2002]: "Meanwhile, Joel Mowbray of National Review Online reports that Senate Democrats are fighting for the confirmation of Maura Harty as head of the Consular Affairs office at the State Department. And, according to Mowbray, the Republicans may go along with it. Ms. Harty helped formulate the "Visa Express" program which let in three of the September 11 terrorists. She also was in charge of dealing with overseas abductions of American children and incurred the wrath of the parents of victims through what the parent of two girls kidnapped in Saudi Arabia calls "indifference bordering on hostility to the interests of American parents." Mowbray makes a convincing case that Harty is part of the State Department's "courtesy culture" that has given rise to the gaping holes in our border security."

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/001073.php

[Enchante]

My point is she’s bad for real US citizens with legitimate travel needs, while she’s terrible for coddling potential terrorists and security risks. She can’t run a competent bureaucracy to handle the routine matters (passports), and she is abysmal when it comes to keeping out dangerous people who want to slaughter us.

[July 4th]

Second, who pays for and applies for a passport with no specific travel plans?

More people should than do. Who knows if they're going to have to leave the country? Some relative travels abroad and gets injured, you might be the one who has to go be with them. It's worth the $10/year that it works out to, plus, it's a second form of government ID should you need one.