http://usgovinfo.about.com/b/a/217666.htm
Congress Tries to Reduce Passport Delays Hoping to reduce the mountainous <http://usgovinfo.about.com/b/a/217548.htm> backlog of passport requests, and stem the flow of calls from angry constituents with blown travel plans, the <http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/abouthouse.htm> House of Representatives has passed a bill that would allow the <http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/agencies/a/statepage.htm> State Department to rehire retired, but passport-experience personnel. Approved by a voice vote, the bill <http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.00966:> S. 966 would suspend through Oct, 1, 2010, rules denying pension payments to retirees who return to their jobs and exceed specific hours-worked limits. Retired foreign service passport adjudicators would be rehired on a temporary basis. The House-passed version of the bill make some technical changes to a similar bill already passed by the <http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/aboutsenate.htm> Senate. The Senate is expected to pass the final version of the bill later this week, sending it to President Bush for his signature. Waiting times for passports grew from six to over 12 weeks after a terror-fighting law requiring passports for air travel to Canada, Mexico and Bermuda <http://usgovinfo.about.com/b/a/217500.htm> went into effect last January. On June 8, the Bush Administration <http://usgovinfo.about.com/b/a/217629.htm> temporarily suspended the passport requirement as long as travelers provide proof they had applied for a passport. The temporary suspension, however, has not reduced the waiting time for applicants planning to travel to other international destinations. The State Department has projected it will process almost 18 million passport applications during 2007, compared to only 12 million in 2006. >From October through April of 2007, the State Department reported issuing 8.6 million passports, a 33 percent increase over the same period in 2006, and more passports than were issued in any single full year before 2003. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
