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I would like to welcome Assistant Secretary Harty from the State Department and Acting Assistant Secretary Rosenzweig from the Department of Homeland Security.
We are here today to discuss issues of great importance to the American people.
First, our discussion aims to focus attention on a question that all Americans want answered: just exactly how secure are we from infiltration by those who would do us harm?
Secondly, today’s hearing seeks to answer the question: how prepared are we?
Do we have the necessary mechanisms in place to help prevent the issuance of visas to would-be terrorists, as with the 9/11 hijackers who possessed U.S. visas, while also providing our citizens with the necessary travel documentation in a timely fashion?
Within this broader context, I would like to turn to the immediate issue at hand: the two to three million backlog in the issuance of passports for American citizens who wished to travel abroad this summer.
Many of those citizens waited ten to twelve weeks with no official response.
Some then called the National Passport Information Center to seek an update on their passport applications.
They report that all they got was a recorded message telling them that no one was available to take their call and that they should phone back later.
One must wonder, if the State Department performs in this fashion in response to the current passport application surge, how will it cope in an unexpected emergency?
What of a situation where either a natural disaster or a terrorist attack overseas, requires the immediate evacuation of hundreds or even thousands of American citizens?
What lessons did the Department of State learn from the evacuation of U.S. travelers and citizens from Lebanon that could be applied more broadly?
And if the crisis is one at home, is the Department of Homeland Security prepared to step in and meet the challenge?
Miami is the gateway to many of the overseas destinations affected by the new Western Hemisphere passport requirements – including the Caribbean, Bermuda and Mexico.
My Miami office has been deluged with calls from anxious constituents who have had their travel plans effected by this passport issuance setback.
I have also learned that the line snakes around the corner at the Passport Agency office in the Claude Pepper Federal Building in Miami as distressed citizens wait for passport assistance.
I would like to commend, however, the Herculean efforts of Ivette Rodriguez, Liza Escobar and Ana Karina Mercado of the Miami Passport office, as they have labored diligently and in a professional manner to work with us in resolving the unprecedented number of applications they have been asked to process this year.
I would like to hear both witnesses’ comments on contingency planning by their respective Departments to prepare for such future emergencies.
And what are your two Departments’ plans for anticipated future increases in your workload?
How, for example, will the Department of Homeland Security implement border document inspection when the new Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative comes into full effect?
How will you handle, Mr. Rosenzweig, passport and document checks in an efficient manner at busy U.S. entry points?
How can you ensure both enhanced border security and the continued thriving commerce and tourism, which bring thousands to our nation on a daily basis?
Turning to State, Assistant Secretary Harty, what steps have been undertaken to address issues relating to visa waiver programs?
What plans has the State Department made for increased travel by U.S. citizens abroad in the months and years ahead?
What kind of service, for example, can U.S. citizens expect when they apply for passports next year to travel overseas?
What kind of emergency assistance can they expect from U.S. embassies if they lose their passport, are robbed, become ill?
Will there be State Department officers on call to assist them?
The experience of one U.S. citizen who needed help in China, for example, gives the Committee cause for concern.
Last year, this Committee conducted an investigation into the death of this citizen, Darren Russell, an English teacher.
Darren died suddenly and mysteriously two years ago while working in Guangzhou (GWANG-JOE).
His mother, Mrs. Maxine Russell of California, a member of the same synagogue as fellow Committee Member, Mr. Berman, is still seeking answers – including her concerns about the responsiveness of our Consulate to her son’s emergency.
I look forward to hearing from both of our witnesses today on the steps undertaken to remedy, improve, and strengthen our passport and visa processing mechanisms, while carefully balancing security concerns with public diplomacy goals and trade priorities.
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