U.S. House Supports Delay in Passport Regulation

The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Friday by 379-45 to delay July 2009 new rules requiring passports for U.S. land and sea travelers entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The House provision matches one included in a Homeland Security spending measure approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee last Thursday. The U.S. State Department has been flooded with passport applications since new rules requiring passports for air travelers went into effect in January. The resulting backlog has caused delays of up to three months for passports and ruined or delayed the travel plans of thousands of Americans. In response, the government last week temporarily waived a passport requirement for air travel until Sept. 30, provided travelers can demonstrate they have applied for a passport.

But the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is still pressing ahead to require passports for everyone driving across the border into Canada or Mexico beginning in January 2008, a rule that some experts believe will lead to a fourfold increase in demand for new passports. Last year, the State Department processed 12.1 million passports. This year, officials expect to process about 18 million. The department received one million applications in December, 1.8 million January and 1.7 million in February. "Nobody can say with the straight face that the federal government is ready for this," said Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio). "My amendment simply asks the DHS to slow down and get it right this time."

The passport application surge is the result of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative that since January has required U.S. citizens to use passports when entering the United States from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean by air. It is part of a broader package of immigration rules enacted after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Lawmakers have been besieged with pleas of help from infuriated constituents who cannot get their passports even though they applied for them up to four months ago.

Last year, Congress gave the departments of Homeland Security and State additional time to get ready for the new passport rules, but they opted not to take advantage of the leniency. Now, increasingly frustrated lawmakers want to mandate the 17-month delay. "The administration is walking blithely toward a cliff with this program, and they're threatening to take millions of Americans with them," said Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.). "Their competence in being able to get this right was already in question, and when they keep insisting they'll be ready in six months, so is their judgment."

On Monday, Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) introduced a bill that would refund passport processing fees and international travel costs that result from unreasonable delays in passport application processing times and other purposes. The Passport and Travel Cost Reimbursement Act of 2007 says the Dept. of State has failed to anticipate the increased level of demand for passports after implementing new WHTI rules required by Congress and that this failure has cost U.S. citizens thousands of dollars in unused or cancelled transportation, accommodation and tour reservations. The bill calls for the State Department's proposal to refund fees for failed expedited processing "insufficient relief." The bill would refund travelers for costs such as an economy class transatlantic ticket for travel between Jan 23 and Dec. 31, 2007, if travelers are unable to timely acquire a passport in order to take the flight.

This article was first published in ModernAgent June 19, 2007

Cruise World Tidbits

CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES launched the Port of San Diego's first year-round cruise program last week when the 2,052-passenger Elation departed on a four-day cruise to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The Elation will operate four- and five-day cruises to Cabo San Lucas departing Thursdays, Mondays and Saturdays. In the winter, the Elation will be joined by the 2,124-passenger Carnival Spirit, which operates eight-day Mexican Riviera voyages from San Diego between October and April. Combined, the Elation and the Carnival Spirit are expected to carry more than 230,000 passengers annually from the port, the most of any cruise operator.

ALSO HEADING WEST is the Mariner of the Seas, which Royal Caribbean International will send to Los Angeles on Feb. 22, 2009. It will be the largest Royal Caribbean ship, and the first Voyager-class vessel, to be deployed on the West Coast. The vessel will offer 27 seven-day sailings to the Mexican Riviera from its Los Angeles homeport, calling on ports including Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta.

UNIWORLD joins Cruise Line International Association as the association's 23rd member. With eight ships, each carrying approximately 128 passengers on seven- to 28-day itineraries on major rivers throughout Europe, Uniworld is the first European river cruise company to join CLIA. Worldwide, Los Angeles-based Uniworld Grand River Cruises operates 21 vessels that cruise on four continents, including in Europe, Russia, China and Egypt.

REGENT SEVEN SEAS became the first cruise ship to call at Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada's first aboriginal terminal, on June 5. The Seven Seas Mariner docked at Campbell River's Wei Wai Kum Cruise Ship Terminal, located on the northeastern end of Vancouver Island. Regent said the new cruise destination was an initiative of the Campbell River Indian Band, also known as the Wei Wai Kum. The Seven Seas Mariner will be the only ship to call in Campbell River this year, a destination that Regent said was also known as the "Salmon Capital of the World," on seven-night cruises from Seward, Alaska to Vancouver. Upcoming Regent sailings featuring calls to Campbell River depart on June 13, June 27 and July 11; it will also call there on some 2008 cruises.

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