Political Quotes

“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. However, since WHTI was implemented on January 23, my office has been inundated with frantic calls from constituents seeking passports to travel overseas.”