Patrick Leahy: “That is true. I would say to my colleague from Arkansas that this subcommittee is not satisfied with the performance of…”

“That is true. I would say to my colleague from Arkansas that this subcommittee is not satisfied with the performance of the Department in the last few months with respect to the adjudication and distribution of passports in a timely fashion. We recognize that a tremendous number of dedicated public servants at all levels of the State Department have been putting in long hours trying to get rid of the backlog in passports. We think it is very important, however, especially as the deadline for implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative gets closer, that the Department be better prepared to handle spikes in demand for passports and to disseminate better information about the procedures and options available for getting expedited passports.”