Feds may suspend rules on passports

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration may suspend a major post-9/11 security initiative to cope with increasingly angry complaints from Americans whose summer vacations are threatened by new passport rules.

A proposal under consideration would temporarily waive a requirement that U.S. passports be used for air travel to and from Canada and Mexico, provided the traveler can prove he or she has applied for a passport, officials said Thursday.

The proposed six-month suspension in the rules is aimed at clearing a massive backlog of passport applications at the State Department that has slowed processing to a crawl, they said.

But the plan has run into opposition from the Homeland Security Department, which controls U.S. border points and fears the move could make it easier for terrorists or other undesirables to enter the country, the officials said.

Instead of a passport, travelers could present a State Department receipt showing their passport application was being processed.

It is being reviewed by Homeland Security, the White House and members of Congress, who have been deluged with complaints from furious constituents, according to four officials at the agencies involved.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is still the subject of internal debate and details are not finalized. But three of the officials said an announcement of the move could come as early as Friday.

"This is pre-decisional, and I have no comment," DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said.

One official familiar with the discussions said if the plan goes ahead, those without passports would receive additional security scrutiny when they travel, which could include extra questioning or bag checks.

The suspension would give the State Department time to deal with a surge in applications that have overwhelmed its processing centers since the new rules took effect earlier this year.

The backlog has caused up to three month delays in issuing passports and ruined or delayed the travel plans of untold thousands of Americans.

Frustrated lawmakers besieged with constituent complaints have demanded relief.

Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y., whose district lies near the Canadian border, said White House officials have been on Capitol Hill trying to work out a compromise amid what he called a "turf war" between State and Homeland Security.