Coleman pushes for Minnesota passport office

U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman praised the decision announced Wednesday to delay implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative land and sea rule.
The decision also includes giving people the option of alternatives to passport documents, such as passport cards.
The decision will permit land travel between Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean with a driver’s license and birth certificate until at least the summer of 2008, instead of the original January 2008 deadline.
The Department of Homeland Security’s decision to alter the date of implementation was a response to a torrent of complaints about delays in passport applications that have hampered summer travel plans.
The new air travel rule implemented this past January caused a flood of passport applications, leading to a backlog at the State Department processing centers that postponed or ruined the summer travel plans of thousands of Americans.
Complaints from the public and from Congress about those delays forced the Bush administration to suspend the air travel passport requirement.
Officials announced earlier this month that those flying to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda may now do so until September with an identification card, such as a driver’s license, and a printout from a State Department Web site showing they have applied and are still waiting for a U.S. passport.
The announcement of the change came after Tuesday’s Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing on the passport backlog, during which lawmakers peppered Maura Harty, assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, with questions about how they plan to solve the passport backlog.
 Coleman continued to press top State Department officials at the hearing for alternative documents and delayed implementation of the passport requirement.
“This cannot be allowed to happen again,” Coleman said at the hearing.
Coleman said Wednesday that the change should bring at least some relief to Minnesotans who are worried about what will happen in January for land border travel.
“I am pleased that the administration has heeded the concerns of the public and those of us in Congress that have urged them to address this problem before land implementation,” Coleman said.
But Coleman is still concerned about the summer 2008 deadline and will continue to work towards a summer 2009 deadline instead, Coleman said.
Coleman also urged the State Department during the hearing to consider opening a new passport processing office in Minnesota. Coleman’s office has helped more than 1,500 Minnesotans secure passports since March.
The State Department currently operates 13 regional passport agencies throughout the country. The closest regional passport agency for Minnesotans is in Chicago.
In a letter to Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice regarding a potential passport processing office, Coleman cited that Minneapolis-St. Paul is a major hub for Northwest Airlines and is the origination point for over 13,000 international flights.
“Finally, Minnesota is a border state. Two million land border crossings occur at the International Falls, MN, port of entry alone,” Coleman wrote. “Given the forthcoming need for WHTI-compliant documents for land border crossings, a passport office in the Twin Cities would be of tremendous assistance to my constituents.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.