To help ease the difficulties Americans are currently facing in obtaining passports, Congress recently passed S.966, the Passport Backlog Reduction Act of 2007, to address the critical shortage of personnel processing passports. The legislation provides the authority to the Department of State to rehire retired Foreign Service Officers on a temporary basis to help the department tackle the extensive passport backlog and meet the requirements of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) set into law as part of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.  

Passport applications have soared to 1 million a month and take up to 12 weeks to process since the air travel requirement of the WHTI took effect in January. Senator Schumer (D-N.Y.), the sponsor of S.966, said in a press release, "The passport system is on the path toward a mass meltdown as processing delays have pushed the average wait time to two and a half months. These unacceptable delays are disrupting the lives of thousands of travelers and businesses. This bill will allow the State Department to tap into a wealth of retired employees who are already trained to process passports and assist travelers. Hopefully, these experienced people will be at their desks this summer to help people get their passports.”

The legislation will now go to the president for his signature.