Passport Rules to Be Suspended

The Bush administration is poised to suspend a major post-Sept. 11 security initiative in response to increasingly angry complaints from Americans whose summer vacations are threatened by new passport rules.

A proposal, expected to be announced today, would temporarily waive a requirement that U.S. citizens have passports to fly to and from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda, provided the traveler can prove he or she has applied for one, officials said yesterday.

The temporary lifting of the passport rule is aimed at clearing a massive backlog of passport applications that has slowed processing to a crawl, they said. Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.) said the suspension would last until Sept. 30.

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

Instead of a passport, travelers would be able to present a State Department receipt showing their passport application is being processed and a government-issued ID such as a driver's license.

The Homeland Security Department signed off on the proposal yesterday after consultations with the State Department, the White House and members of Congress, who have been deluged with complaints, according to four officials at the agencies involved.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced.

A Homeland Security spokesman declined to comment.

Under the plan, those without passports would receive additional security scrutiny when they travel, which could include extra questioning or bag checks, according to one official familiar with the talks.

The suspension will give the State Department time to deal with a surge in applications that has 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 thousands.

Lawmakers besieged with constituent complaints have demanded relief.

Rep. Thomas M. 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.