Last week, the House and Senate inserted provisions into the Homeland Security budget that would postpone the passport requirement for land and sea travel from January 2008 to June 2009, and would require the department to demonstrate that it had a workable plan for processing passports on time. Another GAO report on the travel initiative is expected in August.


On Friday, Barrett came to the Capitol with Homeland Security officials to brief congressional staffers on the travel initiative's progress, saying her office was prepared to meet the original January 2008 deadline.

The staffers laughed.

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molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com

peter.pae@latimes.com

Hennessy-Fiske reported from Washington and Pae from Los Angeles. Times staff writers Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Claudia Lauer in Washington contributed to this report.

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By the numbers

17.5 million

Americans expected to seek passports this year, up from 12 million in 2005.

12 weeks

Average wait, swelling from six weeks.

26 million

Number of applications expected annually once the new passport requirements are extended to travel by land and sea.

Source: State Department, passport services