Cooper Responds to Passport Delay With Bill

Congressman Jim Cooper of Nashville wants the government to compensate Americans who cancel trips due to passport delays.

This year, new rules went into effect requiring passports for air travel between to Mexico, Canda, the Bahamas and the Carribean-places where US citizens could previously visit with any sort of picture id, like a drivers license. Since the rules change, passport processing has slowed to a crawl.

In response, Cooper has introduced a bill to reimburse the processing fees and certain non-refundable travel costs of anyone who has to cancel a trip because of the backlog. The measure also calls for a delay in changes to passport requirements for land and sea travel until the state department can meet the inc