The long wait continues for many Missourians who’ve applied for U.S. passports.
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, said there’s been a 371% increase in the number of requests for help his office has received from Missouri residents needing their passports.
“They’ll come to me they’ll say, ‘listen, I applied for my passport months and months ago,’” he told Missourinet. “And now (their) trip, whether it’s a mission trip they’re going on – often we hear that a lot — sometimes it’s doctors (going) overseas and do medical work for free, and their trip is right up on them and they still haven’t gotten or heard anything, anything about their passport.”
Hawley said his office has been helping expedite passport applications for Missouri residents. He’s also supporting a bill sponsored by U.S. Senator James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, that’s designed to speed up the process of getting a U.S. passport.
Other members of Missouri’s congressional delegation have been sounding the alarm as well. Fifth District U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Missouri, along with fellow Democrat and Kansas Congresswoman Sharice Davids, sent a letter to the U.S. State Department asking for an explanation into the backlog and numerous delays Americans are experiencing with passport applications.
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