White House takes steps to ease passport logjams

The Bush administration on Friday suspended some of its new, post-September 11 requirements for traveling abroad, hoping to placate Congress and irate summer travelers whose vacations have been thwarted by delays in processing their passports. The proposal would temporarily lift a requirement that US passports be used for citizens flying to and from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. Until the end of September, travelers will be allowed to fly without a passport if they present a State Department receipt, showing they had applied for a passport, and government-issued identification, such as a driver's license.