Passport Requirements Temporarily Suspended

WASHINGTON (AP) - A summer's reprieve for people heading to Canada, Mexico the Caribbean or Bermuda.

The Bush administration has decided to temporarily suspend its requirement that travelers carry passports to fly to and from those countries, after the State Department was overwhelmed with millions of passport applications.

Until the end of September, passengers will be allowed to fly without passports if they present a State Department receipt, showing they have applied for a passport, and a government form of I-D, such as a driver's license.

The suspension will give the State Department time to deal with the recent massive surge in applications. Between March and May, the department issued more than four and a-half million passports.

The backlog has caused three-month delays for travelers and spoiled vacation plans for thousands of Americans.

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