Should citizens’ passport info be tightly held?

updated 7:07 p.m. ET March 24, 2008

WASHINGTON - Struggling with a deluge in passport applications, the State Department did what much of the government does to deal with a manpower crunch: It hired more private contractors.

But the practice of outsourcing allowed hired hands to snoop around in presidential candidates’ files. And now it’s pointing to questions about whether outside contractors should have access to such sensitive information about any citizen.

The nation has needed to use nongovernment workers as well as federal employees from its earliest days, Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas, said this month in a congressional hearing that focused on military contracting.

But he asked, “Have we gone too far in recent years by perhaps relying too much on contractors?”

The government routinely relies on private firms to do sensitive work — from managing weapons systems to protecting traveling diplomats to helping maintain records that contain private information on U.S. citizens. The Bush administration in particular has embraced the practice of outsourcing as a way to save money and improve efficiency, particularly in Iraq where there are just as many defense contractors as there are service members.

With the influx of contractors come increasing questions about lack of control.

The State Department, for example, has had to defend its employment of private security guards after several Blackwater Worldwide employees were involved in shootings that left Iraqis dead.

Then, last week, contractors were found to have pried into the passport files of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Republican rival John McCain. Two contractors were fired and a third disciplined.

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton’s files also were breached when a State Department worker used the senator’s name during a training session and was reprimanded, officials said. The worker was a government employee and not a contractor.

The State Department’s inspector general is expected to determine whether the files of other high-profile people were breached and if the searches involving the presidential candidates were politically motivated.

Passport offices employ 2,600 contractors
Spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday that the Justice Department has an “open invitation” to become involved. Attorney General Michael Mukasey has indicated that prosecutors are likely to wait until the assessment concludes before deciding whether to open an investigation of their own.

In the meantime, McCormack said the agency isn’t concerned it might be relying too much on private firms to help issue passports. The State Department’s Office of Passport Services employs about 2,600 contractors nationwide.

“These contractors go through vigorous personal integrity tests, the same kinds of tests that career government employees undergo,” he said.

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