Comment submitted by T. Amundson

As a travel agent in the US I totally support that US citizens should be required to carry passports. I do not agree with pushing the regulation dates back because the Caribbean Tourism thinks it will hurt revenue. I believe that homeland security is important and passports will help to enforce that.Many of the recent articles that I have read have stated that it is victory for the travel industry if the regulation dates are pushed back. This is not true! Passports would make our jobs much easier. Too many people like to blame us for not having the required citizenship documents for travel despite the fact that we list it on their receipts and discuss it during the booking process and when they pick up their travel documents. Passports should be a required documents just as having a Social Security Number is!!I don't believe that the cost of a passport is going to deter anyone from traveling this winter. It seems that traveling is now a way of life more than a luxury. Anyone that really wants to get out and see the world will look at a passport as a part of the travel expense; an expense that occurs once every ten years, which is not a real inconvenience.I believe that by getting a passport it opens up even more of the world to the US people.If you do chose to push the deadlines back, please do not say that it is a victory to the travel industry, say it like it is - the federal government couldn't stand their ground on necessary legislature.