Posted on 12/06/2007 8:17:56 AM PST by 3AngelaD
Defying the axiom that no bungling bureaucrat goes unrewarded, the woman ultimately responsible for the backlog of 2 million passports this year — and who withheld the truth from Congress — was passed over for a major promotion...and will resign...
As head of consular affairs at the State Department, Maura Harty oversaw passports, administration of embassies and consulates, and, most important, visas. It was in visa policy where she continued the path blazed by her predecessor, Mary Ryan, who had made it easier than ever in countries around the world for foreigners to receive visas — often in contravention of the law...
The 9/11 terrorists didn't acquire visas through skill or fraud; they simply took advantage of a system rigged to approve almost every Saudi national who wished to come here...a practice that plainly violated the law. Congress years ago required that all applicants be presumed ineligible until they prove their eligibility...This provision, however, was turned on its head by Ryan, then by Harty...Rather than tighten visa procedures, Harty oversaw a relaxing of the rules in countries such as Egypt and Pakistan. Even in the country that produced 15 of the 9/11 terrorists — Saudi Arabia — approval rates for visa applicants remained stunningly high.
Her "punishment" for refusing to enforce the law was a promotion....While her efforts to systematically increase visa approval rates in countries with large populations of radical Islamists had gone unnoticed by Congress, the three-month wait for passports earlier this year became a priority for every congressman....
Had President Bush's advisers conducted even a cursory review, they would have learned that Miss Harty was a protege and clone of Mrs. Ryan, who would almost certainly not undo the very policies the September 11 terrorists exploited to enter the United States...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Good article.
She and Mary Ryan have done inestimable damage to our country. Should have been out of there years ago.
Both of those criminally incompetent broads ought to be teaching typing classes at the federal women’s prison at Alderson West Virginia.
As INMATES!
They get the best government money can buy: right here in the USA.
Had President Bush's advisers conducted even a cursory review, they would have learned that Miss Harty was a protege and clone of Mrs. Ryan, who would almost certainly not undo the very policies the September 11 terrorists exploited to enter the United States...
Are we sure they didn't?
This Administration isn't exactly known for its intrest in border security.
Mary A. Ryan assumed the duties of Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs on May 12, 1993.
Ambassador Ryan, who entered the Foreign Service in 1966, began her career as Rotational Officer in Naples. She then served as Personnel Officer in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and as Consular Officer at the Consulate General in Monterrey, Mexico. Her succeeding tours of duty were as Roving Administrative Officer for Africa and as Post Management Officer in the Bureau of African Affairs in Washington. She went on to become Career Development Officer in the Bureau of Personnel also in Washington. Returning overseas in 1980, she served as Administrative Counselor at U.S. embassies in Abidjan, Côte D'Ivoire and Khartoum, Sudan. Ambassador Ryan has also been a Foreign Service Inspector and the Executive Director of the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs. She was Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary for Management for 3 years immediately before being assigned as Ambassador to Swaziland in 1988.
Returning to Washington in 1990, Ambassador Ryan served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Consular Affairs. Assigned as Director of the Kuwait Task Force following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, she served in this capacity until her assignment to the United Nations Special Commission on the Elimination of Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction, as the Commission’s first Director of Operations. She returned from New York to take up her duties as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs in the fall of 1991.
Ambassador Ryan was the recipient of the Presidential Distinguished Service Award in 1998 and 1992, the Arnold L. Raphel Award in 1996 and the Award for Outstanding Public Service in 2001. She was promoted to Career Minister in 1992 and Career Ambassador in 1999.
Ambassador Ryan was born in New York City and has a BA and MA from St. John’s University in New York.
[End.]
Released on January 21, 2001
I know Maura Harty. We entered the State Department at about the same time.
I realize this will infuriate many Freepers, but Maura is a top-notch professional. She rose swiftly through the ranks because she’s brilliant, hardworking, and knows how to run an organization. She’s a true American patriot.
She hasn’t “broken the law,” as Joel Mawbray (a well-known Foreign Service antagonist) alleges in the Washington Times article. In the hectic months after becoming Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs in early 2002, Maura was immersed in navigating a complicated political path of competing proposals on Capitol Hill on how to restructure the visa function of the US government to tighten security and scrutiny of visa applicants while at the same time not shutting down normal, legitimate travel to the US. Maura worked with Republicans and Democrats to achieve that goal. Today, getting a tourist visa is definitely more lengthy, expensive, and cumbersome for an applicant than it was pre-9/11. Background checks and screening of applicants, particularly from the Middle East, has been strengthened greatly. Lots of legitimate applicants get refused visas due to the stricter standards applied for issuing visas. Unfortunate, but that’s part of our new post 9/11 era of security consciousness.
As for the passport “scandal” of this past year: sure, Maura’s bureau didn’t accurately forecast how many applicants there would be, but they were under the gun to implement a law Congress passed mandating new passport requirements. This wasn’t something Maura just dreamed up on her own. What tripped up her bureau was not forecasting how many people, hearing of the new requirement to have a passport in order to travel to Canada or Mexico, would apply for a passport even when they had no travel plans — just to have one in case.
So I urge my fellow Freepers (those who have some wider perspective of US interests) to lay off the attacks on Maura and recognize that she did a pretty good job of running State’s consular affairs at a time when there was plenty of confusion and disagreement in Washington about what to do. Maura is a patriot and a credit to the US and the Foreign Service.
We have a Canadian friend trying to go through this process. He is well-employed, got married, bought a house and he and his wife (also Canadian)have now had a baby. He has a 5 year work visa and applied for his green card, but has been told his visa cannot be extended and the current wait for a green card is 7 years.
Backlog, you see. And no more “numbers” for green cards are available until then.
In the meantime, we give student visas to people who never enroll and in-state tuition to people with no documentation at all. Makes a person wonder.
“European” is the euphemism given to me by a Congressional staffer when he politely wanted to point out the unrepentant Socialists in Foggy Bottom.
Based on Mary’s resume, she was promoted by x42, who IMO never promoted except based on political viewpoint.
Is this a case of smearing Maura by media association?
I also note that Maura may well be conservative, since she actually resigned rather than milking the system for all she could get, and back-stabbed the President along the way.
Mary Ryan (now deceased) was a true professional, in my judgment. I suppose one could fault her approach to visa work in that security definitely played second fiddle to maximizing easy availability of visas — but admittedly this was in the pre-9/11 world. Mary paid the price by being fired (by Colin Powell) in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
I would also note that Mary served as Assistant Secretary for nine years. I think that’s much too long for anyone, no matter how good they are, to serve in such a job. By the time she left, Mary had formed a “personality cult” around her in Consular Affairs, which isn’t good in any organization.
Take it for what its worth, but an aquaintance of mine who works in the Canadian foreign service tells me that “sex for visas” is fairly common among our diplomatic core. Would not be surprised.
Joel, it is not Mrs. Ryan. Mary Ryan, now deceased, was never married. And Maura Harty actually reached a very high pinnacle, just one step below what very few career officers ever reach.
Agreed. And the same holds true for Pat Kennedy. Unfortunately, it perpetuates a small clique that runs the management of the Department for long periods of time making it difficult to implement change. I know from firsthand experience.
Kabar, maybe we both work at State.
In the case of Mary Ryan, I know of several very good consular officers who for whatever reason weren’t on “her team.” Which meant they couldn’t get any decent consular jobs. They were pretty much put out to pasture during Mary’s tenure. That’s an outrageous state of affairs.
I believe in having a cap of, say, four years for anyone to serve as an assistant secretary.
Poundstone, I am sorry if this woman is your friend, but what this says to me is that she PUT THE INTERESTS OF FOREIGNERS WHO WANT TO COME HERE AHEAD OF THE SECURITY OF U.S. CITIZENS AND RESIDENTS. I hardly think this can be seen as an argument in her defense. If our government is not going to put our interests and security first, who is? Why would she subordinate the safety and well being of her fellow Americans to the desire of foreigners to travel here?
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