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03/18/2004 18:28 FAX 2026631289 PA/HO 1)002
Suaaary
The office dealing with consular affairs was one of the
moot powerful ia eho Department of State during »11 of the taac
century end for the firat quarter of thla one, but 1C faded
into obscurity during cha Dapreoaion, World War IX, and lea
immediate afteroath, regaining oome of lea former poaltion' in
the last tvo decades,
HiBtorleal Background
Until che Rogers Act of 1924 combines che diplomatic ana
coaaular aervlcea into ctie Foreign Service, there were far more
consular officers a.ad consular poata abroad -than diplomatic,
officers and missions• Tae consular role in trade promotion a ad
protection gave it cp«clal favor ia che bualneaa—oriented
administrations and Congresses in Washington. Tbe Consular
Service was also blessed with a acrona .leader, Wilbur Carr, who
headed the service from 1902 until the 1930s, Ironically, it
appears that Carr'a influence in the Department eventually
contributed to the eclipee of his beloved consular operation
from the lace 1930s through the 1950s, In 1929 Carr was given.
responsibility for the administration of toe Scate Department
along with supervising consular affairs. When he left the
Deparcaeac, ch-e adnlniacracive branch -virtually swallowed
conaulax1 Affalxs, redueinn It to a tninor poaleloa within the
AdMlni.sCrattv« Bureau.
The Depceoalon and che var also diminished consular
activities overseas, After World War II the consular functions
of passports, visas, and citizen protective services were
combinad with refugee and migration affairs, munitions
coutrola, and security under the Office of Controls (CON) in
the Bureau of Administration. The apparent rationale for this
grouping was that the visa, passport, and migration functions
were fomn of control over travel, eapecleilljr during che w«r
years, and munitions control was another, somewhat similar,
measure. Why the security function, was lump ad in with the r*st
la* uaelear, but ch« t»e«d for octcurity investigations of mo«t
paasporc and visa applicants in those days may have been the
governing factor.
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Pfftee
While SCA had been reduced to ite purely consular functions
by 1966,. ic was not until 1977 that a oajor organizational
weakness that bad lasted for more than JO yoara was finally
resolved. Tha Passport Office bad been jLn the Bureau of
Security and Consular Affairs but not of IE. Slaea before the
Franklin Roosevelt Administration, the Passport Office had been
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rua ty Huch Shlplay, vho waa very povorful £0. the hall« of
Congrea* and even the President had beea aald to remark that he
«roald not t«ngl<* vlch K««. Sfce ^aa followed, from. 1955 «o
1977, by another strong-willed chief, Franco Knight, who had
tha aanie rapport with Congress. During that long period ch«
Administrators of SCA or CON had limited control over the
passport function, vhlch remained staffed completely by civil
servants owing allegiance to the head of their office, while
tbe rest of r.he consular establishment was run by a mix of
Foreign service Officera (FSDS) and civil servants^ There had
been plans Co put VSOs In Che Passport Office during their
tours In the Department, but these attempts Co integrate the
consular service vere effectively frustrated.
In 1977, upon the retirement of Frances Knight, toe
Passport Office finally was brought Into the consular fold and
has been headed since that time by a aeries of FSOa with a mix
of civil servants and FSOa la tbe management ranfca.
freaent Bra
The culmination of the consular office's return from tU«
vlldftrnttAS vaa in 1979 wtxen SCA becane CA, reporclag dlreccly
to tha Secretary «.« do all oehei; major ture*u« . The initiative
for this change in status cane fron CeBgt«o»waa Dante Faaaell
and the House Foreign Affalra Conalttee with strong aapport
froa the House Judiciary Committee. The Passport office was
Integrated into the full scope of consular activities, and the
three office directors vere made Deputy Assistant Secretaries
for Paaaporta, Visas, and Special Consular Services, vith a
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary serving directly under tha
Assistant Secretary for Consular Af fairs .1
Thl0 rcoufgencc • of the Bureau of Consular Affaire CCA),
which had begun tn tha 1960s, can be aecvlbuCcd to several
factors: the explosion of American travel abroad, Increased
in. imisration aattaro by the public,
attention by the media (Joneatovn. Midnight Expreaa^.
Mexican prison .conditions, etc.), tbTe strong and Itjng, although
iatarmittant, leadership of Barbara Watson in Che 1960s and
1970s, Innovative management techniques vlthin Che Bureau, and
Congressional Initiative in atrengchlng consular operations »
congreas, more than the traditional power structure of the
Department, the geographical bureaus, has been the mala
champion of a strong and effective coBCUlar affaire
organization. ±n« groac propoaderaaee of Congresalonal
corraapoodeace with the bepartmaat is over eotinulair m«ccers,
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