Outsourced US Passports in Thailand – Bangkok Police Arrest Counterfeiter

A few weeks back, Pat Kushlis of “Whirled View” added value to the Washington Times story by Bill Gertz on the travesty of outsourcing sensitive “E-chip” passport production to foreign firms, including a subcontract to a firm in Thailand.  Now, an alert reader in Bangkok told me of today’s arrest of a Bangladeshi counterfeiter, found with hundreds of passports and "more than 1,600 counterfeit documents used to make fake US passports."  Thai police are still hunting for his Burmese business partner.  The police said the man was obviously “very rich.”  No wonder people are concerned about outsourcing American e-chip passports in Thailand.

Here’s a quick rundown of the timeline of action on outsourcing:

•    March 26: Washington Times breaks GPO outsourcing story
•    March 28: Whirled View analyzes implications for fraud
•    April 3: Avuncular American looks at GPO-GOP campaign angle
•    April 4: Whirled View urges us to “follow the money”
•    April 9: GPO chief assures Congress of “extraordinary measures” to secure passport production overseas
•    April 11: Congressman Bill Sali and 10 bipartisan co-signers submit H.R. 5752 to “require that all key components U.S. passports be made in America.”

Representative Sali’s bill has been referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Nice little MSM-blogosphere-Congressional concerted action on this issue!  Let’s hope that the House Foreign Affairs Committee reports the bill out for a full House vote, and that the ensuing Senate vote will be veto-proof.  Not sure how many American rice bowls are involved in this contract, but there’s absolutely no point in filling Bangladeshi or Burmese or Thai bowls with money from trafficked American passports.