MODERATOR: Greetings and good morning, everyone. My name is Mignon Houston, and I am the deputy spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State. I'll be your moderator for today's press briefing. It is an exciting day for U.S. citizens, and I am happy to welcome you to today's on-the-record press brief with Assistant Secretary Rena Bitter on the online passport renewal system launch. We are now ready to get started. I'll begin with a few ground rules at the top.
This is of course an on-the-record call. Information may be quoted and attributed directly to our assistant secretary. We ask that the contents of the call be embargoed until the conclusion of the call. At this time, I'll begin by introducing our speaker, and promptly afterwards I'll open the floor for questions.
