Passports for Sex Offenders--Including Feds

In a new report, the Government Accountability Office has found that in 2008, the State Department issued about 4,500 passports to registered sex offenders -- a figure the watchdog agency says is probably understated due to data limitations.

What's more, by analyzing salary data provided by the Treasury Department, the U.S. Postal Service, and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, GAO found that at least 30 of the offenders were federal employees.

To put all of those numbers in perspective, State issued more than 16 million passports in 2008. And, GAO noted, "Currently, State has no statutory authority to deny passports to registered sex offenders, except those convicted of sex tourism."