Mary A. Ryan

Mary A. Ryan (1940–2006) was a United States career diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Swaziland from 1988 to 1990 and as Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs from 1993 to 2002. Ryan also served overseas in Italy, Honduras, Mexico, Côte d'Ivoire, and Sudan.

Biography

Mary A. Ryan was born in New York City on October 1, 1940. She was educated at St. John's University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1963 and a Master of Arts degree in 1965.

Ryan joined the United States Foreign Service in 1966. Her first assignment was as a consular and administrative officer in Naples, a position she held from 1966 to 1969. Ryan then was assigned as personnel officer at the American Embassy in Tegucigalpa from 1970 to 1971. Ryan subsequently served as a consular officer at the American consulate general in Monterrey.

Ryan served as Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs at the time of the September 11 attacks, and she testified to Congress regarding how the terrorists received U.S. visas and what should be done to prevent terrorists from receiving U.S. visas in the future. Ryan testified that, during 2001, each consular officer stationed Saudi Arabia interviewed 200 people per day. Ryan said that consular officers did not review an applicants' local criminal record because they were so unreliable; in many countries, a person could bribe local police departments to delete their criminal history. Ryan testified that it was unlikely that a consular officer would detect a terrorist during a visa interview. At a congressional hearing, Ryan testified, "It's the failure of intelligence rather than a failure of the visa system. If we had the information, we would not have issued visas to these people.... It is a lack of information-sharing, a lack of intelligence, that we have to fix." Ryan's post as Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs ended on September 30, 2002. The U.S. Department of State said it was part of a normal rotation for a staff member after a change in presidential administration.