[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6610 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6610
To provide for the modernization of the passport issuance process, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 6, 2023
Mr. Issa (for himself and Ms. Salazar) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the modernization of the passport issuance process, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Passport System
Reform and Backlog Prevention Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Sense of Congress.
Sec. 4. Standards for passport issuance process.
Sec. 5. Emergency hiring authorities for consular services.
Sec. 6. Enhanced information technology solutions to improve the
passport issuance process.
Sec. 7. Research on commercially available information technology
solutions.
Sec. 8. GAO report.
Sec. 9. Definitions.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States
experienced a major backlog of passport applications resulting
in passport processing wait times of up to 13 weeks, exclusive
of shipping times.
(2) The backlog resulted in wait times which are an extreme
outlier among developed countries with widely accepted
passports, while United States pre-pandemic processing times of
six to eight weeks are also among the slowest.
(3) Over the past several years, the Bureau has experienced
repeated delays in its attempts to modernize and technologize
the passport issuance process.
(4) The adoption of additional commercially available
information technology solutions at several stages of the
passport issuance process would greatly enhance and accelerate
such process.
(5) The United States passport is a widely recognized and
trusted identity and travel document that represents a key
element of a United States citizen's identity records.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) as a routine matter, an adult who has submitted a
routine new or renewal passport application should be reliably
able to expect that such application adjudicated will be
adjudicated by the Bureau, at a reasonable cost, in no longer
than 30 days; and
(2) the Bureau should take every effort and use every
available technology and best practice to protect the integrity
of the passport issuance process, the privacy of passport
holders, and the efficiency of processing passport issuance
requests.
SEC. 4. STANDARDS FOR PASSPORT ISSUANCE PROCESS.
Upon implementation of the information technology solutions
required pursuant to section 6, in administering the passport issuance
process, the Assistant Secretary shall evaluate the performance of such
process against the following criteria:
(1) To maintain a service standard of processing a routine
new or renewal adult passport application from document
submission until mailing of final documents in not longer than
30 days.
(2) To maintain affordable passport fees.
(3) To ensure world-class technical, security, and
cybersecurity standards for United States passports and the
passport issuance process.
(4) To minimize downtime for the travel document issuance
system.
(5) To achieve a near-zero suspense rate resulting from
typographical, clerical, or picture-based errors.
(6) To provide a streamlined customer experience for
passport applicants.
(7) To provide reasonably convenient passport services to
United States citizens and nationals living a significant
distance from a passport agency, particularly residents in a
significant population center more than a 5-hour drive from a
passport agency.
SEC. 5. EMERGENCY HIRING AUTHORITIES FOR CONSULAR SERVICES.
(a) In General.--The Secretary is authorized to employ a limited
number of personal services contractors for employment in the United
States in order to meet exigent needs of the Bureau.
(b) Authority in Addition to Existing Authorities.--The authority
described in subsection (a) is in addition to any existing authorities
to enter into contracts with such personal services contractors.
(c) Employing and Allocation of Personnel.--To meet the
requirements described in subsection (a) and subject to the
requirements of subsection (b), the Secretary may--
(1) employ a total of up to 100 personal services
contractors at any given time in each of the fiscal years 2024,
2025, and 2026;
(2) allocate personal services contractors to other
elements of the Department in order to backfill personnel who
have been assigned to work in the Bureau, except that not more
than 20 such contractors may be assigned to any one element of
the Department other than the Bureau; and
(3) allocate personal services contractors to elements of
the Department without regard to the sources of funding such
element relies on to compensate individuals.
(d) Limitation.--Employment authorized by this section may not
exceed 2 calendar years.
(e) Personal Services Contractors.--Personal services contractors
hired pursuant to this section shall be considered as employees of the
Department of State for the purposes of the first section of the Act
entitled ``An Act to regulate the issue and validity of passports, and
for other purposes'', approved July 3, 1926 (22 U.S.C. 211a).
(f) Notification and Reporting to Congress.--
(1) Notification.--At least 15 days prior to the exercise
of the authority of this section, the Secretary shall notify
the appropriate congressional committees of the number of
personal services contractors being employed, the expected
length of employment, the bureaus in which such contractors are
being employed, the purpose for using personal services
contractors, and the justification, including the exigent
circumstances requiring such use.
(2) Annual reporting.--Not later than 60 days after the end
of each fiscal year specified in subsection (c)(1), the
Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report that contains the matters described in
paragraph (1) with respect to such fiscal year.
SEC. 6. ENHANCED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE
PASSPORT ISSUANCE PROCESS.
(a) In General.--The Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the
Chief Information Officer, shall implement the information technology
solutions described in subsection (b) in accordance with the timelines
described in such subsection.
(b) Enhanced Information Technology Solutions and Timelines
Described.--The enhanced information technology solutions and timelines
described in this subsection are the following:
(1)(A) Not later than 60 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Chief Information Officer shall
award a contract or expand an existing contract to provide a
digital dashboard to provide congressional offices with the
ability to track the status of individual passport applications
being handled as casework by such offices.
(B) Not later than 180 days after such date of enactment,
the Chief Information Officer shall complete implementation of
the dashboard described in subparagraph (A).
(2)(A) Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation
with the Chief Information Officer, shall award a contract for
the establishment and maintenance of--
(i) a service to provide to passport applicants
automated, voluntary proactive communications, by email
or text message, for each progress point in the
passport issuance process, and for the notification of
application errors, and delivery of mail tracking
numbers, and reminders of renewal eligibility;
(ii) a mobile application to allow for the
centralization of applicant communication with the
Department, including document submission, application
status tracking, virtual appointments, access to the
notification of application errors described in clause
(i), and allowing for passport holders to receive
messages from the Department and communicate
emergencies to the Department.
(B) The services described in subparagraph (A) shall be
offered to applicants on an opt-in basis only and data gained
as a result of such opt-in shall not be transferred to any
third party.
(C) With respect to the service described in clause (A)(i),
the Secretary shall provide separate options to opt-in to email
and text message notification, as well as separate options to
opt-in to processing-related notifications and renewal
eligibility notifications.
(D) As a condition for awarding the contracts described in
subparagraph (A), the awardee shall demonstrate that it can
begin tests on the solution within one year of the award of the
contract and complete implementation, including bug fixes,
cybersecurity audits, and customer service testing, not later
than three years from the award of the contract.
(3)(A) Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation
with the Chief Information Officer, shall award a contract or
contracts for the expansion and maintenance of the online
passport renewal system to be able to accommodate both routine
first-time adult applications and renewal adult passport
applications.
(B) The contracts awarded pursuant to subparagraph (A)
shall cover the following services:
(i) A customer-friendly internet website or portal
to facilitate internet-based submission of adult
passport applications.
(ii) Necessary remote document verification tools
and infrastructure, to allow for a passport transaction
to be completed entirely remotely.
(iii) Necessary information technology
infrastructure not already maintained by the
Department.
(C) The expansion of the online passport renewal system and
associated systems shall, upon full implementation, be able to
accommodate sufficient volume to process 100 percent of
expected routine new and renewal adult passport applications
for the five years following the date on which the system is
fully implemented.
(D)(i) If applicable, not later than two years after the
date of the enactment of this Act, services contracted pursuant
to subparagraph (A) shall be carried out on a pilot basis.
(ii) Not later than three years after such date of
enactment, services contracted pursuant to subparagraph (A)
shall be able to accommodate 25 percent of new and renewal
adult passport applications.
(iii) Not later than four years after such date of
enactment, services contracted pursuant to subparagraph (A)
shall be fully implemented.
(iv) In awarding contracts pursuant to subparagraph (A),
the Secretary shall only consider proposals that can reasonably
be expected to meet the timelines described in this
subparagraph.
(E) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as
authorization to terminate the acceptance of paper-based
passport applications.
(4)(A) not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Chief Information Officer, in
coordination with the Assistant Secretary, shall award a
contract or contracts for the provision of rules-based tools to
screen online passport renewal applications in which no
biographical information was changed for citizenship, identity,
and entitlement against internal and commercial databases.
(B) The tools described in subparagraph (A) shall be fully
operational within one year of the award of the contract.
(C) The Chief Information Officer shall ensure that the use
of the tools do not provide vectors for cyberattack.
(D) The Assistant Secretary shall ensure that the tools
described in subparagraph (A) are implemented consistent with
the maintenance of passport integrity standards.
(E) For purposes of using the tools described in
subparagraph (A), the requirement that a passport be issued by
the personnel described in the first section of the Act
entitled ``An Act to regulate the issue and validity of
passports, and for other purposes'', approved July 3, 1926 (22
U.S.C. 211a), shall be satisfied provided that such personnel
oversee the tools described in such subparagraph consistent
with the requirements in subparagraph (D).
(c) Role of Chief Information Officer.--
(1) In general.--The Chief Information Officer's approval
shall be required before the Assistant Secretary awards a
contract pursuant to this section.
(2) Relating to systems.--With respect to the contracting
and implementation of the systems described in subsection (b),
the Chief Information Officer shall have--
(A) final decision making authority on the
technical feasibility and specifications, cybersecurity
requirements, compatibility with existing Department
information technology infrastructure, and the
feasibility of timelines from a technical standpoint;
and
(B) final approval of all technical matters before
full implementation.
(3) Evaluation of proposals.--In selecting the services
described in subsection (b), the Chief Information Officer
shall include in the criteria for selection--
(A) the ability of the system to maintain security,
including the cybersecurity, standards appropriate to
the United States passport and to protect personally
identifiable information;
(B) scalability to accommodate current and future
passport demand; and
(C) long-term viability and upgradability.
(d) Action Plan.--
(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary and the
Chief Information Officer shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees an action plan on how the Bureau plans
to complete the modernizations described in this section and
complete other ongoing modernizations of the passport issuance
process.
(2) Elements.--The action plan required by paragraph (1)
shall include the following elements:
(A) The implementation progress for the information
technology solutions described in subsection (b).
(B) The specific implementation steps for the
solutions described in subsection (b) that Bureau of
Consular Affairs and the Bureau of Information Resource
Management will take, in conjunction with contract
awardees, to meet the timelines described in subsection
(b).
(C) The expected cost and timeline for
implementation of the information technology solutions
described in subsection (b).
(D) An evaluation of the information technology
solutions described in subsection (b) to determine
whether the full implementation of such solutions will
require additional funding or authorities, including
budget estimates and a description of such authorities,
as appropriate.
(E) Steps, processes, and technologies the Chief
Information Officer intends to use to ensure world-
class cybersecurity standards for protection of
passport applicant data and the passport issuance
process infrastructure, particularly such
infrastructure involved in adjudication of passport
applications.
(F) A staffing plan for the four years beginning on
the first day of the month during which the action plan
will be submitted describing the expected staffing
needs of the Bureau for the passport issuance process.
(G) Other specific planned steps that the Bureau
will take to achieve the criteria described in section
4.
(e) Ongoing Reporting.--Not later than 90 days after the interim
plan described in subsection (d), and quarterly thereafter until such
time as the Bureau has completed implementation of the items described
in subsection (b), the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the
Chief Information Officer, shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report on the following:
(1) Progress on each item described in subsection (b).
(2) Additional modernizations the Bureau intends to adopt.
(3) Changes in the cost for implementation of the steps
described in the action plan, if applicable.
(f) Form.--The plans and report required by this section shall be
submitted in an unclassified form and may include classified a annex,
if necessary.
SEC. 7. RESEARCH ON COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
SOLUTIONS.
(a) In General.--In conducting the review required by subsection
(a), the Chief Information Officer shall solicit the private sector for
proposals to identify commercially available technologies that may be
adopted by the Bureau to advance the criteria described in section 4.
(b) Requirements.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, in furtherance of the requirement under
subsection (a), the Chief Information Officer shall--
(1) publish such solicitation and the process for
responding to the solicitation in the Federal Register and
notify the appropriate congressional committees thereof;
(2) solicit proposals for information technology services
that improve any aspect of the passport issuance process,
including the online passport renewal system, by allowing it to
meet one or more of the criteria described in section 4; and
(3) establish a team, in cooperation with the Assistant
Secretary, of appropriate Department employees and contractors
to serve as the point of contact for, and to consult on policy,
legal, and technical aspects of the passport issuance process
with entities considering submitting a proposal.
(c) Evaluation.--For each such proposal, the Chief Information
Officer shall evaluate the cost, security, and likely benefits,
including benefits to customer satisfaction, digitization, and
adjudication streamlining.
(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be construed
as an offer to procure services proposed to the Bureau pursuant to the
solicitation of proposals required by paragraph (1) or as a guarantee
of a contract for such services.
(e) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Chief Information Officer, in coordination
with the Assistant Secretary, shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report--
(1) describing opportunities to leverage the private sector
and commercially available technologies to streamline,
expedite, or otherwise enhance the passport issuance process;
and
(2) containing a summary of each proposal made pursuant to
this section and whether the Secretary intends to adopt each
proposal.
SEC. 8. GAO REPORT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States
shall initiate a comprehensive review of the passport issuance process
designed to enable the Bureau to better meet the criteria described in
section 4 by identifying--
(1) weaknesses within such process;
(2) additional opportunities to leverage commercially
available technologies and global best practices;
(3) opportunities to streamline, expedite, and otherwise
enhance such process.
(b) Elements.--The review required by subsection (a) shall include
the following elements:
(1) A technical audit of the Travel Document Issuance
System (TDIS) and other passport-issuance information
technology systems that seeks to identify--
(A) aspects of the systems, including system
architecture, that may impact its performance,
scalability, and uptime;
(B) single points of failure within the systems;
(C) potential areas where commercially available
information technology solutions could be employed to
modernize the systems, and the likely costs to the
Department of acquiring and implementing such
solutions; and
(D) aspects, including staffing, that may impact
the speed of resolving technical issues within the
systems.
(2) An evaluation of the importance of each human aspect of
the passport issuance process to determine whether such aspects
can be replaced by secure digital processes.
(3) Based on consultations conducted pursuant to subsection
(c), a discussion of global best practices and standards,
including benchmarks for application fees and processing times
for passport issuance.
(4) Measures the Comptroller believes the Bureau could take
to reduce the cost of the passport issuance process or of
application fees or surcharges.
(5) An analysis of potential partnerships with other
Federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security
and its component agencies, the Social Security Administration,
and the United States Postal Service, which could support the
identity verification and resolution component of the passport
issuance process.
(6) Whether partnerships with the departments of motor
vehicles of the several States to collect and electronically
submit passport applications, including pictures, fees, and
digital copies of identity documents, to the Bureau would be a
viable and secure method of passport application submission.
(7) An evaluation of other United States Government
holdings, including biometric databases, that could be queried
to support the Department's identity resolution processes to
increase the security of the identity verification and
resolution component of the passport issuance process.
(c) Research on Global Best Practices.--In conducting the review
required by subsection (a), the Comptroller shall consult with the
Governments of the Republic of Korea and India and with no fewer than
four other foreign governments to ascertain global best practices for
passport processing and to identify processes, approaches, and
technologies that may be useful to inform the modernization of the
passport issuance process.
(d) Submission.--Upon completion of the review required by
subsection (a), the Comptroller shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees, to the Assistant Secretary, and to the Chief
Information Officer a report that contains the results of the review.
(e) Recommendations Implementation Report.--Not later than 90 days
after the date on which the report required by subsection (d) is
submitted, and quarterly thereafter, the Assistant Secretary and the
Chief Information Officer shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report on progress toward resolution of each
recommendation made in the report required by subsection (d) and
planned steps that will be taken to resolve each recommendation over
the next quarter.
SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act--
(1) the term ``appropriate congressional committees''
means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
(2) the term ``Assistant Secretary'' means the Assistant
Secretary of State for Consular Affairs;
(3) the term ``Bureau'' means the Bureau of Consular
Affairs of the Department;
(4) the term ``Chief Information Officer'' means the Chief
Information Officer of the Bureau;
(5) except as otherwise provided, the term ``Department''
means the Department of State;
(6) the term ``passport issuance process''--
(A) means all steps of passport issuance for a new
passport or renewal of a passport, as appropriate, from
the applicant's submission of documents through
document processing and application adjudication to
mailing of printed passports; and
(B) includes--
(i) the passport application submission,
which includes--
(I) the portion of the passport
issuance process from and including
passport acceptance by a passport
acceptance agent until documents are
received by the Department; and
(II) payment processing and mail
shipping times; and
(ii) the passport application processing,
which includes the portion of the passport
issuance process from the reception of
completed applications and their distribution
to passport agencies for adjudication until
finished passports and application documents
are mailed to applicants; and
(7) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of State.
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