[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6610 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6610
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 20, 2024
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
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. Enhanced information technology solutions to improve the
passport issuance process.
Sec. 6. Research on commercially available information technology
solutions.
Sec. 7. GAO Report.
Sec. 8. Rule of construction.
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 and
passport processing wait times of up to 13 weeks, exclusive of
shipping times.
(2) Over the past several years, the Department has
experienced repeated delays in its attempts to modernize the
passport issuance process.
(3) The adoption of additional commercially available
information technology solutions at several stages of the
passport issuance process could greatly enhance and accelerate
such process.
(4) The United States passport is a widely recognized and
trusted identity and travel document that is of tremendous
importance to its bearer around the globe.
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 will be adjudicated by the
Department, at a reasonable cost, in a time frame which is
conducive to international travel;
(2) the Department should seek to further modernize and
streamline the passport issuance process to enable a decrease
in processing times below pre-pandemic levels of six-to-eight
weeks, specifically for routine adult passport renewals with
respect to which the Department should seek to decrease average
processing times to less than 30 days; and
(3) the Department should take all reasonable steps,
including the use of available technology and best practices,
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.
In administering and modernizing 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 an expeditious
and reliable timeframe.
(2) To maintain affordable passport fees and surcharges.
(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 minimize the suspense rate resulting from
typographical, clerical, or picture-based errors, including by
enabling such suspensions to be resolved electronically.
(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. 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) Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the
Chief Information Officer, shall, including if necessary
through the awarding of a contract or expanding an existing,
establish a tool to enable congressional offices to monitor the
status of individual passport applications being handled as
casework by such offices.
(2)(A) Not later than 2 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation
with the Chief Information Officer, shall take all reasonable
steps, including if necessary the awarding of a contract for
the establishment and ongoing maintenance of 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.
(B) Applicants shall be provided the choice of whether to
use the services described in subparagraph (A) and data gained
as a result of participation in such services shall not be
transferred to any third party outside the Department or its
contract awardees.
(C) The services described in subparagraph (A) shall
provide separate options for email and text message
notification, as well as separate options for processing-
related notifications and renewal eligibility notifications.
(3)(A) Consistent with the Bureau's modernization plans and
timelines, and subject to the availability of funds, the
Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Chief Information
Officer, shall seek to enter into a contract or contracts as
appropriate, for the establishment and maintenance of 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, and allowing
for passport holders to receive messages from the Department
and communicate emergencies to the Department.
(B) The Assistant Secretary shall provide each passport
applicant with the option of whether to use the mobile
application described in subparagraph (A) or another service of
the Department.
(C) As a condition for awarding any 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 two years from the award of the contract.
(4)(A) Consistent with existing law, the Assistant
Secretary, in consultation with the Chief Information Officer,
shall expand the online passport renewal system, including to
accommodate electronic acceptance of routine first-time adult
applications as applicable, in addition to adult renewal
applications in sufficient volume to be able to accommodate
most applications by the date that is four years from the date
of enactment of this Act.
(B) Planning carried out to implement subparagraph (A)
shall prepare the Bureau to verify applications without
recourse to the information gained through appearance in person
described in section 1 of the Act of June 15, 1917 (22 U.S.C.
213), subject to any additional authorities required.
(C) To meet the objectives described in subparagraphs (A)
and (B), the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the
Chief Information Officer, shall, to the maximum extent
practicable, make use of commercially-available technology
solutions, including by seeking to enter into a contract or
contracts for the expansion and maintenance of the online
passport renewal system to accommodate the functionality
described in such subparagraphs.
(D) In expanding the online passport renewal system
pursuant to subparagraph (C), the following services should be
included or otherwise accounted for:
(i) A customer-friendly, user-friendly internet
website or portal to facilitate internet-based
submission of passport applications by adults.
(ii) To the extent possible, remote document
verification tools and infrastructure, to allow for a
passport transaction to be completed entirely remotely.
(iii) To the extent possible, information
technology infrastructure not already maintained by the
Department.
(5)(A) The Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the
Chief Information Officer, shall take all reasonable steps and
to the maximum extent practicable make use of commercially-
available technology solutions to implement additional rules-
based tools, including by seeking to enter into a contract or
contracts for such tools and their maintenance, to adjudicate
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 4 years of the date of the enactment of this
Act.
(C) The Chief Information Officer shall ensure that the use
of the tools do not make passport adjudication more vulnerable
to cyberattack.
(D) The Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Chief
Information Officer, shall ensure that the tools described in
subparagraph (A) are implemented consistent with the
maintenance of standards appropriate to ensuring the integrity
of the United States passport.
(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) Certification.--In addition to other requirements in this
section, not later than 30 days before the Assistant Secretary begins
work to procure internally any of the information technology solutions
described in subsection (b), the Assistant Secretary, in coordination
with the Chief Information Officer, shall certify to the appropriate
congressional committees that--
(1) the reasons for procuring such service internally;
(2) the Bureau has sufficient capacity to implement and
maintain such services; and
(3) the Bureau cannot procure such services for
significantly reduced cost externally.
(d) Preference.--In procuring and implementing the information
technology solutions described in subsection (b), preference should be
given to entities with the technical expertise necessary for the
project and capacity to deliver timely solutions.
(e) Role of Chief Information Officer.--
(1) In general.--The Chief Information Officer's
concurrence 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 Assistant Secretary and the
Chief Information Officer shall include in the criteria for
selection--
(A) the ability of the proposal 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.
(f) Interim Action Plan.--
(1) In general.--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 submit
to the appropriate congressional committees an action plan on
how the Bureau plans to complete the modernization described in
this section in conjunction with other related, ongoing steps
to modernize the passport issuance process.
(2) Elements.--The action plan required by paragraph (1)
shall include the following elements:
(A) Progress made on implementing the information
technology solutions described in subsection (b) within
specific timelines, and additional steps planned.
(B) The expected cost and timeline for
implementation of the information technology solutions
described in subsection (b).
(C) 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.
(D) Efforts 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.
(E) Other specific planned steps that the Bureau
will take to achieve the criteria described in section
4.
(g) Final Report.--Not later than 4 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, 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 information technology solution
described in subsection (b).
(2) Additional information technology solutions the Bureau
intends to adopt.
(3) Changes in the cost for implementation of the steps
described in the action plan, if applicable.
(h) Form.--The plans and report required by this section shall be
submitted in an unclassified form and may include a classified annex,
if necessary.
SEC. 6. RESEARCH ON COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
SOLUTIONS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the enactment of this
Act, the Assistant Secretary, in coordination with the Chief
Information Officer, shall establish a working group of appropriate
Department employees, and contractors as appropriate, to liaise with
the private sector for the purposes of identifying commercially
available technologies that may be adopted by the Bureau to advance the
criteria described in section 4, evaluating proposed technological
solutions, and augmenting the Bureau's ongoing modernization efforts.
(b) Composition.--The working group established pursuant to
subsection (a) shall be composed of personnel who can consult on the
policy, legal, and technical aspects of the passport issuance process
with entities that wish to provide such technologies to the Department.
(c) Pilot Projects.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the working group established pursuant to
subsection (a) should consider piloting not fewer than three commercial
information technology systems with potential to accelerate the
passport renewal process, reduce the backlog of requests, and backup
legacy systems with cloud-based software solutions.
(d) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary, in coordination with
the Chief Information Officer, shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report--
(1) describing the usefulness of the working group to the
Department's ongoing modernization efforts and its reception by
private sector actors;
(2) containing a summary of each proposal made to the
working group pursuant to this section and whether the
Secretary intends to adopt each proposal;
(3) providing recommendations to scale successful
solutions.
SEC. 7. GAO REPORT.
(a) In General.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall
conduct a comprehensive review of the passport issuance process,
including--
(1) the Bureau's goals for timeliness of passport issuance,
the basis for such goals, and its performance compared to those
goals;
(2) key factors affecting timeliness of passport issuance
and the extent to which the Bureau has addressed those factors;
(3) key factors affecting the implementation of
technological solutions by the Bureau;
(4) the Bureau's efforts to implement the Travel Document
Issuance System (TDIS) and other related information technology
systems that support the passport issuance process with a focus
on--
(A) whether the Bureau is following leading
practices for developing, acquiring, and overseeing
related system and infrastructure investments and
leveraging existing technologies where appropriate;
(B) whether the program has the workforce to
resolve technical issues within the systems; and
(C) identifying any vulnerabilities and limitations
of the system that may impact performance, including
single points of failure;
(5) opportunities to streamline, expedite, and otherwise
enhance the Bureau's passport issuance processes, including
opportunities to reduce costs in the passport issuance process;
(6) opportunities to partner with other Federal and State
agencies and leverage existing United States Government
information sources, such as biometric databases, in support of
the application and identity verification and resolution
components of the passport issuance process; and
(7) other matters as the Comptroller General may deem
appropriate.
(b) Submission.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall--
(1) brief the appropriate congressional committees on the
review required by subsection (a); and
(2) submit a final report upon completion of such review.
(c) Recommendations Implementation Report.--Not later than one year
after the date on which the report required by subsection (b)(2) is
submitted, 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 such subsection and planned steps that will be taken to
resolve each recommendation.
SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act may be construed as an offer to procure a
service or services or as a guarantee of a contract for such services.
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) except as otherwise provided, 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.
Passed the House of Representatives March 19, 2024.
Attest:
KEVIN F. MCCUMBER,
Clerk.