[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8234 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8234


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 21, 2024

                Received; read twice and referred to the

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                                 AN ACT


 
  To authorize the Secretary of State to designate additional persons 
    eligible to serve as passport acceptance agents, 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. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF STATE TO DESIGNATE ADDITIONAL 
              PERSONS ELIGIBLE TO SERVE AS PASSPORT ACCEPTANCE AGENTS.

    Section 6109(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2024 (22 U.S.C. 213a(b)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (7); and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
            ``(6) A United States citizen who, as determined by the 
        Secretary, is employed by and provides services through a 
        reputable, established company or institution and is 
        commissioned or appointed as a notary or notary public or 
        otherwise authorized to perform a notarization under the laws 
        of a State, district, or territorial government.''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO HAND-CARRY COURIER SERVICES FOR 
              PASSPORT APPLICATIONS AND PASSPORTS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall take such actions as 
may be necessary to--
            (1) facilitate an increase in the number of companies 
        certified to provide hand-carry courier services; and
            (2) increase the daily maximum number of applications for 
        United States regular passports, by service type, that such 
        companies may submit to a passport agency of the Department of 
        State (commonly referred to as ``meeting slots'') as part of 
        the hand-carry courier services of such company.
    (b) Hand-carry Courier Service Defined.--In this section, the term 
``hand-carry courier service'' means--
            (1) the transport of applications for United States 
        passports to a passport agency of the Department of State for 
        processing; and
            (2) the retrieval of newly issued United States passports 
        for delivery, directly or indirectly, to the passport holder.

SEC. 3. DATE OF EXPIRATION OF UNITED STATES PASSPORTS.

    The Secretary of State shall take such actions as may be necessary 
to provide that each United States regular passport issued or renewed 
on or after the date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act expires on the same month and day of the month as the date 
of birth of the individual associated with such passport.

            Passed the House of Representatives November 20, 2024.

            Attest:

                                             KEVIN F. MCCUMBER,

                                                                 Clerk.