[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4501 Received in Senate (RDS)]


109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4501


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 18, 2005

                                Received

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To amend the Passport Act of June 4, 1920, to authorize the Secretary 
  of State to establish and collect a surcharge to cover the costs of 
meeting the increased demand for passports as a result of actions taken 
to comply with section 7209(b) of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism 
                        Prevention Act of 2004.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Passport Services Enhancement Act of 
2005''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF STATE TO ESTABLISH AND COLLECT A 
              SURCHARGE TO COVER THE COSTS OF MEETING THE INCREASED 
              DEMAND FOR PASSPORTS.

    Section 1 of the Passport Act of June 4, 1920 (22 U.S.C. 214) is 
amended--
            (1) in the first sentence, by striking ``There shall be 
        collected and paid'' and inserting ``(a) There shall be 
        collected and paid''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(b)(1) The Secretary of State may by regulation establish and 
collect a surcharge on applicable fees for the filing of each 
application for a passport in order to cover the costs of meeting the 
increased demand for passports as a result of actions taken to comply 
with section 7209(b) of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism 
Prevention Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-458; 8 U.S.C. 1185 note). Such 
surcharge shall be in addition to the fees provided for in subsection 
(a) and in addition to the surcharges or fees otherwise authorized by 
law and shall be deposited as an offsetting collection to the 
appropriate Department of State appropriation, to remain available 
until expended for the purposes of meeting such costs.
    ``(2) The authority to collect the surcharge provided under 
paragraph (1) may not be exercised after September 30, 2010.
    ``(3) The Secretary of State shall ensure that, to the extent 
practicable, the total cost of a passport application during fiscal 
years 2006 and 2007, including the surcharge authorized under paragraph 
(1), shall not exceed the cost of the passport application as of 
December 1, 2005.''.

            Passed the House of Representatives December 18, 2005.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.