[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5620 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5620

 To waive the passport fees for first responders proceeding abroad to 
        aid a foreign country suffering from a natural disaster.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 21, 2023

    Mr. Issa (for himself, Mr. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Mr. Graves of 
  Louisiana, Mr. Beyer, Mr. LaMalfa, Ms. Norton, Mr. Wilson of South 
Carolina, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Phillips, Ms. Salazar, Mr. 
Waltz, Mr. Gimenez, and Mr. Guest) introduced the following bill; which 
 was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to 
the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To waive the passport fees for first responders proceeding abroad to 
        aid a foreign country suffering from a natural disaster.

    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 ``First Responders Passport Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. PASSPORTS FOR FIRST RESPONDERS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1 of the Act of June 4, 1920 (22 U.S.C. 
214; 41 Stat. 750; commonly referred to as the ``Passport Act of 
1920''), is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (d); and
            (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:
    ``(a) In General.--There shall be collected and paid into the 
Treasury of the United States a fee, prescribed by the Secretary of 
State by regulation, for the filing of each application for a passport 
(including the cost of passport issuance and use) and a fee, prescribed 
by the Secretary of State by regulation, for executing each such 
application, except that the Secretary of State may by regulation 
authorize State officials or the United States Postal Service to 
collect and retain the execution fee for each application for a 
passport accepted by such officials or by that Service. Such fees shall 
not be refundable, except as the Secretary may by regulation prescribe.
    ``(b) Exception for Passport Fee.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), 
no passport fee shall be collected from any of the following:
            ``(1) An officer or employee of the United States 
        proceeding abroad in the discharge of official duties, or from 
        members of his immediate family.
            ``(2) An American seaman who requires a passport in 
        connection with his duties aboard an American flag-vessel.
            ``(3) A widow, widower, child, parent, grandparent, 
        brother, or sister of a deceased member of the Armed Forces 
        proceeding abroad to visit the grave of such member or to 
        attend a funeral or memorial service for such member.
            ``(4) An individual or individuals abroad, returning to the 
        United States, when the Secretary determines that foregoing the 
        collection of such fee is justified for humanitarian reasons or 
        for law enforcement purposes.
            ``(5) At the discretion of the Secretary, an individual, 
        including a volunteer, who--
                    ``(A) is operating under a contract, grant, or 
                cooperative agreement with the United States Government 
                to proceed abroad to a foreign country to participate 
                in search, rescue, and other related disaster relief 
                operations within such foreign country within the first 
                7 days after a natural disaster affecting such foreign 
                country; and
                    ``(B) is required pursuant to such contract, grant, 
                or cooperative agreement to be available to so proceed 
                abroad immediately upon notice from the United States 
                Government.
    ``(c) Exception for Execution Fee.--No execution fee shall be 
collected for an application made before a Federal official by a person 
excused from payment of the passport fee under this section.''.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the end of the first full 
fiscal year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 
a report on the number of waivers of fees for the execution and 
issuance of passports to first responders under section 1 of the Act of 
June 4, 1920, as amended by subsection (a) of this section, for such 
fiscal year.

SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

    The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying 
with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by 
reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO 
Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional 
Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that 
such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
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