[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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