[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8234 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8234

  To authorize the Secretary of State to designate additional persons 
    eligible to serve as passport acceptance agents, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 2, 2024

 Mr. Mast (for himself, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, and Ms. Salazar) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                            Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  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.

    (a) Authority To Designate.--The Secretary of State may designate 
any person described in subsection (b) that meets such other 
requirements as the Secretary may prescribe under regulations to serve 
as a passport acceptance agent, unless the Secretary withdraws such 
authorization on a case-by-case basis with respect to a given person.
    (b) Authorized Persons.--A person described in this subsection is 
any of the following:
            (1) An employee of the clerk of any Federal court.
            (2) An employee of the clerk of any State court of record.
            (3) A postal employee at a United States post office that 
        has been selected to accept passport applications.
            (4) An employee of the Department of Defense at a military 
        installation that has been authorized to accept passport 
        applications.
            (5) An employee of a Federal department or agency that has 
        been selected to accept passport applications.
            (6) Any person commissioned or appointed as a notary or 
        notary public or otherwise authorized to perform a notarization 
        under the laws of a State or territorial government.
            (7) Any other person specifically designated by the 
        Secretary.
    (c) Regulations.--The Secretary of State shall prescribe or revise 
such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this Act.

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

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall take such steps 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 passports, by 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'' includes--
            (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. REVISION TO DATE OF EXPIRATION OF UNITED STATES PASSPORTS.

    The Secretary of State shall take such actions as may be necessary 
to provide for the date of expiration of each United States passport 
issued or renewed on or after the date that is 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act to be the same date as the date of birth 
of the applicant or holder of the passport.
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