[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 19, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H1198-H1201]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           PASSPORT SYSTEM REFORM AND BACKLOG PREVENTION ACT

  Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 6610) to provide for the modernization of the passport 
issuance process, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6610

       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. Enhanced information technology solutions to improve the 
              passport issuance process.
Sec. 6. Research on commercially available information technology 
              solutions.
Sec. 7. GAO Report.
Sec. 8. Rule of construction.
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 and 
     passport processing wait times of up to 13 weeks, exclusive 
     of shipping times.
       (2) Over the past several years, the Department has 
     experienced repeated delays in its attempts to modernize the 
     passport issuance process.
       (3) The adoption of additional commercially available 
     information technology solutions at several stages of the 
     passport issuance process could greatly enhance and 
     accelerate such process.
       (4) The United States passport is a widely recognized and 
     trusted identity and travel document that is of tremendous 
     importance to its bearer around the globe.

     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 will be 
     adjudicated by

[[Page H1199]]

     the Department, at a reasonable cost, in a time frame which 
     is conducive to international travel;
       (2) the Department should seek to further modernize and 
     streamline the passport issuance process to enable a decrease 
     in processing times below pre-pandemic levels of six-to-eight 
     weeks, specifically for routine adult passport renewals with 
     respect to which the Department should seek to decrease 
     average processing times to less than 30 days; and
       (3) the Department should take all reasonable steps, 
     including the use of available technology and best practices, 
     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.

       In administering and modernizing 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 an expeditious 
     and reliable timeframe.
       (2) To maintain affordable passport fees and surcharges.
       (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 minimize the suspense rate resulting from 
     typographical, clerical, or picture-based errors, including 
     by enabling such suspensions to be resolved electronically.
       (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. 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) Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment 
     of this Act, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with 
     the Chief Information Officer, shall, including if necessary 
     through the awarding of a contract or expanding an existing, 
     establish a tool to enable congressional offices to monitor 
     the status of individual passport applications being handled 
     as casework by such offices.
       (2)(A) Not later than 2 years after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary, in 
     consultation with the Chief Information Officer, shall take 
     all reasonable steps, including if necessary the awarding of 
     a contract for the establishment and ongoing maintenance of 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.
       (B) Applicants shall be provided the choice of whether to 
     use the services described in subparagraph (A) and data 
     gained as a result of participation in such services shall 
     not be transferred to any third party outside the Department 
     or its contract awardees.
       (C) The services described in subparagraph (A) shall 
     provide separate options for email and text message 
     notification, as well as separate options for processing-
     related notifications and renewal eligibility notifications.
       (3)(A) Consistent with the Bureau's modernization plans and 
     timelines, and subject to the availability of funds, the 
     Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Chief 
     Information Officer, shall seek to enter into a contract or 
     contracts as appropriate, for the establishment and 
     maintenance of 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, and allowing for passport holders to 
     receive messages from the Department and communicate 
     emergencies to the Department.
       (B) The Assistant Secretary shall provide each passport 
     applicant with the option of whether to use the mobile 
     application described in subparagraph (A) or another service 
     of the Department.
       (C) As a condition for awarding any 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 two years from the award of the contract.
       (4)(A) Consistent with existing law, the Assistant 
     Secretary, in consultation with the Chief Information 
     Officer, shall expand the online passport renewal system, 
     including to accommodate electronic acceptance of routine 
     first-time adult applications as applicable, in addition to 
     adult renewal applications in sufficient volume to be able to 
     accommodate most applications by the date that is four years 
     from the date of enactment of this Act.
       (B) Planning carried out to implement subparagraph (A) 
     shall prepare the Bureau to verify applications without 
     recourse to the information gained through appearance in 
     person described in section 1 of the Act of June 15, 1917 (22 
     U.S.C. 213), subject to any additional authorities required.
       (C) To meet the objectives described in subparagraphs (A) 
     and (B), the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the 
     Chief Information Officer, shall, to the maximum extent 
     practicable, make use of commercially-available technology 
     solutions, including by seeking to enter into a contract or 
     contracts for the expansion and maintenance of the online 
     passport renewal system to accommodate the functionality 
     described in such subparagraphs.
       (D) In expanding the online passport renewal system 
     pursuant to subparagraph (C), the following services should 
     be included or otherwise accounted for:
       (i) A customer-friendly, user-friendly internet website or 
     portal to facilitate internet-based submission of passport 
     applications by adults.
       (ii) To the extent possible, remote document verification 
     tools and infrastructure, to allow for a passport transaction 
     to be completed entirely remotely.
       (iii) To the extent possible, information technology 
     infrastructure not already maintained by the Department.
       (5)(A) The Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the 
     Chief Information Officer, shall take all reasonable steps 
     and to the maximum extent practicable make use of 
     commercially-available technology solutions to implement 
     additional rules-based tools, including by seeking to enter 
     into a contract or contracts for such tools and their 
     maintenance, to adjudicate 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 4 years of the date of the enactment of 
     this Act.
       (C) The Chief Information Officer shall ensure that the use 
     of the tools do not make passport adjudication more 
     vulnerable to cyberattack.
       (D) The Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Chief 
     Information Officer, shall ensure that the tools described in 
     subparagraph (A) are implemented consistent with the 
     maintenance of standards appropriate to ensuring the 
     integrity of the United States passport.
       (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) Certification.--In addition to other requirements in 
     this section, not later than 30 days before the Assistant 
     Secretary begins work to procure internally any of the 
     information technology solutions described in subsection (b), 
     the Assistant Secretary, in coordination with the Chief 
     Information Officer, shall certify to the appropriate 
     congressional committees that--
       (1) the reasons for procuring such service internally;
       (2) the Bureau has sufficient capacity to implement and 
     maintain such services; and
       (3) the Bureau cannot procure such services for 
     significantly reduced cost externally.
       (d) Preference.--In procuring and implementing the 
     information technology solutions described in subsection (b), 
     preference should be given to entities with the technical 
     expertise necessary for the project and capacity to deliver 
     timely solutions.
       (e) Role of Chief Information Officer.--
       (1) In general.--The Chief Information Officer's 
     concurrence 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 Assistant Secretary and the 
     Chief Information Officer shall include in the criteria for 
     selection--
       (A) the ability of the proposal 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.
       (f) Interim Action Plan.--

[[Page H1200]]

       (1) In general.--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 submit 
     to the appropriate congressional committees an action plan on 
     how the Bureau plans to complete the modernization described 
     in this section in conjunction with other related, ongoing 
     steps to modernize the passport issuance process.
       (2) Elements.--The action plan required by paragraph (1) 
     shall include the following elements:
       (A) Progress made on implementing the information 
     technology solutions described in subsection (b) within 
     specific timelines, and additional steps planned.
       (B) The expected cost and timeline for implementation of 
     the information technology solutions described in subsection 
     (b).
       (C) 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.
       (D) Efforts 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.
       (E) Other specific planned steps that the Bureau will take 
     to achieve the criteria described in section 4.
       (g) Final Report.--Not later than 4 years after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, 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 information technology solution 
     described in subsection (b).
       (2) Additional information technology solutions the Bureau 
     intends to adopt.
       (3) Changes in the cost for implementation of the steps 
     described in the action plan, if applicable.
       (h) Form.--The plans and report required by this section 
     shall be submitted in an unclassified form and may include a 
     classified annex, if necessary.

     SEC. 6. RESEARCH ON COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION 
                   TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the enactment 
     of this Act, the Assistant Secretary, in coordination with 
     the Chief Information Officer, shall establish a working 
     group of appropriate Department employees, and contractors as 
     appropriate, to liaise with the private sector for the 
     purposes of identifying commercially available technologies 
     that may be adopted by the Bureau to advance the criteria 
     described in section 4, evaluating proposed technological 
     solutions, and augmenting the Bureau's ongoing modernization 
     efforts.
       (b) Composition.--The working group established pursuant to 
     subsection (a) shall be composed of personnel who can consult 
     on the policy, legal, and technical aspects of the passport 
     issuance process with entities that wish to provide such 
     technologies to the Department.
       (c) Pilot Projects.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the working group established 
     pursuant to subsection (a) should consider piloting not fewer 
     than three commercial information technology systems with 
     potential to accelerate the passport renewal process, reduce 
     the backlog of requests, and backup legacy systems with 
     cloud-based software solutions.
       (d) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary, in 
     coordination with the Chief Information Officer, shall submit 
     to the appropriate congressional committees a report--
       (1) describing the usefulness of the working group to the 
     Department's ongoing modernization efforts and its reception 
     by private sector actors;
       (2) containing a summary of each proposal made to the 
     working group pursuant to this section and whether the 
     Secretary intends to adopt each proposal;
       (3) providing recommendations to scale successful 
     solutions.

     SEC. 7. GAO REPORT.

       (a) In General.--The Comptroller General of the United 
     States shall conduct a comprehensive review of the passport 
     issuance process, including--
       (1) the Bureau's goals for timeliness of passport issuance, 
     the basis for such goals, and its performance compared to 
     those goals;
       (2) key factors affecting timeliness of passport issuance 
     and the extent to which the Bureau has addressed those 
     factors;
       (3) key factors affecting the implementation of 
     technological solutions by the Bureau;
       (4) the Bureau's efforts to implement the Travel Document 
     Issuance System (TDIS) and other related information 
     technology systems that support the passport issuance process 
     with a focus on--
       (A) whether the Bureau is following leading practices for 
     developing, acquiring, and overseeing related system and 
     infrastructure investments and leveraging existing 
     technologies where appropriate;
       (B) whether the program has the workforce to resolve 
     technical issues within the systems; and
       (C) identifying any vulnerabilities and limitations of the 
     system that may impact performance, including single points 
     of failure;
       (5) opportunities to streamline, expedite, and otherwise 
     enhance the Bureau's passport issuance processes, including 
     opportunities to reduce costs in the passport issuance 
     process;
       (6) opportunities to partner with other Federal and State 
     agencies and leverage existing United States Government 
     information sources, such as biometric databases, in support 
     of the application and identity verification and resolution 
     components of the passport issuance process; and
       (7) other matters as the Comptroller General may deem 
     appropriate.
       (b) Submission.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall--
       (1) brief the appropriate congressional committees on the 
     review required by subsection (a); and
       (2) submit a final report upon completion of such review.
       (c) Recommendations Implementation Report.--Not later than 
     one year after the date on which the report required by 
     subsection (b)(2) is submitted, 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 such subsection and planned steps that will be taken to 
     resolve each recommendation.

     SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

       Nothing in this Act may be construed as an offer to procure 
     a service or services or as a guarantee of a contract for 
     such services.

     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) except as otherwise provided, 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.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Missouri (Mrs. Wagner) and the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Wild) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Missouri.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to 
include extraneous material on this bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Missouri?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Issa), who is the author of this bill.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I will try not to take more time than is 
necessary for a bipartisan bill that has broad support, but I do rise 
today in support of H.R. 6610, the Passport System Reform and Backlog 
Prevention Act.
  I became the author of this bill not in the usual way as a member of 
the Foreign Affairs Committee, but actually as a man who has three 
constituent service personnel who spend a great deal of their time 
dealing with the fact that when a backlog becomes pervasive, what ends 
up happening is every passport renewal becomes an emergency, and it 
becomes an expedited payment. It becomes, in short, a problem that 
should not have happened.

[[Page H1201]]

  We certainly understand that during COVID there were a number of 
problems. One of them was the State Department had never prepared for 
being able to, in any remote way, process passports. So during that 
time, the backlog became understandably immense.
  Be that as it may, in the several years since COVID has passed, the 
backlog has continued, and it has never reached an acceptable point for 
the American people.
  Even today, Mr. Speaker, when you surrender a passport for renewal, 
you have no idea whether it will be weeks or even months before you get 
one. Most people are advised to pay the expedited fee. In fact, the 
expedited fee seldom gives them the speed that was intended.
  We have talked to several countries, if you will, not necessarily our 
peers, but countries that have the same challenges we have. Britain, 
Japan, and Australia routinely reauthorize within a matter of days 
while we take a 5- to 8-week turnaround.
  That is unacceptable. We are the country that effectively created the 
computer, created automation, and created the ability for something as 
mundane as adding a new picture to a previously issued passport. We 
should and could beat this.
  The modernization is the first since the days of the early modem, the 
item that made sound and certainly could transport only a small amount 
of information.
  Congressional intervention is needed. The State Department 
understands that, and for that reason, we have five basic principles in 
this, the most important of which is that we ask for private-sector 
techniques to be used and, in fact, for the State Department to work 
with the private sector that is more than capable of creating a faster 
system. In fact, some American companies are processing passports for 
other countries.
  Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 6610.
  As we all recall, the State Department experienced an unprecedented 
level of demand for passports after a global slowdown in travel during 
the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of our constituents were frustrated by the 
significant processing wait times they faced in securing their 
passports.
  As this bill moved through the Foreign Affairs Committee, we were 
pleased to learn that the State Department had achieved prepandemic 
passport processing times again. Nonetheless, the work we must 
undertake going forward is to ensure that the Bureau of Consular 
Affairs and other relevant department entities have the tools, 
analysis, and resources that they need to sustain ups and downs in 
consular demand. The State Department is already working to modernize 
and streamline its passport processing, and this legislation supports 
those efforts.
  This bill, as amended by the Foreign Affairs Committee, will further 
modernize passport processing through a range of important mechanisms. 
We must not saddle the department with unfunded mandates or inefficient 
solutions.
  Congress must offer guidance and support to ensure that the State 
Department can get the job of modernization done. Americans deserve the 
best practices and smartest technologies to inform the department's 
provision of consular services.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to partner with my colleagues in Congress, 
at the State Department, and beyond to advance this objective.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, the unprecedented demand for passports 
postpandemic created significant backlogs at the Department of State 
and frustratingly long passport processing times. I am glad that those 
processing times are now back at prepandemic levels and that the State 
Department's consular bureau is already modernizing its passport 
processing.
  Be that as it may, it is our responsibility to ensure that the 
department has what it needs to handle any future shifts in demand. 
This bill will ensure that American travelers can always count on 
efficient and reliable passport services by integrating cutting-edge 
practices and technologies into our consular services.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting H.R. 
6610, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to have worked with Mr. Issa and our Foreign 
Affairs colleagues to bring this bill before the House today.
  H.R. 6610 modernizes processing capabilities at the State 
Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs. That means new performance 
standards for issuing passports, new tools for our caseworkers to track 
our constituents' passport requests, and new text and email 
notifications for Americans throughout the whole passport process so 
they know where their applications stand and how much longer the 
process is likely to take.
  Finally, H.R. 6610 requires the State Department to expand the online 
passport renewal system so that Americans can apply for and get the 
travel documents they need as efficiently as possible.
  I commend Representative Issa for prodding the State Department to 
adopt the best commercially available technology solutions. The private 
sector has much to offer that will reduce wait times and streamline 
bureaucracy at the State Department.
  I also thank Chairman McCaul, Ranking Member Meeks, and the 
bipartisan members of the Foreign Affairs Committee who voted 
unanimously for this bill during the committee markup.
  The American people deserve a more responsive passport process when 
they seek to exercise their right to travel. For that reason, H.R. 6610 
deserves our unanimous support.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Edwards). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 6610, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________