II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2635 

To require the Secretary of State to submit a plan to eliminate the backlog 

of passport applications due to the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 5, 2021 

Mr. OSSOFF introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of State to submit a plan to eliminate the backlog of passport applications due to the 

COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Passport Backlog 

5 Elimination Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PLAN TO ELIMINATE PASSPORT APPLICATION 

7 BACKLOG. 

8 (a) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term ‘‘ap9 propriate congressional committees’’ means— 


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1 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

2 Senate; 

3 (2) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

4 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

5 (3) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

6 House of Representatives; and 

7 (4) the Committee on Oversight and Reform of 

8 the House of Representatives. 

9 (b) IN GENERAL.—Not later than October 30, 2021, 

10 or 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

11 whichever is later, after consultation with the appropriate 

12 congressional committees, the Secretary of State shall sub13 mit a plan to the appropriate congressional committees, 

14 containing the actionable strategies described in sub15 section (c), to ensure that the backlog of passport applica16 tions due to the COVID–19 pandemic is eliminated in a 

17 timely manner in order to promote the national security 

18 and economic interests of the United States. 

19 (c) ACTIONABLE STRATEGIES.—The actionable strat20 egies described in this subsection are— 

21 (1) eliminating the backlog of at least 

22 1,400,000 passport applications; 

23 (2) establishing a timeline for the elimination of 

24 such backlog; 

25 (3) ensuring that— 


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1 (A) the expected processing time for rou2 tine passport applications is between 6 and 8 

3 weeks; 

4 (B) the expected processing time for expe5 dited passport applications is between 2 to 3 

6 weeks; and 

7 (C) the expected processing time for expe8 dited passport applications for Federal Govern9 ment personnel is not more than 8 business 

10 days; 

11 (4) ensuring the safety of Department of State 

12 personnel and customers and compliance with all ap13 plicable Federal, State, and local health and social 

14 distancing guidelines; and 

15 (5) offering expedited service for applicants re16 quiring a passport for purposes related to their em17 ployment. 

18 (d) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 30 days after 

19 the submission of the plan required under subsection (b), 

20 the Secretary of State shall begin implementing the plan 

21 to eliminate the backlog of passport applications due to 

22 the COVID–19 pandemic. 

23 (e) INSPECTOR GENERAL AUDIT.—Not later than 

24 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

25 Inspector General of the Department of State shall submit 


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1 to the appropriate congressional committees the results of 

2 an audit analyzing— 

3 (1) the elimination of the passport application 

4 backlog required by the plan submitted pursuant to 

5 subsection (b); and 

6 (2) the Department of State’s efforts to carry 

7 out the actionable strategies described in subsection 

8 (c). 

9 SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF REQUIREMENTS. 

10 The requirements under this Act shall terminate on 

11 September 30, 2021, if, on such date— 

12 (1) all of the passport applications received be13 fore June 15, 2021, have been processed; and 

14 (2) the Department of State has resumed ac15 cepting passport applications for routine and expe16 dited processing. 

Æ 


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