II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 744 

To authorize certain Department of State personnel, who are responsible 

for examining and processing United States passport applications, to 

access relevant information in Federal, State, and other records and 

databases, for the purpose of verifying the identity of a passport applicant and detecting passport fraud, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 6 (legislative day, APRIL 5), 2011 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. LIEBERMAN, and Mr. KERRY) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To authorize certain Department of State personnel, who 

are responsible for examining and processing United 

States passport applications, to access relevant information in Federal, State, and other records and databases, 

for the purpose of verifying the identity of a passport 

applicant and detecting passport fraud, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Passport Identity 

3 Verification Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) A United States passport is an official gov7 ernment document issued by the Department of 

8 State, which can be obtained by United States na9 tionals. 

10 (2) A valid United States passport has many 

11 uses, including— 

12 (A) certifying an individual’s identity and 

13 verifying that a person is a United States na14 tional; 

15 (B) allowing the passport holder to travel 

16 to foreign countries with an internationally rec17 ognized travel document; 

18 (C) facilitating international travel; 

19 (D) obtaining further identification docu20 ments; and 

21 (E) setting up bank accounts. 

22 (3) A United States national may obtain a 

23 United States passport for the first time by applying 

24 in person to a passport acceptance facility with 2 

25 passport photographs, proof of United States nation26 ality, and a valid form of photo identification, such 


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1 as a driver’s license. Passport acceptance facilities 

2 are located throughout the United States. 

3 (4) Because United States passports issued 

4 under a false identity enable individuals to conceal 

5 their movements and activities, passport fraud could 

6 facilitate— 

7 (A) acts of terrorism; 

8 (B) espionage; and 

9 (C) other crimes, such as illegal immigra10 tion, money laundering, drug trafficking, tax 

11 evasion, and alien smuggling. 

12 (5) Since malicious individuals may seek to ex13 ploit potential vulnerabilities in the passport 

14 issuance process, it is important that personnel who 

15 are involved in the granting, refusal, revocation, or 

16 adjudication of United States passport applications 

17 have access to relevant information contained in 

18 Federal, State, and other records and databases for 

19 the purposes of lawfully— 

20 (A) verifying the identity of a passport ap21 plicant; 

22 (B) detecting passport fraud; and 

23 (C) denying or revoking a passport. 


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1 (6) In its final report, the National Commission 

2 on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (com3 monly known as the ‘‘9/11 Commission’’)— 

4 (A) noted the ease with which terrorists 

5 could obtain United States identity documents, 

6 such as fraudulent driver’s licenses, birth cer7 tificates, and other sources of identification, 

8 which could be used by terrorists to obtain 

9 United States passports that would allow them 

10 to board airlines, rent cars, open bank ac11 counts, and carry on other activities needed to 

12 facilitate their mission; and 

13 (B) concluded that funding and completing 

14 a ‘‘biometric entry-exit screening system’’ for 

15 travelers to and from the United States is es16 sential to our national security. 

17 (7) The use of biometrics and technology for 

18 foreign nationals who are visiting the country— 

19 (A) helps to make travel simple, easy, and 

20 convenient for legitimate visitors; and 

21 (B) dramatically improves the ability to de22 tect the activities of those who wish to do harm 

23 or violate the laws of the United States. 


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1 SEC. 3. ACCESS TO RELEVANT INFORMATION IN FEDERAL, 

2 STATE, AND OTHER RECORDS AND DATA3 BASES. 

4 Section 104 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

5 (8 U.S.C. 1104) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZED DATA SHARING ACTIVITIES.—(1) 

8 For data sharing purposes only, and notwithstanding any 

9 other provision of law, when Department of State per10 sonnel authorized by the Secretary of State to grant, 

11 refuse, revoke, deny, or adjudicate United States pass12 ports are lawfully engaged in authorized data sharing ac13 tivities relating to the granting, refusal, revocation, or ad14 judication of such passports, such activities shall be con15 sidered law enforcement activities that involve the admin16 istration of criminal justice (as defined in section 20.3 of 

17 title 28, Code of Federal Regulations). 

18 ‘‘(2) Designated Department of State personnel with 

19 the authority to grant, refuse, revoke, deny or adjudicate 

20 United States passports are engaged in ‘authorized data 

21 sharing activities’ (as set forth in paragraph (1) and the 

22 regulations promulgated pursuant to section 4 of the Pass23 port Identity Verification Act) if such personnel act in 

24 compliance with such regulations and are seeking to law25 fully— 

26 ‘‘(A) verify the identity of a passport applicant; 


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1 ‘‘(B) detect passport fraud; or 

2 ‘‘(C) deny or revoke a passport.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. DATA SHARING REGULATIONS, PROCEDURES, AND 

4 POLICIES. 

5 (a) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 6 months after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

7 State shall promulgate final regulations to implement sec8 tion 104(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as 

9 added by section 3. Such regulations shall— 

10 (1) specify which Department of State per11 sonnel have a need to know and will be given access 

12 to the relevant information contained in the records 

13 and databases described in such section; 

14 (2) require Department of State personnel who 

15 will be given access to the relevant information con16 tained in the records and databases described in 

17 such section to successfully complete all ongoing 

18 training and certification requirements for such ac19 cess; 

20 (3) require Department of State personnel to 

21 access the relevant information contained in such 

22 records and databases for the lawful purposes set 

23 forth in such section and this Act; 

24 (4) ensure that the relevant information con25 tained in the records and databases described in 


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1 such section, are only accessed for the lawful pur2 poses set forth in such section and this Act; 

3 (5) ensure that the Department of State per4 sonnel accessing the information contained in such 

5 records and databases— 

6 (A) do not violate the security, confiden7 tiality, or privacy of such information; 

8 (B) successfully complete all ongoing train9 ing and certification requirements for access to 

10 such information; and 

11 (C) do not have access to any medical, reli12 gious, or other personal information that is ir13 relevant to the lawful purposes set forth in such 

14 section and this Act; 

15 (6) establish audit and reporting procedures 

16 and policies to verify that the information contained 

17 in such records and databases is only being accessed 

18 for the lawful purposes set forth in such section and 

19 this Act; 

20 (7) require prompt reporting to Under Sec21 retary of State for Management, of— 

22 (A) any unauthorized access to the infor23 mation contained in such records and data24 bases; or 


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1 (B) any access to the information con2 tained in such records and databases for unau3 thorized purposes; and 

4 (8) require the Under Secretary of State for 

5 Management to conduct a regular review of— 

6 (A) the audit and reporting procedures and 

7 policies to determine whether such procedures 

8 and policies are working properly; and 

9 (B) the ongoing training and certification 

10 requirements to determine whether there has 

11 been compliance with such requirements. 

12 (b) DEFINED TERM.—As used in this Act, the term 

13 ‘‘relevant information’’ means information relating to a 

14 person that is contained in records and databases main15 tained by any Federal, State, tribal, territory, or local gov16 ernment department or agency, or private entity or organi17 zation, which contains— 

18 (1) criminal history information; 

19 (2) driver’s license or motor vehicle information 

20 (including photographs); 

21 (3) marriage, birth, or death information; 

22 (4) naturalization or immigration information; 

23 or 

24 (5) other information that can be used to law25 fully verify the identity of the passport applicant, deVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:52 Apr 07, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S744.IS S744

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1 tect passport fraud, or deny or revoke a passport, 

2 except for medical, religious, and other personal in3 formation and records which are irrelevant to such 

4 purposes. 

5 SEC. 5. STUDY AND REPORT. 

6 (a) STUDY.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in 

8 consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Secu9 rity, the Attorney General, and the United States 

10 Postmaster General, shall carry out a study to deter11 mine— 

12 (A) if persons applying for or renewing a 

13 United States passport should provide biometric 

14 information, including photographs that meet 

15 standards that enhance the ability of facial rec16 ognition technology— 

17 (i) to verify the identity of the pass18 port applicant and user; and 

19 (ii) to detect passport fraud; and 

20 (B) if technology should be employed to 

21 verify the authenticity of driver’s licenses and 

22 other identity documents that are presented at 

23 passport acceptance facilities. 


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1 (2) FACTORS.—In carrying out the study under 

2 paragraph (1), the Secretary of State shall consider 

3 all relevant factors, including— 

4 (A) how the biometric information and 

5 technology would be used and stored; 

6 (B) the costs and benefits to be gained; 

7 and 

8 (C) the effect on the individual’s privacy 

9 and the economy. 

10 (b) REPORT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months 

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec13 retary of State shall submit a report to the congres14 sional committees set forth in paragraph (2) that 

15 contains the results of the study carried out under 

16 subsection (a), including a recommendation with re17 spect to the use of biometric information and tech18 nology to verify the identity of a passport applicant 

19 and user and to detect passport fraud. 

20 (2) CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The con21 gressional committees set forth in this paragraph 

22 are— 

23 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

24 Senate; 


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1 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

2 the Senate; 

3 (C) the Committee on Homeland Security 

4 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

5 (D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

6 House of Representatives; 

7 (E) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

8 the House of Representatives; 

9 (F) the Committee on Homeland Security 

10 of the House of Representatives; and 

11 (G) the Committee on Oversight and Gov12 ernment Reform of the House of Representa13 tives. 

Æ 


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