I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5233 

To amend the Passport Act of June 4, 1920, to make certain improvements 

with respect to expenditure and other authorities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 18, 2023 

Mr. CARTER of Georgia (for himself, Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER, Ms. LEE of 

Nevada, Mr. MILLER of Ohio, Mr. MILLS, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. NUNN of 

Iowa, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. TITUS, and Mr. WEBSTER of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Passport Act of June 4, 1920, to make certain 

improvements with respect to expenditure and other authorities, 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. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

5 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT6 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com7 mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Relations 


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1 of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

2 of the House of Representatives. 

3 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

4 means the Department of State. 

5 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

6 the Secretary of State. 

7 SEC. 2. PASSPORT FEE EXPENDITURE AUTHORITY EXTEN8 SION. 

9 (a) WESTERN HEMISPHERE TRAVEL INITIATIVE

10 FEE.—To make permanent the Western Hemisphere 

11 Travel Initiative fee, section 1(b) of the Passport Act of 

12 June 4, 1920, (22 U.S.C. 214(b)(1)) is amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(1)’’; and 

14 (2) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3). 

15 (b) PASSPORT FEES.—Section 1(b) of the Passport 

16 Act of June 4, 1920, as amended by subsection (a), shall 

17 be applied through fiscal year 2028 by striking ‘‘such 

18 costs’’ and inserting ‘‘the costs of providing consular serv19 ices’’. 

20 (c) MODERNIZATION OF PASSPORT PROCESSING.—A 

21 portion of the expanded expenditure authorities provided 

22 in subsections (a) and (b) shall be used— 

23 (1) to modernize consular systems, with an em24 phasis on passport and citizenship services; and 


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1 (2) towards a feasibility study on how the De2 partment could provide urgent, in-person passport 

3 services to significant populations with the longest 

4 travel times to existing passport agencies, including 

5 the possibility of building new passport agencies. 

6 SEC. 3. SPECIAL HIRING AUTHORITY FOR PASSPORT SERV7 ICES. 

8 During the 3-year period beginning on the date of 

9 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, without 

10 regard to the provisions under sections 3309 through 

11 3318 of title 5, United States Code, may directly appoint 

12 candidates to positions in the competitive service (as de13 fined in section 2102 of such title) at the Department in 

14 the Passport and Visa Examining Series 0967. 

15 SEC. 4. QUARTERLY REPORT ON PASSPORT WAIT TIMES. 

16 Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter for the following 

18 3 years, the Secretary shall submit a report to the appro19 priate congressional committees that describes— 

20 (1) the current estimated wait times for pass21 port processing; 

22 (2) the steps that have been taken by the De23 partment to reduce wait times to a reasonable time; 

24 (3) efforts to improve the rollout of the online 

25 passport renewal processing program, including how 


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1 much of passport revenues the Department is spend2 ing on consular systems modernization; 

3 (4) the demand for urgent passport services by 

4 major metropolitan area; 

5 (5) the steps that have been taken by the De6 partment to reduce and meet the demand for urgent 

7 passport services, particularly in areas that are 

8 greater than 5 hours driving time from the nearest 

9 passport agency; and 

10 (6) how the Department details its staff and re11 sources to passport services programs. 

12 SEC. 5. PASSPORT TRAVEL ADVISORIES. 

13 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act, the Department shall make prominently 

15 available in United States regular passports, on the first 

16 3 pages of the passport, the following information: 

17 (1) A prominent, clear advisory for all travelers 

18 to check travel.state.gov for updated travel warnings 

19 and advisories. 

20 (2) A prominent, clear notice urging all trav21 elers to register with the Department prior to over22 seas travel. 

23 (3) A prominent, clear advisory— 


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1 (A) noting that many countries deny entry 

2 to travelers during the last 6 months of their 

3 passport validity period; and 

4 (B) urging all travelers to renew their 

5 passport not later than 1 year prior to its expi6 ration. 

7 SEC. 6. STRATEGY TO ENSURE ACCESS TO PASSPORT SERV8 ICES FOR ALL AMERICANS. 

9 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact10 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a strategy 

11 to the appropriate congressional committees, the Com12 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate, and the Com13 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives 

14 for ensuring reasonable access to passport services for all 

15 Americans, which shall include— 

16 (1) a detailed strategy describing how the De17 partment could— 

18 (A) by not later than 1 year after submis19 sion of the strategy, reduce passport processing 

20 times to an acceptable average for renewals and 

21 for expedited service; and 

22 (B) by not later than 2 years after the 

23 submission of the strategy, provide United 

24 States residents living in a significant popu25 lation center more than a 5-hour drive from a 


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1 passport agency with urgent, in-person passport 

2 services, including the possibility of building 

3 new passport agencies; and 

4 (2) a description of the specific resources re5 quired to implement the strategy. 

6 SEC. 7. STRENGTHENING THE NATIONAL PASSPORT INFOR7 MATION CENTER. 

8 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con9 gress that passport wait times since 2021 have been unac10 ceptably long and have created frustration among those 

11 seeking to obtain or renew passports. 

12 (b) ONLINE CHAT FEATURE.—The Department 

13 should develop an online tool with the capability for cus14 tomers to correspond with customer service representa15 tives regarding questions and updates pertaining to their 

16 application for a passport or for the renewal of a passport. 

17 (c) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

19 of the United States shall initiate a review of NPIC oper20 ations, which shall include an analysis of the extent to 

21 which NPIC— 

22 (1) responds to constituent inquiries by tele23 phone, including how long constituents are kept on 

24 hold and their ability to be placed in a queue; 

25 (2) provides personalized customer service; 


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1 (3) maintains its telecommunications infra2 structure to ensure it effectively handles call vol3 umes; and 

4 (4) other relevant issues the Comptroller Gen5 eral deems appropriate. 

6 SEC. 8. STRENGTHENING PASSPORT CUSTOMER VISIBILITY 

7 AND TRANSPARENCY. 

8 (a) ONLINE STATUS TOOL.—Not later than 2 years 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Depart10 ment should modernize the online passport application 

11 status tool to include, to the greatest extent possible, step 

12 by step updates on the status of their application, includ13 ing with respect to the following stages: 

14 (1) Submitted for processing. 

15 (2) In process at a lockbox facility. 

16 (3) Awaiting adjudication. 

17 (4) In process of adjudication. 

18 (5) Adjudicated with a result of approval or de19 nial. 

20 (6) Materials shipped. 

21 (b) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—The tool pursuant 

22 to subsection (a) should include a display that informs 

23 each passport applicant of— 

24 (1) the date on which his or her passport appli25 cation was received; and 


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1 (2) the estimated wait time remaining in the 

2 passport application process. 

3 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

4 of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary of 

5 State for Consular Affairs shall submit a report to the 

6 appropriate congressional committees that outlines a plan 

7 for coordinated comprehensive public outreach to increase 

8 public awareness and understanding of— 

9 (1) the online status tool required under sub10 section (a); 

11 (2) passport travel advisories required under 

12 section 4; and 

13 (3) passport wait times. 

Æ 


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