I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5620 

To waive the passport fees for first responders proceeding abroad to aid 

a foreign country suffering from a natural disaster. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023 

Mr. ISSA (for himself, Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana, 

Mr. BEYER, Mr. LAMALFA, Ms. NORTON, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. PHILLIPS, Ms. SALAZAR, 

Mr. WALTZ, Mr. GIMENEZ, and Mr. GUEST) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition 

to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To waive the passport fees for first responders proceeding 

abroad to aid a foreign country suffering from a natural 

disaster. 

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 ‘‘First Responders Pass5 port Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PASSPORTS FOR FIRST RESPONDERS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1 of the Act of June 4, 

3 1920 (22 U.S.C. 214; 41 Stat. 750; commonly referred 

4 to as the ‘‘Passport Act of 1920’’), is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub6 section (d); and 

7 (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be collected and paid 

10 into the Treasury of the United States a fee, prescribed 

11 by the Secretary of State by regulation, for the filing of 

12 each application for a passport (including the cost of pass13 port issuance and use) and a fee, prescribed by the Sec14 retary of State by regulation, for executing each such ap15 plication, except that the Secretary of State may by regu16 lation authorize State officials or the United States Postal 

17 Service to collect and retain the execution fee for each ap18 plication for a passport accepted by such officials or by 

19 that Service. Such fees shall not be refundable, except as 

20 the Secretary may by regulation prescribe. 

21 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION FOR PASSPORT FEE.—Notwith22 standing subsection (a), no passport fee shall be collected 

23 from any of the following: 

24 ‘‘(1) An officer or employee of the United 

25 States proceeding abroad in the discharge of official 

26 duties, or from members of his immediate family. 


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1 ‘‘(2) An American seaman who requires a pass2 port in connection with his duties aboard an Amer3 ican flag-vessel. 

4 ‘‘(3) A widow, widower, child, parent, grand5 parent, brother, or sister of a deceased member of 

6 the Armed Forces proceeding abroad to visit the 

7 grave of such member or to attend a funeral or me8 morial service for such member. 

9 ‘‘(4) An individual or individuals abroad, re10 turning to the United States, when the Secretary de11 termines that foregoing the collection of such fee is 

12 justified for humanitarian reasons or for law en13 forcement purposes. 

14 ‘‘(5) At the discretion of the Secretary, an indi15 vidual, including a volunteer, who— 

16 ‘‘(A) is operating under a contract, grant, 

17 or cooperative agreement with the United 

18 States Government to proceed abroad to a for19 eign country to participate in search, rescue, 

20 and other related disaster relief operations 

21 within such foreign country within the first 7 

22 days after a natural disaster affecting such for23 eign country; and 

24 ‘‘(B) is required pursuant to such contract, 

25 grant, or cooperative agreement to be available 


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1 to so proceed abroad immediately upon notice 

2 from the United States Government. 

3 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION FOR EXECUTION FEE.—No execu4 tion fee shall be collected for an application made before 

5 a Federal official by a person excused from payment of 

6 the passport fee under this section.’’. 

7 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the end 

8 of the first full fiscal year after the date of the enactment 

9 of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 

10 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa11 tives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen12 ate a report on the number of waivers of fees for the exe13 cution and issuance of passports to first responders under 

14 section 1 of the Act of June 4, 1920, as amended by sub15 section (a) of this section, for such fiscal year. 

16 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

17 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

18 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

19 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

20 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

21 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

22 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro23 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

24 vote on passage. 

Æ 


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