II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3666 

To authorize certain Department of State personnel, who are responsible 

for examining and processing United States passport applications, to 

be able to access certain Federal, State, and other databases, for the 

purpose of verifying the identity of a passport applicant, to reduce 

the incidence of fraud, to require the authentication of identification 

documents submitted by passport applicants, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2010 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, and Mr. LIEBERMAN) 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 be able to access certain 

Federal, State, and other databases, for the purpose 

of verifying the identity of a passport applicant, to reduce the incidence of fraud, to require the authentication 

of identification documents submitted by passport applicants, 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 certain information contained in Fed18 eral, State, and other databases for the purpose of— 

19 (A) verifying the identity of a passport ap20 plicant; or 

21 (B) detecting passport fraud. 

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

23 on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (com24 monly known as the ‘‘9/11 Commission’’) concluded 

25 that funding and completing a ‘‘biometric entry-exit 


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1 screening system’’ for travelers to and from the 

2 United States is essential to our national security. 

3 (7) The use of biometrics and technology for 

4 foreign nationals who are visiting the country helps 

5 to make travel simple, easy, and convenient for le6 gitimate visitors and dramatically improves the abil7 ity to detect the activities of those who wish to do 

8 harm or violate United States laws. 

9 SEC. 3. ACCESS TO FEDERAL, STATE, AND OTHER DATA10 BASES. 

11 (a) POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY OF

12 STATE.—Section 104 of the Immigration and Nationality 

13 Act (8 U.S.C. 1104) is amended by adding at the end the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(f) LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES.—Notwith16 standing any other provision of law, the powers, duties, 

17 and functions conferred upon Department of State per18 sonnel relating to the granting, refusal, revocation, or ad19 judication of passports shall be considered law enforce20 ment activities that involve the administration of criminal 

21 justice (as defined in section 20.3 of title 28, Code of Fed22 eral Regulations) when such personnel seek to— 

23 ‘‘(1) verify the identity of a passport applicant; 

24 or 

25 ‘‘(2) detect passport fraud.’’. 


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1 (b) DATA EXCHANGE.—Section 105 of such Act (8 

2 U.S.C. 1105) is amended— 

3 (1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(5) The Attorney General and the Director of the 

6 Federal Bureau of Investigation, after consultation with 

7 the Secretary of State, shall promptly implement a system, 

8 consistent with applicable security and training protocols 

9 and requirements, that will enable Department of State 

10 personnel designated by the Secretary of State, or by the 

11 designee of the Secretary, who are responsible for the 

12 granting, refusal, revocation, or adjudication of United 

13 States passports, to have real-time access to the criminal 

14 history information contained in the National Crime Infor15 mation Center’s Interstate Identification Index (NCIC– 

16 III), including the corresponding automated criminal his17 tory records, Wanted Person Files, and other files main18 tained by the National Crime Information Center, for the 

19 purpose of verifying the identity of the United States pass20 port applicant, or detecting passport fraud. 

21 ‘‘(6) The Secretary of State, or the designee of the 

22 Secretary, shall designate Department of State personnel 

23 who, in accordance with this Act shall be authorized to 

24 have real-time access to the information contained in the 

25 files described in paragraph (5), without any fee or charge, 


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1 to enable named-based and other searches to be conducted 

2 for the purpose of verifying the identity of a passport ap3 plicant or detecting passport fraud.’’; 

4 (2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

5 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; 

6 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(c) DATA SHARING.—Notwithstanding any other 

9 provision of law, the powers, duties, and functions con10 ferred upon Department of State personnel relating to the 

11 granting, refusal, revocation, or adjudication of passports 

12 shall be considered law enforcement activities that involve 

13 the administration of criminal justice (as defined in sec14 tion 20.3 of title 28, Code of Federal Regulations) when 

15 such personnel seek to verify the identity of a passport 

16 applicant, or seek to detect passport fraud by accessing 

17 or using information contained in databases maintained 

18 by any Federal, State, tribal, territory, or local govern19 ment department or agency, or private entity or organiza20 tion, that contains— 

21 ‘‘(1) criminal history information or records; 

22 ‘‘(2) driver’s license information or records; 

23 ‘‘(3) marriage, birth, or death information or 

24 records; 

25 ‘‘(4) naturalization and immigration records; or 


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1 ‘‘(5) other information or records that can 

2 verify the identity of the passport applicant or can 

3 detect passport fraud.’’; and 

4 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(f) DATA SHARING REGULATIONS, PROCEDURES, 

6 AND POLICIES.—Not later than 120 days after the date 

7 of the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary of State 

8 shall promulgate final regulations, procedures, and policies 

9 to govern the access by Department of State personnel 

10 to the information contained in databases described in 

11 subsection (c). Such regulations, procedures, and policies 

12 shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) specify which Department of State per14 sonnel have a need to know and will be given access 

15 to the databases or the information contained in the 

16 databases described in subsection (c); 

17 ‘‘(2) require Department of State personnel 

18 who will be given access to the databases or the in19 formation contained in the databases described in 

20 subsection (c) to successfully complete all ongoing 

21 training and certification requirements for such ac22 cess; 

23 ‘‘(3) require Department of State personnel to 

24 access such databases or the information contained 

25 in such databases— 


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1 ‘‘(A) to verify the identity of each passport 

2 applicant; and 

3 ‘‘(B) to detect whether the applicant has 

4 committed or is committing passport fraud; 

5 ‘‘(4) ensure that such databases, or the infor6 mation contained in such databases, are only 

7 accessed for the purpose of verifying the identity of 

8 each passport applicant or detecting passport fraud, 

9 and prohibit access for any other purpose; 

10 ‘‘(5) ensure that the Department of State per11 sonnel accessing such databases or the information 

12 contained in such databases— 

13 ‘‘(A) do not violate the security, confiden14 tiality, and privacy of such databases or the in15 formation contained in such databases; and 

16 ‘‘(B) successfully complete all ongoing 

17 training and certification requirements for such 

18 access; 

19 ‘‘(6) establish audit procedures and policies to 

20 verify that such databases or the information con21 tained in such databases are only being accessed for 

22 the purposes set forth in the Passport Identity 

23 Verification Act; 


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1 ‘‘(7) require prompt reporting to appropriate 

2 Department of State officials after each instance 

3 of— 

4 ‘‘(A) unauthorized access to such data5 bases or the information contained in such 

6 databases; or 

7 ‘‘(B) access to such databases or the infor8 mation contained in such databases for unau9 thorized purposes; and 

10 ‘‘(8) require the appropriate Department of 

11 State personnel to conduct a regular review of— 

12 ‘‘(A) the audit and reporting procedures 

13 and policies to determine whether such proce14 dures and policies are working properly; and 

15 ‘‘(B) the ongoing training and certification 

16 requirements to determine whether there has 

17 been compliance with such requirements.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. CONSULTATION AND REPORT. 

19 (a) CONSULTATION.— 

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

21 consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Secu22 rity, the Attorney General, and the United States 

23 Postmaster General, shall conduct an analysis to de24 termine— 


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1 (A) if persons applying for or renewing a 

2 United States passport should provide biometric 

3 information, including photographs that meet 

4 standards that enhance the ability of facial rec5 ognition technology to verify the identity of the 

6 passport applicant and user, and to detect pass7 port fraud; and 

8 (B) if technology should be employed to 

9 verify the authenticity of drivers’ license and 

10 other identity documents that are presented to 

11 passport acceptance facilities. 

12 (2) FACTORS.—In conducting the analysis 

13 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consider all 

14 relevant factors, including— 

15 (A) how the biometric information and 

16 technology would be used and stored; 

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

18 and 

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

20 and the economy. 

21 (b) REPORT.— 

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

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec24 retary of State shall submit a report to the congres25 sional committees set forth in paragraph (2) that 


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1 contains the results of the analysis carried out under 

2 subsection (a), including a recommendation with re3 spect to the use of biometric information and tech4 nology to verify the identity of a passport applicant 

5 and user, and to detect passport fraud. 

6 (2) CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The con7 gressional committees set forth in this paragraph 

8 are— 

9 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

10 Senate; 

11 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

12 the Senate; 

13 (C) the Committee on Homeland Security 

14 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

15 (D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

16 House of Representatives; 

17 (E) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

18 the House of Representatives; 

19 (F) the Committee on Homeland Security 

20 of the House of Representatives; and 

21 (G) the Committee on Oversight and Gov22 ernment Reform of the House of Representa23 tives. 

Æ 


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