Passport Backlog Elimination Act

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. Short title This Act may be cited as the Passport Backlog Elimination Act 2. Plan to eliminate passport application backlog (a) Defined term In this section, the term appropriate congressional committees (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate (2) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate (3) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives (4) the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of Representatives (b) In general Not later than October 30, 2021, or 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, whichever is later, after consultation with the appropriate congressional committees, the Secretary of State shall submit a plan to the appropriate congressional committees, containing the actionable strategies described in subsection (c), to ensure that the backlog of passport applications due to the COVID–19 pandemic is eliminated in a timely manner in order to promote the national security and economic interests of the United States. (c) Actionable strategies The actionable strategies described in this subsection are— (1) eliminating the backlog of at least 1,400,000 passport applications; (2) establishing a timeline for the elimination of such backlog; (3) ensuring that— (A) the expected processing time for routine passport applications is between 6 and 8 weeks; (B) the expected processing time for expedited passport applications is between 2 to 3 weeks; and (C) the expected processing time for expedited passport applications for Federal Government personnel is not more than 8 business days; (4) ensuring the safety of Department of State personnel and customers and compliance with all applicable Federal, State, and local health and social distancing guidelines; and (5) offering expedited service for applicants requiring a passport for purposes related to their employment. (d) Implementation Not later than 30 days after the submission of the plan required under subsection (b), the Secretary of State shall begin implementing the plan to eliminate the backlog of passport applications due to the COVID–19 pandemic. (e) Inspector General audit Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General of the Department of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees the results of an audit analyzing— (1) the elimination of the passport application backlog required by the plan submitted pursuant to subsection (b); and (2) the Department of State’s efforts to carry out the actionable strategies described in subsection (c). 3. Termination of requirements The requirements under this Act shall terminate on September 30, 2021, if, on such date— (1) all of the passport applications received before June 15, 2021, have been processed; and (2) the Department of State has resumed accepting passport applications for routine and expedited processing.

Summary: Passport Backlog Elimination Act This bill requires the Department of State to submit and implement a plan containing specified actionable strategies to eliminate the backlog of passport applications that is due to the COVID-19 pandemic.