Title: Passport Backlog Elimination Act
Policy area: International Affairs

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.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2635 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2635

  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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 5, 2021

  Mr. Ossoff introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Passport Backlog Elimination Act''.

SEC. 2. PLAN TO ELIMINATE PASSPORT APPLICATION BACKLOG.

    (a) Defined Term.--In this section, the term ``appropriate 
congressional committees'' means--
            (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; and
            (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).

SEC. 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.
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