SecBot SecBot

Passport System Reform and Backlog Prevention Act

H.R. 6610 Rep. DARRELL ISSA (R-CA-48) Passed House
Bill text PDF
  1. Introduced Dec 6
  2. Committee Dec 6
  3. Passed House Mar 19
  4. Passed Senate Next
  5. To President Not yet
  6. Law Not yet
Where it stands
Passed House, Mar 19, 2024Next: Senate vote
952d ago Mar 20, 2024: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Final votes
No roll callsNo recorded vote on this bill yet
Lobbying
2companies, 2 filings
Subscribe to see spend
Member trades
3trades in the last 90 days
Subscribe to see who
Who backs the bill and who pushes back Subscribe

Companies lobbying on this bill

2 companies
Companies by sector
Technology & Software 2
Search all 2 companies, their asks and price moves Subscribe

Summary

Passport System Reform and Backlog Prevention Act

Full summary5 paragraphs

This bill addresses issues related to the passport issuance process, including by providing the Department of State with emergency hiring authorities.

Under this bill, the State Department may hire additional personal services contractors to meet the exigent needs of the Bureau of Consular Affairs from FY2024 through FY2026. The State Department may have up to 100 such positions at any given time, and such positions may not be for longer than two years.

Furthermore, the bureau must award or expand contracts to implement certain information technology (IT) programs. Specifically, these contracts shall be to (1) provide a digital dashboard to congressional offices to track individual passport applications; (2) establish a program to provide automated messages and notifications to passport applicants, such as notifications of application errors; (3) establish a mobile application to allow passport applicants to communicate with the State Department and submit documents; (4) expand the online passport renewal system to also accommodate routine first-time adult passport applications; and (5) provide rules-based tools to screen online passport renewal applications with no changed biographical information against commercial databases.

The bureau must also solicit the private sector for proposals about commercially available technologies that may improve the passport issuance process.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) must report to Congress a comprehensive review of the passport issuance process, including opportunities to enhance the process. The bureau must periodically report to Congress on its progress in implementing the GAO's recommendations.

Library of Congress summary, Dec 6, 2023

Summary versions
  • Introduced in HouseDec 6, 2023

Official record from Congress.gov, the House Clerk and the Senate; lobbying from Lobbying Disclosure Act filings. Updated Oct 27, 2026.