| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 5233 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend the Passport Act of June 4, 1920, to make certain improvements |
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| 6 | 6 | | with respect to expenditure and other authorities, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | AUGUST18, 2023 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. C |
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| 10 | 10 | | ARTERof Georgia (for himself, Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER, Ms. LEEof |
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| 11 | 11 | | Nevada, Mr. M |
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| 12 | 12 | | ILLERof Ohio, Mr. MILLS, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. NUNNof |
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| 13 | 13 | | Iowa, Ms. S |
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| 14 | 14 | | ALAZAR, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. TITUS, and Mr. WEBSTERof Flor- |
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| 15 | 15 | | ida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee |
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| 16 | 16 | | on Foreign Affairs |
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| 17 | 17 | | A BILL |
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| 18 | 18 | | To amend the Passport Act of June 4, 1920, to make certain |
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| 19 | 19 | | improvements with respect to expenditure and other au- |
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| 20 | 20 | | thorities, and for other purposes. |
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| 21 | 21 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 22 | 22 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 23 | 23 | | SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS. 3 |
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| 24 | 24 | | In this Act, the following definitions apply: 4 |
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| 25 | 25 | | (1) A |
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| 26 | 26 | | PPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT -5 |
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| 27 | 27 | | TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-6 |
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| 28 | 28 | | mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Relations 7 |
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| 31 | 31 | | •HR 5233 IH |
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| 32 | 32 | | of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs 1 |
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| 33 | 33 | | of the House of Representatives. 2 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (2) D |
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| 35 | 35 | | EPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 3 |
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| 36 | 36 | | means the Department of State. 4 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (3) S |
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| 38 | 38 | | ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 5 |
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| 39 | 39 | | the Secretary of State. 6 |
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| 40 | 40 | | SEC. 2. PASSPORT FEE EXPENDITURE AUTHORITY EXTEN-7 |
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| 41 | 41 | | SION. 8 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (a) W |
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| 43 | 43 | | ESTERNHEMISPHERETRAVELINITIATIVE 9 |
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| 44 | 44 | | F |
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| 45 | 45 | | EE.—To make permanent the Western Hemisphere 10 |
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| 46 | 46 | | Travel Initiative fee, section 1(b) of the Passport Act of 11 |
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| 47 | 47 | | June 4, 1920, (22 U.S.C. 214(b)(1)) is amended— 12 |
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| 48 | 48 | | (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(1)’’; and 13 |
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| 49 | 49 | | (2) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3). 14 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (b) P |
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| 51 | 51 | | ASSPORTFEES.—Section 1(b) of the Passport 15 |
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| 52 | 52 | | Act of June 4, 1920, as amended by subsection (a), shall 16 |
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| 53 | 53 | | be applied through fiscal year 2028 by striking ‘‘such 17 |
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| 54 | 54 | | costs’’ and inserting ‘‘the costs of providing consular serv-18 |
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| 55 | 55 | | ices’’. 19 |
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| 56 | 56 | | (c) M |
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| 57 | 57 | | ODERNIZATION OFPASSPORTPROCESSING.—A 20 |
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| 58 | 58 | | portion of the expanded expenditure authorities provided 21 |
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| 59 | 59 | | in subsections (a) and (b) shall be used— 22 |
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| 60 | 60 | | (1) to modernize consular systems, with an em-23 |
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| 61 | 61 | | phasis on passport and citizenship services; and 24 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (2) towards a feasibility study on how the De-1 |
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| 66 | 66 | | partment could provide urgent, in-person passport 2 |
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| 67 | 67 | | services to significant populations with the longest 3 |
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| 68 | 68 | | travel times to existing passport agencies, including 4 |
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| 69 | 69 | | the possibility of building new passport agencies. 5 |
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| 70 | 70 | | SEC. 3. SPECIAL HIRING AUTHORITY FOR PASSPORT SERV-6 |
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| 71 | 71 | | ICES. 7 |
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| 72 | 72 | | During the 3-year period beginning on the date of 8 |
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| 73 | 73 | | the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, without 9 |
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| 74 | 74 | | regard to the provisions under sections 3309 through 10 |
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| 75 | 75 | | 3318 of title 5, United States Code, may directly appoint 11 |
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| 76 | 76 | | candidates to positions in the competitive service (as de-12 |
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| 77 | 77 | | fined in section 2102 of such title) at the Department in 13 |
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| 78 | 78 | | the Passport and Visa Examining Series 0967. 14 |
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| 79 | 79 | | SEC. 4. QUARTERLY REPORT ON PASSPORT WAIT TIMES. 15 |
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| 80 | 80 | | Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact-16 |
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| 81 | 81 | | ment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter for the following 17 |
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| 82 | 82 | | 3 years, the Secretary shall submit a report to the appro-18 |
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| 83 | 83 | | priate congressional committees that describes— 19 |
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| 84 | 84 | | (1) the current estimated wait times for pass-20 |
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| 85 | 85 | | port processing; 21 |
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| 86 | 86 | | (2) the steps that have been taken by the De-22 |
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| 87 | 87 | | partment to reduce wait times to a reasonable time; 23 |
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| 88 | 88 | | (3) efforts to improve the rollout of the online 24 |
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| 89 | 89 | | passport renewal processing program, including how 25 |
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| 93 | 93 | | much of passport revenues the Department is spend-1 |
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| 94 | 94 | | ing on consular systems modernization; 2 |
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| 95 | 95 | | (4) the demand for urgent passport services by 3 |
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| 96 | 96 | | major metropolitan area; 4 |
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| 97 | 97 | | (5) the steps that have been taken by the De-5 |
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| 98 | 98 | | partment to reduce and meet the demand for urgent 6 |
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| 99 | 99 | | passport services, particularly in areas that are 7 |
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| 100 | 100 | | greater than 5 hours driving time from the nearest 8 |
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| 101 | 101 | | passport agency; and 9 |
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| 102 | 102 | | (6) how the Department details its staff and re-10 |
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| 103 | 103 | | sources to passport services programs. 11 |
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| 104 | 104 | | SEC. 5. PASSPORT TRAVEL ADVISORIES. 12 |
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| 105 | 105 | | Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-13 |
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| 106 | 106 | | ment of this Act, the Department shall make prominently 14 |
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| 107 | 107 | | available in United States regular passports, on the first 15 |
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| 108 | 108 | | 3 pages of the passport, the following information: 16 |
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| 109 | 109 | | (1) A prominent, clear advisory for all travelers 17 |
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| 110 | 110 | | to check travel.state.gov for updated travel warnings 18 |
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| 111 | 111 | | and advisories. 19 |
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| 112 | 112 | | (2) A prominent, clear notice urging all trav-20 |
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| 113 | 113 | | elers to register with the Department prior to over-21 |
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| 114 | 114 | | seas travel. 22 |
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| 115 | 115 | | (3) A prominent, clear advisory— 23 |
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| 119 | 119 | | (A) noting that many countries deny entry 1 |
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| 120 | 120 | | to travelers during the last 6 months of their 2 |
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| 121 | 121 | | passport validity period; and 3 |
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| 122 | 122 | | (B) urging all travelers to renew their 4 |
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| 123 | 123 | | passport not later than 1 year prior to its expi-5 |
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| 124 | 124 | | ration. 6 |
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| 125 | 125 | | SEC. 6. STRATEGY TO ENSURE ACCESS TO PASSPORT SERV-7 |
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| 126 | 126 | | ICES FOR ALL AMERICANS. 8 |
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| 127 | 127 | | Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-9 |
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| 128 | 128 | | ment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a strategy 10 |
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| 129 | 129 | | to the appropriate congressional committees, the Com-11 |
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| 130 | 130 | | mittee on Appropriations of the Senate, and the Com-12 |
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| 131 | 131 | | mittee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives 13 |
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| 132 | 132 | | for ensuring reasonable access to passport services for all 14 |
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| 133 | 133 | | Americans, which shall include— 15 |
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| 134 | 134 | | (1) a detailed strategy describing how the De-16 |
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| 135 | 135 | | partment could— 17 |
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| 136 | 136 | | (A) by not later than 1 year after submis-18 |
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| 137 | 137 | | sion of the strategy, reduce passport processing 19 |
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| 138 | 138 | | times to an acceptable average for renewals and 20 |
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| 139 | 139 | | for expedited service; and 21 |
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| 140 | 140 | | (B) by not later than 2 years after the 22 |
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| 141 | 141 | | submission of the strategy, provide United 23 |
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| 142 | 142 | | States residents living in a significant popu-24 |
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| 143 | 143 | | lation center more than a 5-hour drive from a 25 |
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| 147 | 147 | | passport agency with urgent, in-person passport 1 |
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| 148 | 148 | | services, including the possibility of building 2 |
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| 149 | 149 | | new passport agencies; and 3 |
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| 150 | 150 | | (2) a description of the specific resources re-4 |
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| 151 | 151 | | quired to implement the strategy. 5 |
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| 152 | 152 | | SEC. 7. STRENGTHENING THE NATIONAL PASSPORT INFOR-6 |
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| 153 | 153 | | MATION CENTER. 7 |
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| 154 | 154 | | (a) S |
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| 155 | 155 | | ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-8 |
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| 156 | 156 | | gress that passport wait times since 2021 have been unac-9 |
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| 157 | 157 | | ceptably long and have created frustration among those 10 |
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| 158 | 158 | | seeking to obtain or renew passports. 11 |
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| 159 | 159 | | (b) O |
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| 160 | 160 | | NLINECHATFEATURE.—The Department 12 |
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| 161 | 161 | | should develop an online tool with the capability for cus-13 |
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| 162 | 162 | | tomers to correspond with customer service representa-14 |
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| 163 | 163 | | tives regarding questions and updates pertaining to their 15 |
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| 164 | 164 | | application for a passport or for the renewal of a passport. 16 |
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| 165 | 165 | | (c) G |
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| 166 | 166 | | AOREPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the 17 |
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| 167 | 167 | | date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 18 |
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| 168 | 168 | | of the United States shall initiate a review of NPIC oper-19 |
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| 169 | 169 | | ations, which shall include an analysis of the extent to 20 |
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| 170 | 170 | | which NPIC— 21 |
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| 171 | 171 | | (1) responds to constituent inquiries by tele-22 |
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| 172 | 172 | | phone, including how long constituents are kept on 23 |
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| 173 | 173 | | hold and their ability to be placed in a queue; 24 |
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| 174 | 174 | | (2) provides personalized customer service; 25 |
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| 178 | 178 | | (3) maintains its telecommunications infra-1 |
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| 179 | 179 | | structure to ensure it effectively handles call vol-2 |
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| 180 | 180 | | umes; and 3 |
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| 181 | 181 | | (4) other relevant issues the Comptroller Gen-4 |
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| 182 | 182 | | eral deems appropriate. 5 |
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| 183 | 183 | | SEC. 8. STRENGTHENING PASSPORT CUSTOMER VISIBILITY 6 |
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| 184 | 184 | | AND TRANSPARENCY. 7 |
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| 185 | 185 | | (a) O |
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| 186 | 186 | | NLINESTATUSTOOL.—Not later than 2 years 8 |
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| 187 | 187 | | after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Depart-9 |
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| 188 | 188 | | ment should modernize the online passport application 10 |
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| 189 | 189 | | status tool to include, to the greatest extent possible, step 11 |
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| 190 | 190 | | by step updates on the status of their application, includ-12 |
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| 191 | 191 | | ing with respect to the following stages: 13 |
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| 192 | 192 | | (1) Submitted for processing. 14 |
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| 193 | 193 | | (2) In process at a lockbox facility. 15 |
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| 194 | 194 | | (3) Awaiting adjudication. 16 |
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| 195 | 195 | | (4) In process of adjudication. 17 |
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| 196 | 196 | | (5) Adjudicated with a result of approval or de-18 |
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| 197 | 197 | | nial. 19 |
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| 198 | 198 | | (6) Materials shipped. 20 |
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| 199 | 199 | | (b) A |
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| 200 | 200 | | DDITIONALINFORMATION.—The tool pursuant 21 |
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| 201 | 201 | | to subsection (a) should include a display that informs 22 |
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| 202 | 202 | | each passport applicant of— 23 |
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| 203 | 203 | | (1) the date on which his or her passport appli-24 |
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| 204 | 204 | | cation was received; and 25 |
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| 208 | 208 | | (2) the estimated wait time remaining in the 1 |
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| 209 | 209 | | passport application process. 2 |
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| 210 | 210 | | (c) R |
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| 211 | 211 | | EPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 3 |
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| 212 | 212 | | of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary of 4 |
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| 213 | 213 | | State for Consular Affairs shall submit a report to the 5 |
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| 214 | 214 | | appropriate congressional committees that outlines a plan 6 |
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| 215 | 215 | | for coordinated comprehensive public outreach to increase 7 |
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| 216 | 216 | | public awareness and understanding of— 8 |
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| 217 | 217 | | (1) the online status tool required under sub-9 |
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| 218 | 218 | | section (a); 10 |
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| 219 | 219 | | (2) passport travel advisories required under 11 |
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| 220 | 220 | | section 4; and 12 |
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| 221 | 221 | | (3) passport wait times. 13 |
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| 222 | 222 | | Æ |
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