(a) Short title.—This Act may be cited as the “Passport System Reform and Backlog Prevention Act”.

(b) Table of contents.—The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Sense of Congress.
Sec. 4. Standards for passport issuance process.
Sec. 5. Emergency hiring authorities for consular services.
Sec. 6. Enhanced information technology solutions to improve the passport issuance process.
Sec. 7. Research on commercially available information technology solutions.
Sec. 8. GAO report.
Sec. 9. Definitions.

Congress finds the following:

(1) Following the COVID–19 pandemic, the United States experienced a major backlog of passport applications resulting in passport processing wait times of up to 13 weeks, exclusive of shipping times.

(2) The backlog resulted in wait times which are an extreme outlier among developed countries with widely accepted passports, while United States pre-pandemic processing times of six to eight weeks are also among the slowest.

(3) Over the past several years, the Bureau has experienced repeated delays in its attempts to modernize and technologize the passport issuance process.

(4) The adoption of additional commercially available information technology solutions at several stages of the passport issuance process would greatly enhance and accelerate such process.

(5) The United States passport is a widely recognized and trusted identity and travel document that represents a key element of a United States citizen’s identity records.

It is the sense of Congress that—

(1) as a routine matter, an adult who has submitted a routine new or renewal passport application should be reliably able to expect that such application adjudicated will be adjudicated by the Bureau, at a reasonable cost, in no longer than 30 days; and

(2) the Bureau should take every effort and use every available technology and best practice to protect the integrity of the passport issuance process, the privacy of passport holders, and the efficiency of processing passport issuance requests.

Upon implementation of the information technology solutions required pursuant to section 6, in administering the passport issuance process, the Assistant Secretary shall evaluate the performance of such process against the following criteria:

(1) To maintain a service standard of processing a routine new or renewal adult passport application from document submission until mailing of final documents in not longer than 30 days.

(2) To maintain affordable passport fees.

(3) To ensure world-class technical, security, and cybersecurity standards for United States passports and the passport issuance process.

(4) To minimize downtime for the travel document issuance system.

(5) To achieve a near-zero suspense rate resulting from typographical, clerical, or picture-based errors.

(6) To provide a streamlined customer experience for passport applicants.

(7) To provide reasonably convenient passport services to United States citizens and nationals living a significant distance from a passport agency, particularly residents in a significant population center more than a 5-hour drive from a passport agency.

(a) In general.—The Secretary is authorized to employ a limited number of personal services contractors for employment in the United States in order to meet exigent needs of the Bureau.

(b) Authority in addition to existing authorities.—The authority described in subsection (a) is in addition to any existing authorities to enter into contracts with such personal services contractors.

(c) Employing and allocation of personnel.—To meet the requirements described in subsection (a) and subject to the requirements of subsection (b), the Secretary may—

(1) employ a total of up to 100 personal services contractors at any given time in each of the fiscal years 2024, 2025, and 2026;

(2) allocate personal services contractors to other elements of the Department in order to backfill personnel who have been assigned to work in the Bureau, except that not more than 20 such contractors may be assigned to any one element of the Department other than the Bureau; and

(3) allocate personal services contractors to elements of the Department without regard to the sources of funding such element relies on to compensate individuals.

(d) Limitation.—Employment authorized by this section may not exceed 2 calendar years.

(e) Personal services contractors.—Personal services contractors hired pursuant to this section shall be considered as employees of the Department of State for the purposes of the first section of the Act entitled “An Act to regulate the issue and validity of passports, and for other purposes”, approved July 3, 1926 (22 U.S.C. 211a).

(f) Notification and Reporting to Congress.—

(1) NOTIFICATION.—At least 15 days prior to the exercise of the authority of this section, the Secretary shall notify the appropriate congressional committees of the number of personal services contractors being employed, the expected length of employment, the bureaus in which such contractors are being employed, the purpose for using personal services contractors, and the justification, including the exigent circumstances requiring such use.

(2) ANNUAL REPORTING.—Not later than 60 days after the end of each fiscal year specified in subsection (c)(1), the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that contains the matters described in paragraph (1) with respect to such fiscal year.

(a) In general.—The Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Chief Information Officer, shall implement the information technology solutions described in subsection (b) in accordance with the timelines described in such subsection.

(b) Enhanced information technology solutions and timelines described.—The enhanced information technology solutions and timelines described in this subsection are the following:

(1) (A) Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Chief Information Officer shall award a contract or expand an existing contract to provide a digital dashboard to provide congressional offices with the ability to track the status of individual passport applications being handled as casework by such offices.

(B) Not later than 180 days after such date of enactment, the Chief Information Officer shall complete implementation of the dashboard described in subparagraph (A).

(2) (A) Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Chief Information Officer, shall award a contract for the establishment and maintenance of—

(i) a service to provide to passport applicants automated, voluntary proactive communications, by email or text message, for each progress point in the passport issuance process, and for the notification of application errors, and delivery of mail tracking numbers, and reminders of renewal eligibility;

(ii) a mobile application to allow for the centralization of applicant communication with the Department, including document submission, application status tracking, virtual appointments, access to the notification of application errors described in clause (i), and allowing for passport holders to receive messages from the Department and communicate emergencies to the Department.

(B) The services described in subparagraph (A) shall be offered to applicants on an opt-in basis only and data gained as a result of such opt-in shall not be transferred to any third party.

(C) With respect to the service described in clause (A)(i), the Secretary shall provide separate options to opt-in to email and text message notification, as well as separate options to opt-in to processing-related notifications and renewal eligibility notifications.

(D) As a condition for awarding the contracts described in subparagraph (A), the awardee shall demonstrate that it can begin tests on the solution within one year of the award of the contract and complete implementation, including bug fixes, cybersecurity audits, and customer service testing, not later than three years from the award of the contract.

(3) (A) Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Chief Information Officer, shall award a contract or contracts for the expansion and maintenance of the online passport renewal system to be able to accommodate both routine first-time adult applications and renewal adult passport applications.

(B) The contracts awarded pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall cover the following services:

(i) A customer-friendly internet website or portal to facilitate internet-based submission of adult passport applications.

(ii) Necessary remote document verification tools and infrastructure, to allow for a passport transaction to be completed entirely remotely.

(iii) Necessary information technology infrastructure not already maintained by the Department.

(C) The expansion of the online passport renewal system and associated systems shall, upon full implementation, be able to accommodate sufficient volume to process 100 percent of expected routine new and renewal adult passport applications for the five years following the date on which the system is fully implemented.

(D) (i) If applicable, not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, services contracted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be carried out on a pilot basis.

(ii) Not later than three years after such date of enactment, services contracted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be able to accommodate 25 percent of new and renewal adult passport applications.

(iii) Not later than four years after such date of enactment, services contracted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be fully implemented.

(iv) In awarding contracts pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall only consider proposals that can reasonably be expected to meet the timelines described in this subparagraph.

(E) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as authorization to terminate the acceptance of paper-based passport applications.

(4) (A) not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Chief Information Officer, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary, shall award a contract or contracts for the provision of rules-based tools to screen online passport renewal applications in which no biographical information was changed for citizenship, identity, and entitlement against internal and commercial databases.

(B) The tools described in subparagraph (A) shall be fully operational within one year of the award of the contract.

(C) The Chief Information Officer shall ensure that the use of the tools do not provide vectors for cyberattack.

(D) The Assistant Secretary shall ensure that the tools described in subparagraph (A) are implemented consistent with the maintenance of passport integrity standards.

(E) For purposes of using the tools described in subparagraph (A), the requirement that a passport be issued by the personnel described in the first section of the Act entitled “An Act to regulate the issue and validity of passports, and for other purposes”, approved July 3, 1926 (22 U.S.C. 211a), shall be satisfied provided that such personnel oversee the tools described in such subparagraph consistent with the requirements in subparagraph (D).

(c) Role of Chief Information Officer.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Information Officer’s approval shall be required before the Assistant Secretary awards a contract pursuant to this section.

(2) RELATING TO SYSTEMS.—With respect to the contracting and implementation of the systems described in subsection (b), the Chief Information Officer shall have—

(A) final decision making authority on the technical feasibility and specifications, cybersecurity requirements, compatibility with existing Department information technology infrastructure, and the feasibility of timelines from a technical standpoint; and

(B) final approval of all technical matters before full implementation.

(3) EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS.—In selecting the services described in subsection (b), the Chief Information Officer shall include in the criteria for selection—

(A) the ability of the system to maintain security, including the cybersecurity, standards appropriate to the United States passport and to protect personally identifiable information;

(B) scalability to accommodate current and future passport demand; and

(C) long-term viability and upgradability.

(d) Action plan.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary and the Chief Information Officer shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees an action plan on how the Bureau plans to complete the modernizations described in this section and complete other ongoing modernizations of the passport issuance process.

(2) ELEMENTS.—The action plan required by paragraph (1) shall include the following elements:

(A) The implementation progress for the information technology solutions described in subsection (b).

(B) The specific implementation steps for the solutions described in subsection (b) that Bureau of Consular Affairs and the Bureau of Information Resource Management will take, in conjunction with contract awardees, to meet the timelines described in subsection (b).

(C) The expected cost and timeline for implementation of the information technology solutions described in subsection (b).

(D) An evaluation of the information technology solutions described in subsection (b) to determine whether the full implementation of such solutions will require additional funding or authorities, including budget estimates and a description of such authorities, as appropriate.

(E) Steps, processes, and technologies the Chief Information Officer intends to use to ensure world-class cybersecurity standards for protection of passport applicant data and the passport issuance process infrastructure, particularly such infrastructure involved in adjudication of passport applications.

(F) A staffing plan for the four years beginning on the first day of the month during which the action plan will be submitted describing the expected staffing needs of the Bureau for the passport issuance process.

(G) Other specific planned steps that the Bureau will take to achieve the criteria described in section 4.

(e) Ongoing reporting.—Not later than 90 days after the interim plan described in subsection (d), and quarterly thereafter until such time as the Bureau has completed implementation of the items described in subsection (b), the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Chief Information Officer, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the following:

(1) Progress on each item described in subsection (b).

(2) Additional modernizations the Bureau intends to adopt.

(3) Changes in the cost for implementation of the steps described in the action plan, if applicable.

(f) Form.—The plans and report required by this section shall be submitted in an unclassified form and may include classified a annex, if necessary.

(a) In general.—In conducting the review required by subsection (a), the Chief Information Officer shall solicit the private sector for proposals to identify commercially available technologies that may be adopted by the Bureau to advance the criteria described in section 4.

(b) Requirements.—Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, in furtherance of the requirement under subsection (a), the Chief Information Officer shall—

(1) publish such solicitation and the process for responding to the solicitation in the Federal Register and notify the appropriate congressional committees thereof;

(2) solicit proposals for information technology services that improve any aspect of the passport issuance process, including the online passport renewal system, by allowing it to meet one or more of the criteria described in section 4; and

(3) establish a team, in cooperation with the Assistant Secretary, of appropriate Department employees and contractors to serve as the point of contact for, and to consult on policy, legal, and technical aspects of the passport issuance process with entities considering submitting a proposal.

(c) Evaluation.—For each such proposal, the Chief Information Officer shall evaluate the cost, security, and likely benefits, including benefits to customer satisfaction, digitization, and adjudication streamlining.

(d) Rule of construction.—Nothing in this section may be construed as an offer to procure services proposed to the Bureau pursuant to the solicitation of proposals required by paragraph (1) or as a guarantee of a contract for such services.

(e) Report.—Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Chief Information Officer, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report—

(1) describing opportunities to leverage the private sector and commercially available technologies to streamline, expedite, or otherwise enhance the passport issuance process; and

(2) containing a summary of each proposal made pursuant to this section and whether the Secretary intends to adopt each proposal.

(a) In general.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall initiate a comprehensive review of the passport issuance process designed to enable the Bureau to better meet the criteria described in section 4 by identifying—

(1) weaknesses within such process;

(2) additional opportunities to leverage commercially available technologies and global best practices;

(3) opportunities to streamline, expedite, and otherwise enhance such process.

(b) Elements.—The review required by subsection (a) shall include the following elements:

(1) A technical audit of the Travel Document Issuance System (TDIS) and other passport-issuance information technology systems that seeks to identify—

(A) aspects of the systems, including system architecture, that may impact its performance, scalability, and uptime;

(B) single points of failure within the systems;

(C) potential areas where commercially available information technology solutions could be employed to modernize the systems, and the likely costs to the Department of acquiring and implementing such solutions; and

(D) aspects, including staffing, that may impact the speed of resolving technical issues within the systems.

(2) An evaluation of the importance of each human aspect of the passport issuance process to determine whether such aspects can be replaced by secure digital processes.

(3) Based on consultations conducted pursuant to subsection (c), a discussion of global best practices and standards, including benchmarks for application fees and processing times for passport issuance.

(4) Measures the Comptroller believes the Bureau could take to reduce the cost of the passport issuance process or of application fees or surcharges.

(5) An analysis of potential partnerships with other Federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and its component agencies, the Social Security Administration, and the United States Postal Service, which could support the identity verification and resolution component of the passport issuance process.

(6) Whether partnerships with the departments of motor vehicles of the several States to collect and electronically submit passport applications, including pictures, fees, and digital copies of identity documents, to the Bureau would be a viable and secure method of passport application submission.

(7) An evaluation of other United States Government holdings, including biometric databases, that could be queried to support the Department’s identity resolution processes to increase the security of the identity verification and resolution component of the passport issuance process.

(c) Research on global best practices.—In conducting the review required by subsection (a), the Comptroller shall consult with the Governments of the Republic of Korea and India and with no fewer than four other foreign governments to ascertain global best practices for passport processing and to identify processes, approaches, and technologies that may be useful to inform the modernization of the passport issuance process.

(d) Submission.—Upon completion of the review required by subsection (a), the Comptroller shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees, to the Assistant Secretary, and to the Chief Information Officer a report that contains the results of the review.

(e) Recommendations implementation report.—Not later than 90 days after the date on which the report required by subsection (d) is submitted, and quarterly thereafter, the Assistant Secretary and the Chief Information Officer shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on progress toward resolution of each recommendation made in the report required by subsection (d) and planned steps that will be taken to resolve each recommendation over the next quarter.

In this Act—

(1) the term “appropriate congressional committees” means—

(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and

(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;

(2) the term “Assistant Secretary” means the Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs;

(3) the term “Bureau” means the Bureau of Consular Affairs of the Department;

(4) the term “Chief Information Officer” means the Chief Information Officer of the Bureau;

(5) except as otherwise provided, the term “Department” means the Department of State;

(6) the term “passport issuance process”—

(A) means all steps of passport issuance for a new passport or renewal of a passport, as appropriate, from the applicant’s submission of documents through document processing and application adjudication to mailing of printed passports; and

(B) includes—

(i) the passport application submission, which includes—

(I) the portion of the passport issuance process from and including passport acceptance by a passport acceptance agent until documents are received by the Department; and

(II) payment processing and mail shipping times; and

(ii) the passport application processing, which includes the portion of the passport issuance process from the reception of completed applications and their distribution to passport agencies for adjudication until finished passports and application documents are mailed to applicants; and

(7) the term “Secretary” means the Secretary of State.