House advances Salazar’s passport reform bill

The U.S. House of Representatives on March 19 approved legislation offered by U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) that would modernize the process for how the U.S. State Department issues passports. 

“We are now four years after the start of the pandemic and the State Department is still behind on processing passports for my constituents. Two months for a passport is way too long,” Rep. Salazar said. “The House of Representatives is addressing an important issue that all Americans are still being forced to deal with. Let’s clean the mess up at the State Department and bring this critical service back to order.”

The Passport System Reform and Backlog Prevention Act, H.R. 6610, which Rep. Salazar cosponsored on Dec. 6, 2023, alongside bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), would bolster the State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs’ processing capabilities to streamline the application and processing process for passports, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmakers.

Specifically, H.R. 6610 would set a service standard of processing passport applications in 30 days after receipt of documents; provide surge hiring authorities to solve current and future backlogs; and mandate the expansion of the Online Passport Renewal system to accommodate first-time adult passport applications, the summary says.

Additionally, the bill would mandate a text and email notification system for application status and passport applications, and accelerate the passport renewal process by increasing the use of software in passport adjudication, among other provisions.

Since its introduction, the bill has gained 33 other cosponsors, including U.S. Reps. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), Mike Turner (R-OH), and Jim Costa (D-CA).

The U.S. Senate on March 20 received H.R. 6610 and referred it to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee for consideration.