,i  #aafth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #gfbc  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,july #af1 #bjbj,mr4 
,connolly 7for himself1 ,mrs4 ,carolyn  
,b4 ,maloney of ,new ,york1 ,mr4        
,burchett1 ,mr4 ,lynch1 ,mr4 ,kinzinger1
 and ,mr4 ,mfume7 introduced the        
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs  ,a 
,,bill  ,to require the ,secretary of   
,state to submit a plan to eliminate the
 passport application backlog1 and for  
other purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this 
,act may be cited as the ,passport      
,backlog ,elimination ,act4  #b4 ,plan  
to eliminate passport application       
backlog  7a7 ,in general ,not later than
 #cj days after the date of the         
enactment of this ,act1 after           
consultation with the appropriate       
congressional committees1 the ,secretary
 of ,state shall submit to such         
committees a plan1 including the        
actionable strategies described in      
subsection 7b71 to ensure the current   

backlog of passport applications due to 
the ,,covid-#ai pandemic is eliminated  
in a timely manner in order to promote  
the national security and economic      
interests of the ,united ,states4  7b7  
,actionable strategies ,the actionable  
strategies described in this subsection 
are to-- 7#a7 eliminate the backlog of  
at least #a4d million passport          
applications2  7#b7 establish a timeline
 for the elimination of such backlog2   
and  7#c7 ensure-- 7,a7 that the        
expected processing time for-- 7i7      
routine passport applications is between
 six and eight weeks2  7ii7 expedited   
passport applications is between two to 
three weeks2 and  7iii7 expedited       
passport applications for ,federal      
,government personnel is not more than  
eight business days2  7,b7 the safety of
 ,department of ,state personnel and    
customers and compliance with all       
applicable ,federal1 ,state1 and local  
health and social distancing guidelines2
 and  7,c7 the ability for expedited    

service for applicants requiring a      
passport for purposes related to their  
employment4  7c7 ,implementation ,not   
later than #cj days after the submission
 of the plan under subsection 7a71 the  
,secretary of ,state shall begin        
implementation of the plan to eliminate 
the backlog of passport applications due
 to the ,,covid-#ai pandemic4  7d7      
,inspector ,general audit ,not later    
than #ahj days after the date of the    
enactment of this ,act1 the ,inspector  
,general of the ,department of ,state   
shall submit to ,congress an audit on   
the elimination of the passport         
application backlog required by the plan
 required under subsection 7a71 and the 
,department's actionable strategies     
described in subsection 7b74  7e7       
,definition ,in this section1 the term  
appropriate congressional committees    
means the ,committee on ,foreign        
,affairs and the ,committee on          
,oversight and ,reform of the ,house of 
,representatives and the ,committee on  

,foreign ,relations and the ,committee  
on ,homeland ,security and ,governmental
 ,affairs of the ,senate4