{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://issa.house.gov/media/press-releases/issa-bill-modernize-passport-process-earns-unanimous-support-foreign-affairs", "Issa Bill to Modernize Passport Process Earns Unanimous Support in Foreign Affairs Committee, Headed to House Floor for Final Passage", "2023-12-13", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "House", "CA", "Darrell Issa", "I000056", "issa.house.gov", "issa", "https://issa.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington \u2013 Today, the Passport System Reform and Backlog Prevention Act (H.R.6610) authored by Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-48), passed unanimously through the House Foreign Affairs Committee.\n\nH.R. 6610 is the most comprehensive legislation in history to modernize the passport issuance process. The bill deploys numerous tools to address the problems that create passport backlogs while bolstering the State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs\u2019 processing capabilities to streamline the application and processing experience for American travelers. The bill was recently highlighted in an exclusive report by Fox News.\n\n\u201cThe collapse of the passport system represents a signature failure that upended and inconvenienced tens of millions of Americans who have the right to expect far more of their government,\u201d said Rep. Issa. \u201cThis transformative approach will not only address many of the problems that led to the backlog but also deliver modernizations that are overdue and will set the system right for decades to come.\u201d\n\nThe bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Maria Salazar (FL-27) and also received the support of Rep. Gregory Meeks (NY-05), the committee\u2019s top Democrat.\n\nThe Passport Issuance and Backlog Elimination Act will:\n\nSet a service standard of processing passport applications in 30 days after receipt of documents and creating a user-friendly experience\n\nProvide surge hiring authorities to solve current and future backlogs\n\nMandate the expansion of the Online Passport Renewal system to accommodate first-time adult passport applications\n\nMandate a text and email notification system for application status and passport applications\n\nAccelerate the passport renewal process by increasing use of software in passport adjudication\n\nRequire a top-to-bottom review of the passport issuance system by the Government Accountability Office\n\nAccelerate the adoption of commercially available technology solutions by increasing the Bureau\u2019s collaboration with the private sector\n\nIncrease congressional oversight over State Department modernization efforts", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:14:16Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://issa.house.gov/media/press-releases/issa-bill-modernize-passport-process-earns-unanimous-support-foreign-affairs"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8032200857996941, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}