Description:
H.R. 237 would authorize the Department of State to deny a passport to a U.S. citizen if it found that person had helped a foreign terrorist organization, or to revoke their passport if one had already been issued. The department would be required to report to the Congress each time it uses that authority.
The department has used broader authorities under current law to deny or revoke passports in such cases; the bill would provide overlapping specific authority. Citizens who have been denied a passport or had one revoked are entitled to an administrative hearing and the department bears the costs associated with such hearings. Those individuals may also choose to pursue legal action. Based on information from the department, CBO expects that under the bill the number of passports being denied or revoked would not increase significantly. On that basis, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost less than $500,000 over the 2016-2020 period, assuming the availability of appropriated amounts.
In certain cases, citizens who have had a passport revoked may be issued a new, short-term passport to repatriate that person to the United States. In those instances, the citizen would still be required to pay the fees for a new passport. Some passport fees are deposited as revenues while others are retained by the department and spent. Pay-as-you-go procedures apply to H.R. 237 because it would affect direct spending and revenues; however, CBO estimates those effects would be less than $500,000 over the 2016-2025 period because few people would be affected.
H.R. 237 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
