S.Amdt. 5843

SA 5843. Mr. GRAHAM submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 7900, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2023 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle F of title X, add the following:

SEC. 1064. PASSPORT AGENCY LOCATION STUDY AND REPORT.

(a) Study.--The Secretary of State, in consultation with key government officials, to the extent necessary, shall conduct a study to determine the feasibility of establishing a new physical passport agency to facilitate and process in-person passport appointments in South Carolina.

(b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives that contains--

(1) the comprehensive results and conclusions of the study conducted pursuant to subsection (a);

(2) a recommendation regarding whether a physical passport agency should be established in South Carolina;

(3) if the Secretary recommends establishing a physical passport agency in South Carolina--

(A) a detailed plan for such agency;

(B) the costs associated with establishing such agency; and

(C) a timeline outlining the process for establishing such agency, including the estimated date when such agency could become fully operational; and

(4) if the Secretary recommends not establishing a physical passport agency in South Carolina--

(A) a detailed explanation of the factors behind such determination;

(B) a detailed plan addressing how in-person passport appointment backlogs will be prevented; and

(C) an estimate of the number of United States citizens who will be unable to have their passport processed before their scheduled overseas trip due to the failure to establish a physical passport agency in South Carolina.