Sponsors (19)
The bill waives passport fees and streamlines verification for Purple Heart and Medal of Honor recipients, delivering targeted relief to decorated veterans while incurring modest lost fee revenue, agency implementation burdens, and small privacy risks.
Veterans awarded the Purple Heart or Medal of Honor no longer pay passport application or renewal fees, directly reducing out-of-pocket costs for those honored service members.
Veterans and the State Department benefit from faster, simpler eligibility verification because the bill requires an MOU allowing DoD and State to cross-reference service records, reducing paperwork and processing time.
Department of State and DoD must expend staff time and IT/verification resources to implement the MOU and new procedures, which could divert resources from other tasks or priorities.
Cross-referencing service records for verification creates modest privacy risks for veterans if data access and handling are not tightly controlled.
Taxpayers bear the cost of lost passport-fee revenue from exempting eligible applicants.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Eliminates passport application and renewal fees for Purple Heart and Medal of Honor recipients and requires an MOU with DoD to verify eligibility.
Official title: To amend the Passport Act of 1920 to exempt from the collection of certain passport fees of an individual who was awarded the Purple Heart or the Medal of Honor, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 5, 2026 by Mike Levin · Last progress February 5, 2026
Creates a permanent passport fee exemption for people who have been awarded the Purple Heart or the Medal of Honor and directs the State Department to work with the Department of Defense to verify eligibility and set documentation requirements for passport applications and renewals. The agreement between the agencies will establish how DoD confirms service records and what proof applicants must supply to receive the fee waiver.