Skip to content
PoliticalRepoPoliticalRepo

United States · Bill · HR

H.R. 7162 (110th)

Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative Improvement Act of 2008

referredUnited States· United States Congress· EN

Introduced

26 September 2008

Last action

26 September 2008 · Introduced

Status

Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Sponsors

Rep. Ortiz, Solomon P. [D-TX-27], Rep. Rodriguez, Ciro D. [D-TX-28], Rep. Hinojosa, Ruben [D-TX-15], Rep. Gonzalez, Charles A. [D-TX-20], Rep. Grijalva, Raúl M. [D-AZ-7]

Subjects

Immigration

Source updated

14 August 2025

Immigration

Summary

Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative Improvement Act of 2008 - Directs the Secretary of State to adjudicate U.S. passport applications in an individualized, evidence-based manner. Requires the passport application adjudicatory process to be based on an assessment of individual circumstances and evidence. Prohibits an applicant's race, ethnicity, or ancestry from being taken into account in the passport application adjudicatory process. Requires: (1) an applicant to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the applicant is a U.S. citizen or national; (2) the preponderance of the evidence standard to be applied in a uniform and consistent manner to all passport applications; and (3) any determination that an applicant has not met the burden of proving U.S. citizenship or nationality by a preponderance of the evidence to be made in writing, state the reasons for the determination, and be provided to the applicant in a timely manner. States that a birth certificate signed by a person authorized under state law to sign such a document, or a previously-issued U.S. passport, shall constitute prima facie evidence of U.S. citizenship or nationality and, absent individualized evidence that a birth did not take place in the United States, shall satisfy the preponderance of the evidence standard.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

  1. 26 September 2008

    Introduced

    Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

    Source: IntroReferral

  2. 26 September 2008

    Introduced

    Introduced in House

    Source: IntroReferral

  3. 26 September 2008

    Introduced

    Introduced in House

    Source: IntroReferral

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

Documents

3 official files

Introduced in House (text)

View fileDownload file

This file cannot be previewed here. Use View or Download.

Leesvertaling

Vertaal dit document naar jouw taal. PoliticalRepo bewaart geen aparte kopie per EU-taal.

Documentvertaling op verzoek met downloadbare PDF (logo + link naar de officiële bron). Het bronbestand blijft leidend.

  • Introduced in House (text)

    Introduced in House · EN · 26 September 2008

    ViewDownloadOpen at official source

  • Introduced in House (PDF)

    Introduced in House · EN · 26 September 2008

    ViewDownloadOpen at official source

    Leesvertaling

    Vertaal dit document naar jouw taal. PoliticalRepo bewaart geen aparte kopie per EU-taal.

    Documentvertaling op verzoek met downloadbare PDF (logo + link naar de officiële bron). Het bronbestand blijft leidend.

  • Introduced in House

    summary · EN · 26 September 2008

    Open at official source

    Leesvertaling

    Vertaal dit document naar jouw taal. PoliticalRepo bewaart geen aparte kopie per EU-taal.

    Documentvertaling op verzoek met downloadbare PDF (logo + link naar de officiële bron). Het bronbestand blijft leidend.

Sponsors

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.

Sources

PoliticalRepo is an index and interpretation layer, not the authoritative legal source.