WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Madeleine Dean (PA-04) wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding clarity on why local passport acceptance facilities — including Boyertown, Pottstown, and Jenkintown libraries — were deauthorized from accepting passport applications.
In Fiscal Year 2025, the State Department received a record more than 23.3 million passport applications. Passport acceptance facilities alleviate the strain on the State Department to process new and renewed passports — and offer local sites for Americans seeking to travel for family, work, or recreation.
Yet across the country, the Bureau of Consular Affairs’ Office of Acceptance Facility Oversight sent notices to public libraries to clarify whether the institution is “a private, charitable, non-profit, or other type of non-governmental organization” or is “government owned and operated” by a local jurisdiction. Each institution had just 14 days from the receipt of the attestation to complete it.
Following months of silence from the State Department, some of these institutions that are not government owned and operated were recently sent deactivation notices, ordering them to cease passport operations immediately.
“Our public libraries are a beacon — offering a breadth of resources right in our communities, including the ability to accept passport applications,” Rep. Dean said. “From Boyertown to Pottstown to Jenkintown, our district depends on the accessibility of passport acceptance facilities and our libraries rely on this program for crucial revenue. At at time when more Americans than ever are seeking passports, it is incomprehensible for the State Department to take away such a sensible, time-saving function.”
The fees libraries receive for executing applications make up substantial portions of their operating budgets, in some cases as high as 12%. Changing their authorization status mid-year, without providing opportunities for institutions to wind down operations, will force many libraries to slash employee salaries or lay off staff.
Rep. Madeleine Dean is a mother, grandmother, attorney, professor, former four-term member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and U.S. Representative for the Fourth District of Pennsylvania.
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