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H.R. 1338

U.S. House•In House Committee

Summary

H.R. 1338, the REPLACE Act, was introduced in the House on Feb 13, 2025 by Rep. Joseph Neguse (D) with 2 co-sponsors. It was referred to Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, and last saw action on Feb 13, 2025: Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.

Record

Text

H.R. 1338 has 2 co-sponsors.

hb1338/introduced-in-house.txt
119 HR 1338 IH: Replacing Essential Passports and Licenses After Certain Emergencies Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2025-02-13
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 I  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  H. R. 1338  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   February 13, 2025   Mr. Neguse  (for himself and  Ms. Maloy ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure    A BILL
To amend the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to require the President to automatically waive certain critical document fees for individuals and households affected by major disasters for which assistance is provided under the Individuals and Households Program.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Replacing Essential Passports and Licenses After Certain Emergencies Act   or the   REPLACE Act  .
2.
Critical document fee waiver
Section 1238(a) of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 ( 42 U.S.C. 5174b ) is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (2), by striking  applies regardless  and inserting  and the requirement of the President to waive fees under paragraph (4) apply regardless ;
(2)
by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (8); and
(3)
by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
(4)
Waiver
The President, in consultation with the Governor of a State, shall provide a fee waiver described in paragraph (1) to any individual or household that has been adversely affected by a major disaster declared under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( 42 U.S.C. 5170 )—
(A)
for which the President provides assistance to individuals and households under section 408 of that Act ( 42 U.S.C. 5174 ); and
(B)
that destroyed a critical document described in paragraph (1) of the individual or household.
(5)
Waiver availability
The Secretary of State and the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services shall make publicly available on the website of the Department of State and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, respectively, a notice of the availability of fee waivers described in paragraph (4).
(6)
Report from USCIS
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this paragraph, and every year thereafter, the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services shall submit to Congress a report that includes, for the period covered by the report—
(A)
the number of fee waivers granted under this subsection; and
(B)
the cost to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services of granting fee waivers under this subsection.
(7)
Report from Department of State
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this paragraph, and every year thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to Congress a report that includes, for the period covered by the report—
(A)
the number of fee waivers granted under this subsection; and
(B)
the cost to the Department of State of granting fee waivers under this subsection.
 .

Tracker

The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.

  1. Introduced2025-02-13
  2. Passed House
  3. Passed Senate
  4. Conference
  5. To President
  6. Became Law

CRS Summary

The summaries are the Congressional Research Service’s, one per stage. Read them in full.

Introduced in House Feb 13, 2025

hb1338/introduced-in-house.md

Shown Here:
Introduced in House (02/13/2025)

Replacing Essential Passports and Licenses After Certain Emergencies Act or the REPLACE Act

This bill automatically waives the fees to replace certain federal documents (e.g., passports, visas, or immigration documents) destroyed by a major disaster.

Under current law, the Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may waive replacement fees for these critical documents for individuals or households adversely affected by a major disaster. The bill requires the State Department and USCIS to waive these replacement fees when the documents are destroyed by a major disaster for which assistance is provided under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Individuals and Households Program. The agencies must notify the public of the availability of these waivers on their respective websites.

The bill also requires the State Department and USCIS to annually report to Congress the number of such fee waivers granted and the resulting cost to the respective agencies.

Sponsors

Rep. Joseph Neguse (D) sponsors H.R. 1338, and 2 members have co-sponsored it, 1 of them from the day it was introduced.

Committees

H.R. 1338 went before 2 committees: Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee and Transportation and Infrastructure.

Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee
Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee
Referred to · Feb 13, 2025 · 127 Bills
Transportation and Infrastructure
Transportation and Infrastructure
Referred To · Feb 13, 2025 · 156 Bills

Actions

H.R. 1338 has taken 3 actions since Feb 13, 2025.

ChamberAction
Feb 13, 2025
House
Introduced in House
Feb 13, 2025
House
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
Feb 13, 2025
House
Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee

Votes

H.R. 1338 has not gone to a roll call.

1 bill is related to H.R. 1338, as Identical bill.

Titles

H.R. 1338 goes by 4 titles, 2 of them short titles.

  • REPLACE Act — Display Title
  • REPLACE Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • Replacing Essential Passports and Licenses After Certain Emergencies Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • To amend the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to require the President to automatically waive certain critical document fees for individuals and households affected by major disasters for which assistance is provided under the Individuals and Households Program. — Official Title as Introduced

Lobbying

2 clients hired 2 firms and 11 registered lobbyists who named H.R. 1338 in 5 quarterly filings, 2025. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.

Filed under Aerospace, Agriculture, Budget/Appropriations, Clean Air and Water (quality), Defense, Environment/Superfund, Telecommunications, Communications/Broadcasting/Radio/TV.

Clients

Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.

ClientBusinessStateFirmsFilingsReported
SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES—District of Columbia14—
VIASAT, INC.Global communications companyDistrict of Columbia11$80K

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

RegistrantClientsFilingsReported
SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES14—
HOLLAND & KNIGHT LLP11$80K

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill.

LobbyistFirmsClientsFilings
DILLON LAVIALE114
JOSEPH PETRZELKA114
MATHEW DUNN114
MICHAEL LAPIDUS114
OWEN MCDONOUGH114
TIMOTHY HUGHES114
GREGORY LOUER111
MICHAEL FRIEDBERG111
NATALIE GILBERT111
PARKER REYNOLDS111
THOMAS DAVIS111

Filings

The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.

ClientRegistrantPeriodReportedDocument
SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIESSPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES2025 third_quarter$790K3rd Quarter - Report
SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIESSPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES2025 fourth_quarter$730K4th Quarter - Report
SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIESSPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES2025 second_quarter$720K2nd Quarter - Report
SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIESSPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES2025 first_quarter$700K1st Quarter - Report
VIASAT, INC.HOLLAND & KNIGHT LLP2025 first_quarter$80K1st Quarter - Report

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files H.R. 1338 under Emergency Management, one of its 31 policy areas.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; H.R. 1338’s is Emergency Management.

hr1338/policy-areas.txt
Emergency ManagementAgriculture and FoodAnimalsArmed Forces and National SecurityArts, Culture, ReligionCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesCommerceCongressCrime and Law EnforcementEconomics and Public FinanceEducationEnergyEnvironmental ProtectionFamiliesFinance and Financial SectorForeign Trade and International FinanceGovernment Operations and PoliticsHealthHousing and Community DevelopmentImmigrationInternational AffairsLabor and EmploymentLawNative AmericansPublic Lands and Natural ResourcesScience, Technology, CommunicationsSocial WelfareSports and RecreationTaxationTransportation and Public WorksWater Resources Development

Constitutional authority

The clause the sponsor cites as Congress’s power to enact H.R. 1338, as entered in the Congressional Record.

[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 30 (Thursday, February 13, 2025)][House]From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Mr. NEGUSE:H.R. 1338.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:Article I, Section 8[Page H711]

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com