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H.R.1139 / 119th Congress

Passport Sanity Act

Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Official summary

Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 7, 2025

Passport Sanity Act

This bill prohibits the Department of State from issuing a passport, passport card, or Consular Report of Birth Abroad with an unspecified (X) gender designation. The State Department must also ensure that applications for such documents include only male and female gender designations.

Read the summary on Congress.gov

Who introduced it

Rep. Roy, Chip [R-TX-21] · R–TX

Committees

  • Foreign Affairs Committee
1 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.

  1. Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

  2. Introduced in House

  3. Introduced in House

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.

Source last updated: Feb 26, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

Explore the bill from different angles

Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.

Neutral evidence review

Objective

Analyze H.R.1139 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.

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Fairness and public impact

Progressive lens

Examine H.R.1139 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.

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Institutions and government scope

Conservative lens

Examine H.R.1139 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.

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Individual rights and government power

Liberty lens

Examine H.R.1139 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.

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Read the proposal in plain language

AI-generated · Source-checked by AI · Oct 29, 2026

Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-07 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.

What it would do

This bill would require applications for State Department passports, passport cards, and Consular Reports of Birth Abroad to offer only male and female gender designations. It would also prohibit issuing those documents with an unspecified (X) gender designation, affecting applicants seeking that option. These are proposed requirements, not evidence of enacted law.

Check the sources
The Secretary of State shall— (1) ensure each application for a covered document includes only the gender designations male and female; and (2) prohibit the issuing of a covered document that includes the unspecified (X) gender designation.
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-07
the term covered document means a passport, passport card, or Consular Report of Birth Abroad issued by the Department of State.
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-07

How it would work

The Secretary of State would be responsible for ensuring that every application for a covered document lists only male and female gender designations.

Check the sources
The Secretary of State shall— (1) ensure each application for a covered document includes only the gender designations male and female;
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-07
the term covered document means a passport, passport card, or Consular Report of Birth Abroad issued by the Department of State.
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-07

The Secretary would also have to prohibit issuing a State Department passport, passport card, or Consular Report of Birth Abroad bearing the unspecified (X) gender designation.

Check the sources
The Secretary of State shall—
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-07
(2) prohibit the issuing of a covered document that includes the unspecified (X) gender designation.
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-07
the term covered document means a passport, passport card, or Consular Report of Birth Abroad issued by the Department of State.
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-07

What the record shows

The supplied actions snapshot, updated February 26, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on February 7, 2025.

Check the source
Source snapshot updated 2026-02-26T16:37:44Z. 2025-02-07: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. 2025-02-07: Introduced in House
Official legislative record · 2026-02-26T16:37:44Z

Riders & Targeted Benefits

Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-07. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.

This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.

Riders

Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.

None identified in the reviewed text

No unrelated provision was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish what other versions or accompanying materials contain.

Earmarks

Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.

None identified in the reviewed text

No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; earmark disclosures and committee or conference materials were not supplied.

Other targeted benefits

Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.

None identified in the reviewed text

No materially narrow preferential benefit, special exemption, or carve-out was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.

What this analysis cannot establish

  • The bundle contains the complete introduced text and a dated actions snapshot. It does not establish subsequent advancement, amendments, or enactment; missing later history does not prove those events never occurred.
  • The bill does not specify an implementation date, expiration date, exceptions, or how male and female designations would be determined. It does not explain how already-issued documents bearing X would be treated.
  • Existing passport laws and policies are not supplied, so the bundle does not establish how these proposed requirements compare with rules currently in force.

Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Feb 26, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI