House passes bill to revoke passports for people involved with terrorists

The House passed legislation on Tuesday that would authorize the State Department to deny passports for people involved with terrorist groups like the Islamic State.

It passed easily by voice vote after just 15 minutes of debate. 

The bill’s author, Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas), said that allowing the Secretary of State to deny issuance of or revoke passports of U.S. citizens found to be supporting terrorists would help mitigate any plots to harm Americans.

{mosads}“We must stop these outlaws from coming back to the United States and committing crimes against us,” Poe said.

The measure does not go as far as revoking U.S. citizenship, however.

Citizens who are denied passports can pursue an administrative hearing to appeal the decision. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill would cost less than $500,000 over five years because the State Department would have to absorb the costs of the hearings.