U.S. Department of State

I. Public Benefit

The Department of State has no more vital responsibility than the protection of U.S. citizens while they are overseas. Approximately four million Americans reside abroad, and Americans make about 60 million trips outside the United States each year. The Department continues to enhance the integrity of the U.S. passport, while maintaining the highest standards for excellence in customer service. Improvements such as the e-passport, which contains a chip on which biometric and biographic information is recorded, will help strengthen international border security by ensuring both the document is authentic and that the person carrying the e-passport is the American citizen to whom that document was issued. To alert Americans to conditions that may affect safety and travel abroad, the Department disseminates threat assessments to posts abroad and announcements to the public as quickly as possible using all available means. U.S. embassies and consulates offer a broad range of services to U.S. citizens abroad in cases of illness, death, and other crises such as falling victim to a crime, political unrest or natural disaster. The Department also works with other USG agencies, foreign governments and international organizations on transportation security initiatives and encourages countries to implement intercountry adoption system.

II. Performance Summary

The table below summarizes Department performance ratings for the American Citizens strategic goal.

III. Resources Invested

IV. Performance Analysis

Performance Trends. The clear trend is toward a more sophisticated, automated system to support and protect Americans living and traveling abroad. For example, over the past four years, the Department has designed, developed, tested, and deployed an online database that contains the names of more than 500,000 U.S. citizens living abroad.

Key Initiatives And Programs. The Department of State appropriation act provides the critical operating resources and support necessary to fulfill the Department's range of mandates. For example, FY 2006 appropriations includes funding for the repatriation loan program available to U.S. citizens abroad. This program - together with other initiatives such as machine readable visas, expedited passport issuance, enhanced border security and intercountry adoption systems that protect the interests of children, birth parents, and U.S. adoptive parents - support the people, platform, and processes required to achieve the objectives of transformational diplomacy.

V. FY 2006 Performance Results

INDICATOR: Status of Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption

	Output
JUSTIFICATION: Demonstrates essential tasks that must be completed prior to U.S. ratification of the Convention in order for the United States to meet the Convention's responsibilities.
FY 2006 PERFORMANCE	Target	Authorize designated accrediting entities with signed agreements to accredit/approve all adoption service providers. Draft, publish for comment, and promulgate regulations governing how the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption and the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 will be implemented. U.S. instrument of ratification to be deposited at The Hague in 2007.
	Results	Final regulations on accreditation of adoption service providers and preservation of Convention records were published in the Federal Register on February 15, 2006. The proposed rule on issuance of Hague certificates and declarations in Convention adoption cases was published in the Federal Register on June 16, 2006. The proposed rule on orphan visa processing was published in the Federal Register on June 22, 2006. Proposed rule jointly with the Department of Homeland Security on reporting requirements for both Convention and non-Convention emigrating adoption cases. On June 29, 2006, the Department signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the State of Colorado regarding performance of duties as an accrediting entity for adoption service providers seeking Hague Convention accreditation. The Department also signed a separate MOA with the Council on Accreditation.
	Rating	On Target
	Impact	Performance directly supports and advances the Department's ability to ratify the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, with its stated goal "to establish safeguards to ensure that intercountry adoptions take place in the best interests of the child and with respect for his or her fundamental rights as recognized in international law."

Children waiting for adoption play in Guatemala City, Guatemala, June 2006.AP/Wide World

INDICATOR: Development of a Biometrics Collection Program for U.S. Passports

	Outcome
JUSTIFICATION: Introducing biometrics into passports and other travel documents represents a major advance in the international effort to prevent imposter fraud. The U.S. Enhanced Border Security and Visa Reform Act requires nations participating in the Visa Waiver Program to incorporate biometrics into their passports. The United States has incorporated biometrics collection into the development and production of the new e-passport.
FY 2006 PERFORMANCE	Target	All new passports issued domestically contain biometric data by end of fiscal year.
	Results	The Department redesigned the U.S. passport and added electronic security features such as Public Key Infrastructure, anti-skimming material, as well as Basic Access Control, Random Unique Identifier and WORM (write once, read many) technologies. In the new U.S. e-passport, the digital image of the passport photograph is the biometric identifier that will be used with facial recognition technology to verify the identity of the passport bearer. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has conducted a series of tests analyzing the durability and electronic security of the e-passport. On August 15, 2006, the Department began issuing to the general public full validity tourist e-passports at the Colorado Passport Agency, which has been fully converted to e-passport production.
	Rating	Below Target
	Impact	Incorporating biometrics into the U.S. passport strengthens U.S. border security by ensuring that the person carrying the passport is the individual to whom that passport was issued. These measures make the U.S. passport less susceptible to manipulation and more difficult to counterfeit, making it one of the most valuable identity and citizenship documents in the world.
	Reason for Shortfall	Various factors influenced the Department's results in FY 2006 including a lengthy delay caused by a vendor protest and ensuing litigation in FY 2005, as well as continuing record demand for U.S. passports. As a result, the Department experienced insufficient supply of blank e-passport books from the GPO.
	Steps to Improve	The Department has worked with our USG suppliers to ensure that adequate supply of e-passport books is available. We are distributing and installing equipment necessary for e-passport production on a schedule designed to minimize any potential for disruption to passport services for American citizens, particularly in light of the new passport requirement of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative . By November 2006, the Department will have the capability to issue e-passports at all 17 domestic passport facilities. All agencies are scheduled to convert to full e-passport production by the end of the first quarter of CY 2007.

E-Passport Features

New Features: The data page, now on page two, has thicker paper than other pages and a watermark; the Great Seal and flag design is new; and all pages now have random fibers that fluoresce under UV. The book inventory number, on inside back cover, will also be the passport number. In contrast to the 1998 version, the data descriptors (e.g., "Sex/Sexe/Sexo") are not pre-printed, but rather printed at the same time as the personalized data when the book is issued. Therefore, this text will be black for all passports - diplomatic, official and tourist.

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