Congress: 102 · Status: active · Israel/Palestine classification: pro-Israel
Data (JSON) — machine-readable record of this bill (identifiers, sponsor, classification, actions, and the member-by-member vote breakdown).
Official record on Congress.gov — full text, actions, and cosponsor history for S 845.
Sponsor: Lautenberg, Frank R. (D-NJ)
Anti-Boycott Passport Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of State to: (1) instruct the U.S. Middle Eastern diplomatic corps to seek an end to the policy of the majority of Arab League nations of rejecting passports of, and denying entrance visas to, persons whose passports or other documents reflect that they have visited Israel; and (2) report to specified congressional committees on the status of efforts to secure an end to such policy. Prohibits the Secretary from issuing any passport that is designated for travel only to Israel. Requires the Secretary to cancel existing passports designated for travel only to Israel. Prohibits the Secretary from issuing more than one official or diplomatic passport to any U.S. Government official for purposes of enabling such official to acquiesce in or comply with the Arab League's passport policy concerning persons who have visited Israel.
The bill directs the State Department to pressure Arab League countries to stop refusing entry to people whose passports show they visited Israel. It also prohibits the US from issuing passports marked 'for travel to Israel only' and bars officials from carrying multiple passports to work around Arab nations' entry restrictions on Israel visitors.
This directly addresses enforcement of the Arab League boycott of Israel by targeting the passport mechanisms that enforce it. The bill treats Arab League visa policies as a diplomatic problem the US should actively oppose, making it a core pro-Israel measure on a decades-long geopolitical dispute.