This bill creates a special commission to study how federal laws and policies affect Americans who live abroad. The commission will have 10 members appointed by the President, with recommendations coming from both Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress. The group will include a mix of government employees and private citizens who have experience living overseas or working with expat communities.

The commission will investigate several key issues that affect Americans living in foreign countries. These include complicated tax reporting requirements, rules that make it hard for expats to access banks and financial services, the process for foreign spouses and children to become U.S. citizens, voting procedures for overseas Americans, how Social Security and Medicare work for people abroad, and which federal agencies handle programs for expats. The commission will talk to organizations that represent Americans living overseas to understand their real-world challenges.

Within one year, the commission must submit a detailed report to the President and Congress with findings and recommendations for how to fix problems. A year after that, they'll provide an update on what federal agencies actually did to address those recommendations. The commission will then shut down. The bill provides $2 million per year for 2024 and 2025 to fund this work. Essentially, this is a fact-finding mission to identify and propose solutions for the bureaucratic headaches that Americans face when living outside the United States.

Commission on Americans Living Abroad Act of 2023

Titus, Dina

Commission on Americans Living Abroad Act of 2023 This bill establishes the Commission on Americans Living Abroad, which must report on how federal laws and policies affect U.S. citizens living abroad, including civilians and members of the Armed Forces. Each federal agency affected by a recommendation in the report shall submit a response to the President, Congress, and the commission.