8:06
Well, first of all, thank you guys for coming. Uh, I know half of you are just here for the air conditioning, but um, it's it's crazy out there. You did a great job, Mo and your whole team, and I want to thank you guys for putting this together, and um, not just the passport, but the changes we're making. We'll talk about it in just a moment. But first of all, um it's exciting to be a part of something that's going to be commemorative, that's going to be remembered for a long time to honor the 250th anniversary of the founding of the single greatest nation in all of human history. And um and you know, the passport is not just a travel document. It's incredibly valuable in the sense of what it means.
It's a tremendous source of pride for many of us when we travel abroad to be able to present that American passport. It also is a lifeline for a lot of people. In fact, if you know and as you know from those that work here and perhaps from personal experience, probably one of the most frightening things that can happen to you if you're abroad is you lose your passport. Uh because it limits not just your ability to travel, but your ability to come back home to the greatest nation on earth. And we thought the passport needed to reflect that in general. And there'll be more designs and that folks over at the design studio here that work not for the State Department, for the whole of government are doing a phenomenal job.
But I wanted to walk you through some of the thinking behind it. Obviously, this is a commemorative one. It's one that'll be long remembered. We're happy because a lot of people are applying to get it and uh and want it. And so for us, it's an opportunity to reinvigorate, you know, the our passport office and their efforts in terms of their funding and so forth. But beyond it, um we think it's a it's something people will cherish and hold on to for a very long time because of what it signifies. Like all passports, it will expire one day, but the meaning of it you'll always remember. And we think it's one that people will keep for a long time. If I could walk you through a little bit, you know, in the past when people would get
something as valuable as a passport, they basically, you know, you apply, you go to CVS, they take a headsh shot, and then uh, you know, you put all the papers in the mail, and at some point in the next two or three months, you'll get a package from the US Postal Service in an envelope that could have be anything. You know, it could be a demand letter, or it could be a passport. You have no idea what it is. And you open it up and hopefully it hasn't been rained on or run over by a truck. And uh, and there's your passport. And we thought for something as important as dignified as the American passport, it really should have something more than that. And so everyone from now on, it's not just for
the 250, but our goal moving forward is to make sure that everyone who applies for a passport and receives it in the mail will receive it in this box, which uh I know, fancy box, which I think is indicative of how important the document inside is. But wait, there's more. uh when you open it and when you open this passport box um you will find that there's a certificate attached to it which is like a certificate of authenticity like we do with you know watches and stuff like that and jewelry but again it's something that we think a lot of people will tremendously value and then of course there's the actual passport if you'll notice I'm not good at any of the aesthetic things as you want you to know but I value what this means you see
the redesign that I think more appropriately reflects our country and its stature whose passport Is this cuz I'm about to open it. Is this yours, Bulos? Oo, there's red marks all over this already. It's not good. Well, let me skip that part for a moment. There's some features in here that a lot of people haven't picked up on yet, but you'll notice as you work through it. Um, we have these uh well, I don't know if you guys are going to care about it or not, but when you flip the pages, when I can't flip the pages, when you flip the pages, this image here will start to move. So, you'll see it's like
a moving image along the way. But here's the coolest part. Um, I know. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that who invented that? But, uh, but the what the one thing that's not a feature on this yet will be but will be a future a feature in the future. Again, I'm giving away, you know, a lot of great secrets, but they'll actually be like a QR code attached to it. So, each one of these images that are on here, and they'll be different for the permanent passports, will have a QR code. And when you go on that QR code, it will prompt you to like a video presentation of that moment in American history. And so what we're thinking is that because flights are so often delayed, people are going to be
bored out of their minds and they can go on the QR code and it will pull up these key moments in American history which obviously will continue to be replenished and added and it'll go through some pretty amazing moments uh including the recent Aremis uh launch is one of them that we're considering putting in there and others. So we think it'll be a great source of pride. So, I'm excited because we're launching this commemorative, but we're also putting in place all the things you need to have an incredible passport program. Now, beyond that, I would say that we are also looking at some technological changes which we'll be more fully able to announce over the coming months where
it's going to be a lot easier to get a passport in terms of the dynamics of it. You'll actually be able to go online. You'll be able to do almost all of it entirely online. One of the questions we had was most of the devices that people are using, be it a laptop or a standing computer or what have you where you would fill out this application, they have cameras on them. I know it's shocking, but they have cameras. They have videos that people use. You should be able to take that picture on that device as opposed to going somewhere. Now, the CVS people of course hate this and Walgreens and all those other places, but you'll be able to take your picture from that device and be able to
have it in real time through our security system, verify the facial ID and it just saves you a lot of you don't have to go down somewhere now and get a head shot and have the little pictures that you have to cut and then submit three passport pictures. You'll be able to do that. You'll be able to do it online entirely for the most part with all the right numbers. It'll be they'll be able to verify it for you and you should be able to get it much sooner. So, we're going to make it a much more customer friendly. Um, we're not ready to do that yet, but that's really what we want to be able to do. And it should cut down on the long waits, the long lines, the appointments, the making. Some people
may still decide to do it that way, but this way will be available to people. And we look forward to like really rolling that out in a few months when it's ready. But we didn't want to delay this commemorative edition. Now, does everyone in this room going to get one or almost everyone? cuz I like I have like 10 extra here if you'd like. Uh I mean your name may be different but um the uh so um I'm we're excited. You are I would guess right among the first people in the country. I'm the first. You are the first. You're the first. I gave the presidents his this morning and he loved it. He absolutely loved it and the people who designed this did a great job. And so we're like sir we need your passport back. Uh you know to hold
it in a safe place like my passport. I don't keep my own passport. um they hold off because you don't lose it. He goes, "Well, can I hold on to this for a couple days because I want to show it to everybody that comes in the office." So, it just tells you how proud he is of the work all of you did and how happy he is with it. So, I am going to sell uh Ambassador Bulos's for $50. Uh we start at a $50 bid. Huh. And uh 75 150. Anyone else want to be Msabulus? We sell identities here. Yeah. Exactly. So, this is great. This is exciting. And you guys are among the I don't even Do I even have one of these yet?
This What kind of operation is this that we're running around here? Well, I need to get one. I'm sure I'll apply. I'll probably uh Do I have to go to CVS and do all that? No. Okay. Oh, I just have to sign it. Is my signature on this thing? No. Okay. I would say Hold on. Let me check something. Just looking at Bulos's picture just to make sure that it's actually him. Yes, it's him. Okay, good. It is you. Anyway, this is exciting. You guys are the first in the country to have it. I know there's a lot of demand for it. Everybody's asking for one and it's great and it's a great one to hold and they're they'll they'll be good for a while. So, um anyway, thank you all for being a part of this today and celebrating this with us. Great job all
of our team here and congratulations on your new passports. Thank you.
