To authorize and direct the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Social Security to continue to work with the governments of the states of the former Soviet Union to encourage such states to adopt policies that would allow receipt of pensions for individuals who worked in any such state and earned a pension and currently reside in the United States, and for other purposes.

Summary: Former Soviet Union State Pension Fairness Act of 2011 - Directs the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Social Security to continue to work with the governments of the states of the former Soviet Union to encourage them to adopt policies that would allow receipt of pensions for individuals who worked in any such state and earned a pension and currently reside in the United States.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Former Soviet Union State Pension 
Fairness Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to the 2009 American Community Survey, over 
        1.1 million immigrants from the fifteen states of the former 
        Soviet Union currently live in the United States.
            (2) Many such immigrants worked for decades for state-run 
        industries in their countries of origin.
            (3) As a result of such years of hard work, such immigrants 
        earned government pensions in their countries of origin.
            (4) According to the 2009 American Community Survey, 37 
        percent of such immigrants are out of the labor force, 18 
        percent are aged 65 and over, and 17 percent live below the 
        poverty line.
            (5) Many such immigrants are elderly, retired, and poor, 
        living on fixed incomes.
            (6) Many such immigrants are Jews who fled due to religious 
        persecution.
            (7) Many of such immigrants who are Jews were forced to 
        give up their citizenship before being allowed to leave their 
        country of origin.
            (8) The United States has negotiated agreements with 24 
        countries, often called ``totalization agreements'', to 
        coordinate comprehensively public pension coverage and benefits 
        across countries.
            (9) The 24 countries with which the United States has 
        totalization agreements are Australia, Austria, Belgium, 
        Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, 
        Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, 
        Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, 
        Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
            (10) The United States does not pay Social Security 
        benefits to noncitizens residing outside the United States for 
        more than six consecutive months (``alien nonpayment 
        provision'') unless certain exceptions are met.
            (11) One exception to the alien nonpayment provision, under 
        section 202(t) of the Social Security Act, is if the alien is a 
        citizen of a country that has a social insurance or pension 
        system which meets certain criteria, including having a system 
        under which benefits are paid to eligible United States 
        citizens who reside outside that country.
            (12) The United States has arrangements with 71 countries 
        under section 202(t) of the Social Security Act, in which the 
        United States pays a foreign country's citizens who earned 
        Social Security while working in the United States but have 
        since moved abroad because that foreign country pays United 
        States citizens who earned pensions in that foreign country but 
        have since moved abroad.
            (13) According to the Social Security Administration, these 
        71 countries are Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, 
        Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia-
        Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, Colombia, 
        Costa Rica, Cote D'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, 
        Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, 
        Finland, France, Gabon, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Hungary, 
        Iceland, Jamaica, Jordan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, 
        Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mexico, 
        Federated States of Micronesia, Monaco, Montenegro, Nicaragua, 
        Norway, Palau, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, St. 
        Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, 
        Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, 
        The Netherlands, Trinidad-Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom, 
        Uruguay, and Venezuela.
            (14) Not all persons from the states of the former Soviet 
        Union who now live in the United States are paid pensions that 
        they worked for and earned while working in such states.
            (15) The Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Social 
        Security have worked with the governments of the states of the 
        former Soviet Union to encourage such states to adopt policies 
        that would allow receipt of pensions for all individuals who 
        worked in any such state and earned a pension and currently 
        reside in the United States.
            (16) In June 2009, the House of Representatives by voice 
        vote adopted House Amendment 185 to H.R. 2410, the Foreign 
        Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011, which 
        stated it is the ``sense of Congress that the United States 
        should continue working with the states of the former Soviet 
        Union to come to an agreement whereby each state of the former 
        Soviet Union would pay the tens of thousands of beneficiaries 
        who have immigrated to the United States the pensions for which 
        they are eligible and entitled.''.
            (17) In October 2009, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine 
        ruled that its law barring pension payments to those who lived 
        in Ukraine or lived in countries with which Ukraine had a 
        pension treaty was unconstitutional.
            (18) To allow Ukrainians in the United States to receive 
        the pensions they earned pursuant to the decision of the 
        Constitutional Court of Ukraine, its decision has to be 
        implemented through legislation.

SEC. 3. DIRECTION TO SECRETARY OF STATE AND COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL 
              SECURITY RELATING TO PENSION POLICIES OF STATES OF THE 
              FORMER SOVIET UNION.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State and the Commissioner of 
Social Security are authorized and directed to continue to work with 
the governments of the states of the former Soviet Union to encourage 
such states to adopt policies that would allow receipt of pensions for 
individuals who worked in any such state and earned a pension and 
currently reside in the United States.
    (b) Priority in U.S. Foreign Policy.--The Secretary of State is 
authorized and directed to continue to make the adoption of policies 
described in subsection (a) by the states of the former Soviet Union a 
priority in the conduct of United States foreign policy with such 
states.

SEC. 4. REPORT.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of 
Social Security shall jointly submit to Congress a report on the 
implementation of this Act for the preceding year. Such report shall 
include a detailed description of the progress that has been made to 
encourage the states of the former Soviet Union to adopt policies 
described in section 3(a).

SEC. 5. STATES OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``states of the former Soviet Union'' means 
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, 
Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, 
Uzbekistan.