I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4282 

To amend part D of title IV of the Social Security Act to ensure that 

the United States can comply fully with the obligations of the Hague 

Convention of 23 November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child 

Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 28, 2012 

Mr. BERG (for himself, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, Mr. LEWIS

of Georgia, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. PRICE of Georgia, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. 

CROWLEY, Mr. PAULSEN, Mrs. BLACK, Mr. REED, and Mr. RANGEL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways 

and Means, and in addition to the Committees on the Budget and the 

Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend part D of title IV of the Social Security Act 

to ensure that the United States can comply fully with 

the obligations of the Hague Convention of 23 November 

2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support 

and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘International Child Support Recovery Improvement Act 

4 of 2012’’. 

5 (b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly 

6 provided in this Act, wherever in this Act an amendment 

7 is expressed in terms of an amendment to a section or 

8 other provision, the amendment shall be considered to be 

9 made to a section or other provision of the Social Security 

10 Act. 

11 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO ENSURE ACCESS TO CHILD SUP12 PORT SERVICES FOR INTERNATIONAL CHILD 

13 SUPPORT CASES. 

14 (a) AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF HHS TO

15 ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH MULTILATERAL CHILD SUP16 PORT CONVENTIONS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 452 (42 U.S.C. 652) 

18 is amended— 

19 (A) by redesignating the second subsection 

20 (l) (as added by section 7306 of the Deficit Re21 duction Act of 2005) as subsection (m); and 

22 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(n) The Secretary shall use the authorities otherwise 

24 provided by law to ensure the compliance of the United 

25 States with any multilateral child support convention to 

26 which the United States is a party.’’. 


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1 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

2 453(k)(3) (42 U.S.C. 653(k)(3)) is amended by 

3 striking ‘‘452(l)’’ and inserting ‘‘452(m)’’. 

4 (b) ACCESS TO THE FEDERAL PARENT LOCATOR

5 SERVICE.—Section 453(c) (42 U.S.C. 653(c)) is amend6 ed— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

8 (3); 

9 (2) by striking the period at the end of para10 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(5) an entity designated as a Central Author13 ity for child support enforcement in a foreign recip14 rocating country or a foreign treaty country for pur15 poses specified in section 459A(c)(2).’’. 

16 (c) STATE OPTION TO REQUIRE INDIVIDUALS IN

17 FOREIGN COUNTRIES TO APPLY THROUGH THEIR COUN18 TRY’S APPROPRIATE CENTRAL AUTHORITY.—Section 454 

19 (42 U.S.C. 654) is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (4)(A)(ii), by inserting before 

21 the semicolon ‘‘(except that, if the individual apply22 ing for the services resides in a foreign reciprocating 

23 country or foreign treaty country, the State may opt 

24 to require the individual to request the services 

25 through the Central Authority for child support enVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:42 Apr 04, 2012 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4282.IH H4282

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1 forcement in the foreign reciprocating country or the 

2 foreign treaty country, and if the individual resides 

3 in a foreign country that is not a foreign recipro4 cating country or a foreign treaty country, a State 

5 may accept or reject the application)’’; and 

6 (2) in paragraph (32)— 

7 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, a 

8 foreign treaty country,’’ after ‘‘a foreign recip9 rocating country’’; and 

10 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘or 

11 foreign obligee’’ and inserting ‘‘, foreign treaty 

12 country, or foreign individual’’. 

13 (d) AMENDMENTS TO INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT EN14 FORCEMENT PROVISIONS.—Section 459A (42 U.S.C. 

15 659a) is amended— 

16 (1) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(e) REFERENCES.—In this part: 

18 ‘‘(1) FOREIGN RECIPROCATING COUNTRY.—The 

19 term ‘foreign reciprocating country’ means a foreign 

20 country (or political subdivision thereof) with respect 

21 to which the Secretary has made a declaration pur22 suant to subsection (a). 

23 ‘‘(2) FOREIGN TREATY COUNTRY.—The term 

24 ‘foreign treaty country’ means a foreign country for 


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1 which the 2007 Family Maintenance Convention is 

2 in force. 

3 ‘‘(3) 2007 FAMILY MAINTENANCE CONVEN4 TION.—The term ‘2007 Family Maintenance Con5 vention’ means the Hague Convention of 23 Novem6 ber 2007 on the International Recovery of Child 

7 Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance.’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (c)— 

9 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

10 by striking ‘‘foreign countries that are the sub11 ject of a declaration under this section’’ and in12 serting ‘‘foreign reciprocating countries or for13 eign treaty countries’’; and 

14 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and 

15 foreign treaty countries’’ after ‘‘foreign recipro16 cating countries’’; and 

17 (3) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘the subject of 

18 a declaration pursuant to subsection (a)’’ and insert19 ing ‘‘foreign reciprocating countries or foreign treaty 

20 countries’’. 

21 (e) COLLECTION OF PAST-DUE SUPPORT FROM FED22 ERAL TAX REFUNDS.—Section 464(a)(2)(A) (42 U.S.C. 

23 664(a)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘under section 

24 454(4)(A)(ii)’’ and inserting ‘‘under paragraph (4)(A)(ii) 

25 or (32) of section 454’’. 


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1 (f) STATE LAW REQUIREMENT CONCERNING THE

2 UNIFORM INTERSTATE FAMILY SUPPORT ACT

3 (UIFSA).— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 466(f) (42 U.S.C. 

5 666(f)) is amended— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘on and after January 1, 

7 1998,’’; 

8 (B) by striking ‘‘and as in effect on Au9 gust 22, 1996,’’; and 

10 (C) by striking ‘‘adopted as of such date’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘adopted as of September 30, 

12 2008’’. 

13 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO TITLE 28, 

14 UNITED STATES CODE.—Section 1738B of title 28, 

15 United States Code, is amended— 

16 (A) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘indi17 vidual contestant’’ and inserting ‘‘individual 

18 contestant or the parties have consented in a 

19 record or open court that the tribunal of the 

20 State may continue to exercise jurisdiction to 

21 modify its order,’’; 

22 (B) in subsection (e)(2)(A), by striking 

23 ‘‘individual contestant’’ and inserting ‘‘indi24 vidual contestant and the parties have not con25 sented in a record or open court that the triVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:42 Apr 04, 2012 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4282.IH H4282

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1 bunal of the other State may continue to exer2 cise jurisdiction to modify its order’’; and 

3 (C) in subsection (b)— 

4 (i) by striking ‘‘ ‘child’ means—’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘(1) The term ‘child’ means’’; 

6 (ii) by striking ‘‘ ‘child’s State’ 

7 means’’ and inserting ‘‘(2) The term 

8 ‘child’s State’ means’’; 

9 (iii) by striking ‘‘ ‘child’s home State’ 

10 means’’ and inserting ‘‘(3) The term 

11 ‘child’s home State’ means’’; 

12 (iv) by striking ‘‘ ‘child support’ 

13 means’’ and inserting ‘‘(4) The term ‘child 

14 support’ means’’; 

15 (v) by striking ‘‘ ‘child support order’ 

16 means’’ and inserting ‘‘(5) The term ‘child 

17 support order’ means’’; 

18 (vi) by striking ‘‘ ‘contestant’ means’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘(6) The term ‘contestant’ 

20 means’’; 

21 (vii) by striking ‘‘ ‘court’ means’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘(7) The term ‘court’ means’’; 

23 (viii) by striking ‘‘ ‘modification’ 

24 means’’ and inserting ‘‘(8) The term 

25 ‘modification’ means’’; and 


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1 (ix) by striking ‘‘ ‘State’ means’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘(9) The term ‘State’ means’’. 

3 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE; GRACE PERIOD FOR

4 STATE LAW CHANGES.— 

5 (A) PARAGRAPH (1).—(i) The amendments 

6 made by paragraph (1) shall take effect with 

7 respect to a State on the later of— 

8 (I) October 1, 2013; or 

9 (II) the effective date of laws enacted 

10 by the legislature of the State imple11 menting such paragraph, but in no event 

12 later than the first day of the first cal13 endar quarter beginning after the close of 

14 the first regular session of the State legis15 lature that begins after the date of the en16 actment of this Act. 

17 (ii) For purposes of clause (i), in the case 

18 of a State that has a 2-year legislative session, 

19 each year of the session shall be deemed to be 

20 a separate regular session of the State legisla21 ture. 

22 (B) PARAGRAPH (2).—(i) The amendments 

23 made by subparagraphs (A) and (B) of para24 graph (2) shall take effect on the date on which 

25 the Hague Convention of 23 November 2007 on 


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1 the International Recovery of Child Support 

2 and Other Forms of Family Maintenance enters 

3 into force for the United States. 

4 (ii) The amendments made by subpara5 graph (C) of paragraph (2) shall take effect on 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

7 SEC. 3. DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDIZATION FOR IM8 PROVED INTEROPERABILITY. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 452 (42 U.S.C. 652), as 

10 amended by section 2(a)(1) of this Act, is amended by 

11 adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(o) DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDIZATION FOR IM13 PROVED INTEROPERABILITY.— 

14 ‘‘(1) DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) DESIGNATION.—The Secretary, in 

16 consultation with an interagency work group 

17 which shall be established by the Office of Man18 agement and Budget, and considering State 

19 and tribal perspectives, shall, by rule, designate 

20 a data exchange standard for any category of 

21 information required to be reported under this 

22 part. 

23 ‘‘(B) DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDS MUST

24 BE NONPROPRIETARY AND INTEROPERABLE.— 

25 The data exchange standard designated under 


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1 subparagraph (A) shall, to the extent prac2 ticable, be nonproprietary and interoperable. 

3 ‘‘(C) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—In desig4 nating data exchange standards under this sec5 tion, the Secretary shall, to the extent prac6 ticable, incorporate— 

7 ‘‘(i) interoperable standards developed 

8 and maintained by an international vol9 untary consensus standards body, as de10 fined by the Office of Management and 

11 Budget, such as the International Organi12 zation for Standardization; 

13 ‘‘(ii) interoperable standards devel14 oped and maintained by intergovernmental 

15 partnerships, such as the National Infor16 mation Exchange Model; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) interoperable standards devel18 oped and maintained by Federal entities 

19 with authority over contracting and finan20 cial assistance, such as the Federal Acqui21 sition Regulatory Council. 

22 ‘‘(2) DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDS FOR RE23 PORTING.— 

24 ‘‘(A) DESIGNATION.—The Secretary, in 

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1 tablished by the Office of Management and 

2 Budget, and considering State and tribal per3 spectives, shall, by rule, designate data ex4 change standards to govern the data reporting 

5 required under this part. 

6 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The data exchange 

7 standards required by subparagraph (A) shall, 

8 to the extent practicable— 

9 ‘‘(i) incorporate a widely-accepted, 

10 nonproprietary, searchable, computer-read11 able format; 

12 ‘‘(ii) be consistent with and implement 

13 applicable accounting principles; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) be capable of being continually 

15 upgraded as necessary. 

16 ‘‘(C) INCORPORATION OF NONPROPRI17 ETARY STANDARDS.—In designating reporting 

18 standards under this paragraph, the Secretary 

19 shall, to the extent practicable, incorporate ex20 isting nonproprietary standards, such as the 

21 eXtensible Markup Language.’’. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 

23 (1) DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDS.—The Sec24 retary of Health and Human Services shall issue a 

25 proposed rule under section 452(o)(1) of the Social 


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1 Security Act within 12 months after the date of the 

2 enactment of this section, and shall issue a final rule 

3 under such section 452(o)(1), after public comment, 

4 within 24 months after such date of enactment. 

5 (2) DATA REPORTING STANDARDS.—The re6 porting standards required under section 452(o)(2) 

7 of such Act shall become effective with respect to re8 ports required in the first reporting period, after the 

9 effective date of the final rule referred to in para10 graph (1) of this subsection, for which the authority 

11 for data collection and reporting is established or re12 newed under the Paperwork Reduction Act. 

13 SEC. 4. EFFICIENT USE OF THE NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF 

14 NEW HIRES DATABASE FOR FEDERALLY 

15 SPONSORED RESEARCH ASSESSING THE EF16 FECTIVENESS OF FEDERAL POLICIES AND 

17 PROGRAMS IN ACHIEVING POSITIVE LABOR 

18 MARKET OUTCOMES. 

19 Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653) is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (i)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘24’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘48’’; and 

22 (2) in subsection (j), by striking paragraph (5) 

23 and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(5) RESEARCH.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara2 graph (B) of this paragraph, the Secretary may 

3 provide access to data in each component of the 

4 Federal Parent Locator Service maintained 

5 under this section and to information reported 

6 by employers pursuant to section 453A(b), 

7 for— 

8 ‘‘(i) research undertaken by a State or 

9 Federal agency (including through grant or 

10 contract) for purposes found by the Sec11 retary to be likely to contribute to achiev12 ing the purposes of part A or this part; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) an evaluation or statistical anal14 ysis undertaken to assess the effectiveness 

15 of a Federal program in achieving positive 

16 labor market outcomes (including through 

17 grant or contract), by— 

18 ‘‘(I) the Department of Health 

19 and Human Services; 

20 ‘‘(II) the Social Security Admin21 istration; 

22 ‘‘(III) the Department of Labor; 

23 ‘‘(IV) the Department of Edu24 cation; 


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1 ‘‘(V) the Department of Housing 

2 and Urban Development; 

3 ‘‘(VI) the Department of Justice; 

4 ‘‘(VII) the Department of Vet5 erans Affairs; 

6 ‘‘(VIII) the Bureau of the Cen7 sus; 

8 ‘‘(IX) the Department of Agri9 culture; or 

10 ‘‘(X) the National Science Foun11 dation. 

12 ‘‘(B) PERSONAL IDENTIFIERS.—Data or 

13 information provided under this paragraph may 

14 include a personal identifier only if, in addition 

15 to meeting the requirements of subsections (l) 

16 and (m)— 

17 ‘‘(i) the State or Federal agency con18 ducting the research described in subpara19 graph (A)(i), or the Federal department or 

20 agency undertaking the evaluation or sta21 tistical analysis described in subparagraph 

22 (A)(ii), as applicable, enters into an agree23 ment with the Secretary regarding the se24 curity and use of the data or information; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the agreement includes such re2 strictions or conditions with respect to the 

3 use, safeguarding, disclosure, or redisclo4 sure of the data or information (including 

5 by contractors or grantees) as the Sec6 retary deems appropriate; 

7 ‘‘(iii) the data or information is used 

8 exclusively for the purposes defined in the 

9 agreement; and 

10 ‘‘(iv) the Secretary determines that 

11 the provision of data or information under 

12 this paragraph is the minimum amount 

13 needed to conduct the research, evaluation, 

14 or statistical analysis, as applicable, and 

15 will not interfere with the effective oper16 ation of the program under this part. 

17 ‘‘(C) PENALTIES FOR UNAUTHORIZED DIS18 CLOSURE OF DATA.—Any individual who will19 fully discloses a personal identifier (such as a 

20 name or social security number) provided under 

21 this paragraph, in any manner to an entity not 

22 entitled to receive the data or information, shall 

23 be guilty of a class E felony under title 18, 

24 United States Code. Any penalty imposed under 


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1 the preceding sentence shall be in addition to 

2 any applicable penalty under subsection (l).’’. 

3 SEC. 5. BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

4 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

5 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

6 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

7 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

8 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

9 by the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, pro10 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

11 vote on passage. 

Æ 


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