113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1896 

AN ACT 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES. 

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

5 ‘‘International Child Support Recovery Improvement Act 

6 of 2013’’. 

7 (b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly 

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

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

10 other provision, the amendment shall be considered to be 

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

12 Act. 

13 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO ENSURE ACCESS TO CHILD SUP14 PORT SERVICES FOR INTERNATIONAL CHILD 

15 SUPPORT CASES. 

16 (a) AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF HHS TO

17 ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH MULTILATERAL CHILD SUP18 PORT CONVENTIONS.— 

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

20 is amended— 

21 (A) by redesignating the second subsection 

22 (l) (as added by section 7306 of the Deficit Re23 duction Act of 2005) as subsection (m); and 

24 (B) by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(n) The Secretary shall use the authorities otherwise 

2 provided by law to ensure the compliance of the United 

3 States with any multilateral child support convention to 

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

5 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

6 453(k)(3) (42 U.S.C. 653(k)(3)) is amended by 

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

8 (b) ACCESS TO THE FEDERAL PARENT LOCATOR

9 SERVICE.—Section 453(c) (42 U.S.C. 653(c)) is amend10 ed— 

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

12 (3); 

13 (2) by striking the period at the end of para14 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

16 ‘‘(5) an entity designated as a Central Author17 ity for child support enforcement in a foreign recip18 rocating country or a foreign treaty country for pur19 poses specified in section 459A(c)(2).’’. 

20 (c) STATE OPTION TO REQUIRE INDIVIDUALS IN

21 FOREIGN COUNTRIES TO APPLY THROUGH THEIR COUN22 TRY’S APPROPRIATE CENTRAL AUTHORITY.—Section 454 

23 (42 U.S.C. 654) is amended— 

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

25 the semicolon ‘‘(except that, if the individual apply-
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1 ing for the services resides in a foreign reciprocating 

2 country or foreign treaty country, the State may opt 

3 to require the individual to request the services 

4 through the Central Authority for child support en5 forcement in the foreign reciprocating country or the 

6 foreign treaty country, and if the individual resides 

7 in a foreign country that is not a foreign recipro8 cating country or a foreign treaty country, a State 

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

10 (2) in paragraph (32)— 

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

12 foreign treaty country,’’ after ‘‘a foreign recip13 rocating country’’; and 

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

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

16 country, or foreign individual’’. 

17 (d) AMENDMENTS TO INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT EN18 FORCEMENT PROVISIONS.—Section 459A (42 U.S.C. 

19 659a) is amended— 

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

21 ‘‘(e) REFERENCES.—In this part: 

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

23 term ‘foreign reciprocating country’ means a foreign 

24 country (or political subdivision thereof) with respect 
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1 to which the Secretary has made a declaration pur2 suant to subsection (a). 

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

4 ‘foreign treaty country’ means a foreign country for 

5 which the 2007 Family Maintenance Convention is 

6 in force. 

7 ‘‘(3) 2007 FAMILY MAINTENANCE CONVEN8 TION.—The term ‘2007 Family Maintenance Con9 vention’ means the Hague Convention of 23 Novem10 ber 2007 on the International Recovery of Child 

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

12 (2) in subsection (c)— 

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

14 by striking ‘‘foreign countries that are the sub15 ject of a declaration under this section’’ and in16 serting ‘‘foreign reciprocating countries or for17 eign treaty countries’’; and 

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

19 foreign treaty countries’’ after ‘‘foreign recipro20 cating countries’’; and 

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

22 a declaration pursuant to subsection (a)’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘foreign reciprocating countries or foreign treaty 

24 countries’’. 
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1 (e) COLLECTION OF PAST-DUE SUPPORT FROM FED2 ERAL TAX REFUNDS.—Section 464(a)(2)(A) (42 U.S.C. 

3 664(a)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘under section 

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

5 or (32) of section 454’’. 

6 (f) STATE LAW REQUIREMENT CONCERNING THE

7 UNIFORM INTERSTATE FAMILY SUPPORT ACT

8 (UIFSA).— 

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

10 666(f)) is amended— 

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

12 1998,’’; 

13 (B) by striking ‘‘and as in effect on Au14 gust 22, 1996,’’; and 

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

16 and inserting ‘‘adopted as of September 30, 

17 2008’’. 

18 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 28, 

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

20 United States Code, is amended— 

21 (A) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘indi22 vidual contestant’’ and inserting ‘‘individual 

23 contestant or the parties have consented in a 

24 record or open court that the tribunal of the 
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1 State may continue to exercise jurisdiction to 

2 modify its order,’’; 

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

4 ‘‘individual contestant’’ and inserting ‘‘indi5 vidual contestant and the parties have not con6 sented in a record or open court that the tri7 bunal of the other State may continue to exer8 cise jurisdiction to modify its order’’; and 

9 (C) in subsection (b)— 

10 (i) by striking ‘‘ ‘child’ means’’ and in11 serting ‘‘(1) The term ‘child’ means’’; 

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

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

14 ‘child’s State’ means’’; 

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

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

17 ‘child’s home State’ means’’; 

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

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

20 support’ means’’; 

21 (v) by striking ‘‘ ‘child support 

22 order’ ’’ and inserting ‘‘(5) The term ‘child 

23 support order’ ’’; 
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1 (vi) by striking ‘‘ ‘contestant’ means’’ 

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

3 means’’; 

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

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

6 (viii) by striking ‘‘ ‘modification’ 

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

8 ‘modification’ means’’; and 

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

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

11 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE; GRACE PERIOD FOR

12 STATE LAW CHANGES.— 

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

14 made by paragraph (1) shall take effect with 

15 respect to a State no later than the effective 

16 date of laws enacted by the legislature of the 

17 State implementing such paragraph, but in no 

18 event later than the first day of the first cal19 endar quarter beginning after the close of the 

20 first regular session of the State legislature that 

21 begins after the date of the enactment of this 

22 Act. 

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

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

25 each year of the session shall be deemed to be 
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1 a separate regular session of the State legisla2 ture. 

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

4 made by subparagraphs (A) and (B) of para5 graph (2) shall take effect on the date on which 

6 the Hague Convention of 23 November 2007 on 

7 the International Recovery of Child Support 

8 and Other Forms of Family Maintenance enters 

9 into force for the United States. 

10 (ii) The amendments made by subpara11 graph (C) of paragraph (2) shall take effect on 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

13 SEC. 3. DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDIZATION FOR IM14 PROVED INTEROPERABILITY. 

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

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

17 adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(o) DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDS FOR IMPROVED

19 INTEROPERABILITY.— 

20 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION.—The Secretary shall, in 

21 consultation with an interagency work group estab22 lished by the Office of Management and Budget and 

23 considering State government perspectives, by rule, 

24 designate data exchange standards to govern, under 

25 this part— 
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1 ‘‘(A) necessary categories of information 

2 that State agencies operating programs under 

3 State plans approved under this part are re4 quired under applicable law to electronically ex5 change with another State agency; and 

6 ‘‘(B) Federal reporting and data exchange 

7 required under applicable law. 

8 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The data exchange 

9 standards required by paragraph (1) shall, to the ex10 tent practicable— 

11 ‘‘(A) incorporate a widely accepted, non12 proprietary, searchable, computer-readable for13 mat, such as the eXtensible Markup Language; 

14 ‘‘(B) contain interoperable standards devel15 oped and maintained by intergovernmental 

16 partnerships, such as the National Information 

17 Exchange Model; 

18 ‘‘(C) incorporate interoperable standards 

19 developed and maintained by Federal entities 

20 with authority over contracting and financial 

21 assistance; 

22 ‘‘(D) be consistent with and implement ap23 plicable accounting principles; 
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1 ‘‘(E) be implemented in a manner that is 

2 cost-effective and improves program efficiency 

3 and effectiveness; and 

4 ‘‘(F) be capable of being continually up5 graded as necessary. 

6 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

7 this subsection shall be construed to require a 

8 change to existing data exchange standards found to 

9 be effective and efficient.’’. 

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Secretary of Health and 

11 Human Services shall issue a proposed rule within 24 

12 months after the date of the enactment of this section. 

13 The rule shall identify federally-required data exchanges, 

14 include specification and timing of exchanges to be stand15 ardized, and address the factors used in determining 

16 whether and when to standardize data exchanges. It 

17 should also specify State implementation options and de18 scribe future milestones. 

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

20 NEW HIRES DATABASE FOR FEDERALLY 

21 SPONSORED RESEARCH ASSESSING THE EF22 FECTIVENESS OF FEDERAL POLICIES AND 

23 PROGRAMS IN ACHIEVING POSITIVE LABOR 

24 MARKET OUTCOMES. 

25 Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653) is amended— 
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1 (1) in subsection (i)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘24’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘48’’; and 

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

4 and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(5) RESEARCH.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara7 graph (B) of this paragraph, the Secretary may 

8 provide access to data in each component of the 

9 Federal Parent Locator Service maintained 

10 under this section and to information reported 

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

12 for— 

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

14 Federal agency (including through grant or 

15 contract) for purposes found by the Sec16 retary to be likely to contribute to achiev17 ing the purposes of part A or this part; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) an evaluation or statistical anal19 ysis undertaken to assess the effectiveness 

20 of a Federal program in achieving positive 

21 labor market outcomes (including through 

22 grant or contract), by— 

23 ‘‘(I) the Department of Health 

24 and Human Services; 
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1 ‘‘(II) the Social Security Admin2 istration; 

3 ‘‘(III) the Department of Labor; 

4 ‘‘(IV) the Department of Edu5 cation; 

6 ‘‘(V) the Department of Housing 

7 and Urban Development; 

8 ‘‘(VI) the Department of Justice; 

9 ‘‘(VII) the Department of Vet10 erans Affairs; 

11 ‘‘(VIII) the Bureau of the Cen12 sus; 

13 ‘‘(IX) the Department of Agri14 culture; or 

15 ‘‘(X) the National Science Foun16 dation. 

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

18 information provided under this paragraph may 

19 include a personal identifier only if, in addition 

20 to meeting the requirements of subsections (l) 

21 and (m)— 

22 ‘‘(i) the State or Federal agency con23 ducting the research described in subpara24 graph (A)(i), or the Federal department or 

25 agency undertaking the evaluation or sta-
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1 tistical analysis described in subparagraph 

2 (A)(ii), as applicable, enters into an agree3 ment with the Secretary regarding the se4 curity and use of the data or information; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the agreement includes such re6 strictions or conditions with respect to the 

7 use, safeguarding, disclosure, or redisclo8 sure of the data or information (including 

9 by contractors or grantees) as the Sec10 retary deems appropriate; 

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

12 exclusively for the purposes defined in the 

13 agreement; and 

14 ‘‘(iv) the Secretary determines that 

15 the provision of data or information under 

16 this paragraph is the minimum amount 

17 needed to conduct the research, evaluation, 

18 or statistical analysis, as applicable, and 

19 will not interfere with the effective oper20 ation of the program under this part. 

21 ‘‘(C) PENALTIES FOR UNAUTHORIZED DIS22 CLOSURE OF DATA.—Any individual who will23 fully discloses a personal identifier (such as a 

24 name or social security number) provided under 

25 this paragraph, in any manner to an entity not 
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1 entitled to receive the data or information, shall 

2 be fined under title 18, United States Code, im3 prisoned not more than 5 years, or both.’’. 

4 SEC. 5. BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

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

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

7 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

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

9 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

10 by the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, pro11 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

12 vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 18, 2013. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1896 

AN ACT 

To amend part D of title IV of the Social Security 

Family Maintenance, and for other purposes. Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of tion of 23 November 2007 on the International fully with the obligations of the Hague ConvenAct to ensure that the United States can comply