I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3323

To promote the naturalization of eligible individuals by making the administration of oaths of allegiance more efficient, improving the dissemination

of information about eligibility and requirements for naturalization, making grants for citizenship preparation, and requiring the Attorney General

periodically to consult with appropriate private organizations, and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 25, 1996

Mr. BECERRA (for himself, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. SERRANO,

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. TORRES, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RICHARDSON,

Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. FARR of California,

Mr. MATSUI, Ms. WATERS, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Mr. GENE GREEN of

Texas, Mr. FILNER, Mr. TEJEDA, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́,

Mr. DE LA GARZA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Mr. CONYERS,

Mr. NADLER, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN,

AND Mr. WATT of North Carolina) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To promote the naturalization of eligible individuals by making the administration of oaths of allegiance more efficient, improving the dissemination of information about

eligibility and requirements for naturalization, making

grants for citizenship preparation, and requiring the Attorney General periodically to consult with appropriate

private organizations, 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.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Proud To Be an Amer5 ican Citizen Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. ADMINISTRATION OF OATHS OF ALLEGIANCE.

7 (a) NATURALIZATION AUTHORITY.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 310(b) of the Immi9 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1421(b)) is

10 amended to read as follows:

11 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO ADMINISTER OATHS.—

12 ‘‘(1) JURISDICTION.—

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section

14 337(c), each applicant for naturalization shall

15 have the oath of allegiance under section 337(a)

16 administered by the Attorney General or by an

17 eligible court that has submitted the notice de18 scribed in subparagraph (B) and is conducting

19 oath administration ceremonies pursuant to a

20 schedule developed by the Attorney General

21 under subparagraph (C). Such an eligible court

22 shall have authority to administer such oath to

23 an applicant for naturalization residing within

24 the jurisdiction of the court during the period

25 described in paragraph (3)(A)(i).
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1 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION BY COURT.—An eligi2 ble court that wishes to have authority to ad3 minister the oath of allegiance to applicants for

4 naturalization during a fiscal year shall notify

5 the Attorney General of such wish not later

6 than the first day of the 60-day period termi7 nating on the last day of the preceding fiscal

8 year.

9 ‘‘(C) DEVELOPMENT OF OATH ADMINIS10 TRATION CEREMONY SCHEDULE.—For each eli11 gible court that has provided notice under sub12 paragraph (B) in a fiscal year, the Attorney

13 General, in consultation with the court, shall

14 develop, not later than the first day of the 30-

15 day period terminating on the last day of the

16 year, an oath administration ceremony schedule

17 for the succeeding fiscal year that establishes,

18 at a minimum, the following:

19 ‘‘(i) The days during such succeeding

20 year on which the court will schedule oath

21 administration ceremonies.

22 ‘‘(ii) The number of such ceremonies

23 that the court will conduct on each such

24 day.
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1 ‘‘(iii) The total number of applicants

2 for naturalization to whom the court will

3 administer the oath of allegiance on each

4 such day.

5 ‘‘(2) ASSIGNMENT OF INDIVIDUALS.—

6 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT OF EXCLUSIVE AU7 THORITY.—In the case of an eligible court exer8 cising authority under paragraph (1) with re9 spect to applicants for naturalization residing

10 within the jurisdiction of the court, the Attor11 ney General, in accordance with procedures es12 tablished by the Attorney General under sub13 paragraph (C), may designate the court, at the

14 time of the approval of such an applicant’s ap15 plication for naturalization, as having exclusive

16 authority to administer the oath of allegiance to

17 the applicant during the period specified in

18 paragraph (3)(A)(i).

19 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION.—In the case of a des20 ignation of an eligible court under subpara21 graph (A) with respect to an applicant for natu22 ralization, the Attorney General—

23 ‘‘(i) shall inform the applicant of the

24 court’s exclusive authority at the time of
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1 the approval of the application for natu2 ralization;

3 ‘‘(ii) shall determine the date, place,

4 and time of the oath administration cere5 mony at which the applicant will take the

6 oath of allegiance and shall inform the ap7 plicant of such information not later than

8 10 days before such date;

9 ‘‘(iii) shall forward to the court not

10 later than 10 days after the date of ap11 proval of the application such information

12 as may be necessary to administer the oath

13 of allegiance to the applicant; and

14 ‘‘(iv) shall promptly forward to the

15 court a certificate of naturalization (pre16 pared by the Attorney General under sub17 section (e)).

18 ‘‘(C) PROCEDURES FOR DESIGNATION OF

19 COURTS.—The procedures referred to in sub20 paragraph (A)—

21 ‘‘(i) shall be developed and revised

22 jointly by the Attorney General and each

23 eligible court that has provided notice

24 under paragraph (1)(B) or, in a case in

25 which more than one eligible court in an
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1 area has provided notice under such para2 graph with respect to applicants for natu3 ralization residing within the area, by the

4 Attorney General with all such courts col5 lectively; and

6 ‘‘(ii) shall be consistent with the

7 schedules developed by the Attorney Gen8 eral under paragraph (1)(C) (and shall be

9 revised from time to time as necessary to

10 ensure such consistency); and

11 ‘‘(iii) shall require an eligible court

12 that determines that it will be unable, dur13 ing the period specified in paragraph

14 (3)(A)(i), to administer the oath of alle15 giance to any applicant for naturalization

16 who is directed, or who may be directed, to

17 the court under subparagraphs (A) and

18 (B) to notify the Attorney General of such

19 determination as soon as practicable.

20 ‘‘(3) SCOPE OF EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY.—

21 ‘‘(A) LIMITED PERIOD AND ADVANCE NO22 TICE REQUIRED.—The exclusive authority of an

23 eligible court under paragraph (2) shall apply

24 with respect to an applicant for naturaliza25 tion—
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1 ‘‘(i) only during the 30-day period be2 ginning on the date on which the Attorney

3 General certifies to the court that the ap4 plicant is eligible for naturalization;

5 ‘‘(ii) only if the court has notified the

6 Attorney General, prior to the date of cer7 tification of eligibility, of the day or days

8 (during such 30-day period) on which the

9 court has scheduled oath administration

10 ceremonies; and

11 ‘‘(iii) only if the court has not notified

12 the Attorney General under paragraph

13 (2)(C)(iii) that it will be unable to admin14 ister the oath of allegiance to the appli15 cant.

16 ‘‘(B) AUTHORITY OF ATTORNEY GEN17 ERAL.—Subject to subparagraph (C), the Attor18 ney General shall not administer the oath of al19 legiance to an applicant for naturalization

20 under subsection (a) during the period in which

21 exclusive authority to administer the oath of al22 legiance may be exercised by an eligible court

23 under this subsection with respect to the appli24 cant.
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1 ‘‘(C) WAIVER OF EXCLUSIVE AUTHOR2 ITY.—An eligible court may waive exclusive au3 thority to administer the oath of allegiance to

4 an applicant for naturalization under this sub5 section if the Attorney General has not provided

6 the court with the certification described in sub7 paragraph (A)(i) within a reasonable time be8 fore the date scheduled by the Attorney General

9 for the oath administration ceremony.

10 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS ON ATTORNEY GEN11 ERAL.—

12 ‘‘(A) ADMINISTRATION OF OATHS.—

13 ‘‘(i) NO EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY ES14 TABLISHED.—In any case in which an eli15 gible court has not been designated, at the

16 time of the approval of an applicant’s ap17 plication for naturalization, as having ex18 clusive authority to administer the oath of

19 allegiance to the applicant, the Attorney

20 General shall administer such oath to the

21 applicant during the 30-day period begin22 ning on the date of such approval.

23 ‘‘(ii) DELAY IN EXERCISING EXCLU24 SIVE AUTHORITY.—Subject to clauses (iii)

25 and (iv), in any case in which an eligible
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1 court has not administered the oath of al2 legiance to an applicant for naturalization

3 during the period in which exclusive au4 thority to administer the oath of allegiance

5 may be exercised by the court under this

6 subsection with respect to the applicant,

7 the Attorney General shall administer the

8 oath to the applicant during the 30-day pe9 riod beginning on the date of the termi10 nation of such period of exclusive author11 ity.

12 ‘‘(iii) DETERMINATION OF INABILITY

13 TO EXERCISE AUTHORITY.—In any case in

14 which an eligible court has notified the At15 torney General under paragraph (2)(C)(iii)

16 that it will be unable to administer the

17 oath of allegiance to an applicant for natu18 ralization during the period in which exclu19 sive authority to administer the oath of al20 legiance may be exercised by the court

21 under this subsection with respect to the

22 applicant, the Attorney General shall ad23 minister the oath to the applicant during

24 the 30-day period beginning on the date

25 the Attorney General receives such notice.
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1 ‘‘(iv) WAIVER OF EXCLUSIVE AUTHOR2 ITY.—Upon notification of a court’s waiver

3 of exclusive authority under paragraph

4 (3)(C), the Attorney General shall prompt5 ly notify the applicant for naturalization of

6 the waiver and shall administer the oath of

7 allegiance to the applicant during the 30-

8 day period beginning on the date on which

9 the Attorney General receives notification

10 of the waiver.

11 ‘‘(B) NOTICE TO APPLICANTS.—In any

12 case in which the Attorney General is required

13 to administer the oath of allegiance to an appli14 cant for naturalization under subparagraph (A),

15 the Attorney General shall determine the date,

16 place, and time for the administrative natu17 ralization and shall inform the applicant of such

18 information not later than 10 days before such

19 date.

20 ‘‘(5) ELIGIBLE COURTS.—For purposes of this

21 subsection, the term ‘‘eligible court’’ means—

22 ‘‘(A) a district court of the United States

23 in any State; or

24 ‘‘(B) any court of record in any State hav25 ing a seal, a clerk, and jurisdiction in actions
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1 in law or equity, or law and equity, in which the

2 amount in controversy is unlimited.’’.

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section

4 339(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8

5 U.S.C. 1450(a)(1)) is amended by striking

6 ‘‘310(b)(2)(A)(ii),’’ and inserting

7 ‘‘310(b)(2)(B)(iv),’’.

8 (b) CERTIFICATES OF NATURALIZATION.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 310 of the Immigra10 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1421) is amend11 ed by adding at the end the following:

12 ‘‘(e) CERTIFICATES OF NATURALIZATION.—The At13 torney General shall issue a certificate of naturalization,

14 in such form as the Attorney General may prescribe, to

15 persons admitted to citizenship in conformity with the pro16 visions of this title.’’.

17 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The Immigra18 tion and Naturalization Act is amended by striking

19 sections 332(e) and 338.

20 (c) OATH OF RENUNCIATION AND ALLEGIANCE.—

21 (1) WAIVER OF REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN

22 INDIVIDUALS WITH A DISABILITY.—Section 337(a)

23 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.

24 1448(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol25 lowing:
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1 ‘‘The Attorney General may waive the taking of the oath

2 by a person if in the opinion of the Attorney General the

3 person is unable to understand its meaning because of a

4 physical or developmental disability or mental impair5 ment.’’.

6 (2) EXPEDITED OATH ADMINISTRATION.—Sec7 tion 337(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act

8 (8 U.S.C. 1448(c)) is amended—

9 (A) by striking ‘‘grant an expedited judi10 cial oath administration ceremony, a court’’ and

11 inserting ‘‘grant such an expedited judicial cere12 mony or administrative naturalization, the At13 torney General’’;

14 (B) by striking ‘‘scheduled ceremony,’’ and

15 inserting ‘‘scheduled ceremony or administrative

16 naturalization,’’;

17 (C) by striking ‘‘If an expedited judicial

18 oath administration ceremony is impracticable,’’

19 and inserting ‘‘In a case where the Attorney

20 General has granted an expedited judicial oath

21 administration ceremony but the court deter22 mines that the ceremony is impracticable,’’; and

23 (D) by striking ‘‘who may provide’’ and in24 serting ‘‘who shall provide’’.
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1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

2 this section shall take effect on October 1, 1997.

3 SEC. 3. FUNDING FOR NATURALIZATION ACTIVITIES.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 286 of the Immigration

5 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356) is amended—

6 (1) in subsection (m)—

7 (A) by striking ‘‘as offsetting receipts’’;

8 and

9 (B) by striking ‘‘other immigrants.’’ and

10 inserting ‘‘other immigrants and the costs of

11 grants under section 332(i).’’;

12 (2) in subsection (n)—

13 (A) by striking ‘‘to reimburse any appro14 priation the amount paid out of such appropria15 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘solely’’; and

16 (B) by striking ‘‘reimbursed’’ and inserting

17 ‘‘withdrawn’’; and

18 (3) in subsection (o)—

19 (A) by striking ‘‘annually’’ and inserting

20 ‘‘quarterly’’; and

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

22 ‘‘Such statements shall specify, to the extent practicable,

23 the source and amount of any fee deposited into the ac24 count and the purpose and amount of any withdrawal

25 from the account.’’.
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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

2 this section shall take effect on October 1, 1996.

3 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS AS TO UNDERSTANDING THE ENG4 LISH LANGUAGE, HISTORY, PRINCIPLES, AND

5 FORM OF GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED

6 STATES.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 312 of the Immigration

8 and Nationalization Act (8 U.S.C. 1423) is amended—

9 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘language:’’

10 and all that follows through ‘‘applicant;’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘language;’’; and

12 (2) by adding at the end the following:

13 ‘‘(c) The Attorney General may establish by regula14 tion standards and procedures consistent with this section

15 relating to the means by which an applicant for naturaliza16 tion may satisfy the requirements of subsection (a).

17 ‘‘(d)(1) The Attorney General shall by regulation es18 tablish standards and procedures for the administration

19 of examinations under this section by persons other than

20 the Attorney General who are authorized to administer

21 such examinations.

22 ‘‘(2) In promulgating regulations under paragraph

23 (1), the Attorney General shall consult experts in linguis24 tics, education, and testing.’’.
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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

2 this section shall take effect on October 1, 1996.

3 SEC. 5. CITIZENSHIP PREPARATION.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 332(b) of the Immigra5 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1443(b)) is amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘is authorized to’’ and inserting

7 ‘‘shall’’;

8 (2) by striking ‘‘the sending of names of can9 didates for naturalization to the public schools,’’;

10 and

11 (3) by striking ‘‘such candidates as are’’ and in12 serting ‘‘candidates for naturalization who are’’.

13 (b) GRANTS FOR CITIZENSHIP PREPARATION.—Sec14 tion 332 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.

15 1443) is amended by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(i)(1) The Attorney General shall make grants for

17 citizenship preparation on a competitive basis to appro18 priate community groups, private voluntary agencies, and

19 other relevant organizations under such terms and condi20 tions as the Attorney General may establish consistent

21 with this subsection.

22 ‘‘(2) Such grants shall be made solely from deposits

23 into the ‘Immigration Examinations Fee Account’ referred

24 to in subsections (m), (n), and (o) of section 286.

25 ‘‘(3) The total of such grants in any fiscal year—
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1 ‘‘(A) shall exceed 5 percent of the total of all

2 deposits made into the ‘Immigration Examinations

3 Fee Account’ during the previous fiscal year; and

4 ‘‘(B) may not exceed 8 percent of such total de5 posits.

6 ‘‘(4) The Federal share of the cost of any program

7 or activity conducted with financial assistance under this

8 subsection may not exceed 50 percent of such cost.’’.

9 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

10 this section shall take effect on October 1, 1996.

11 SEC. 6. DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION ON NATURALIZA12 TION.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 332(h) of the Immigra14 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1443(h)) is amended

15 by inserting ‘‘in written and electronic form, through pub16 lic libraries, Federal, State, and local agencies, and other

17 means, applications for naturalization and’’ after ‘‘distrib18 ute’’.

19 (b) DISTRIBUTION TO NEW PERMANENT RESI20 DENTS.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 9 of title II of the

22 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1351 et

23 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

24 ‘‘DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION ON NATURALIZATION

25 ‘‘SEC. 294. The Attorney General and the Secretary

26 of State shall provide for the distribution to each alien
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1 who is issued an immigrant visa or who otherwise acquires

2 the status of an alien lawfully admitted to the United

3 States for permanent residence with a written statement

4 that summarizes—

5 ‘‘(1) the benefits and obligations of United

6 States citizenship;

7 ‘‘(2) the requirements under chapter 2 of title

8 III for such an alien to become a naturalized citizen

9 of the United States and any facts concerning such

10 an alien that could disqualify the alien from citizen11 ship; and

12 ‘‘(3) the documents and records that the alien

13 should collect and retain in order to assist the alien

14 in preparing an application for naturalization when

15 the submission of such an application is timely.’’.

16 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con17 tents of the Immigration and Nationality Act is

18 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec19 tion 293 the following:

‘‘Sec. 294. Distribution of information on naturalization.’’.

20 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

21 this section shall take effect on October 1, 1996.

22 SEC. 7. CONSULTATION WITH CITIZENSHIP COUNCILS.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 332 of the Immigration

24 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1443), as amended by sec-
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1 tion 3(b)(2), is amended by adding after subsection (d)

2 the following:

3 ‘‘(e) The Attorney General shall consult, not less than

4 once a month during a calendar year, with appropriate

5 community groups, private voluntary agencies, and other

6 relevant organizations serving each district of the Service

7 in the United States in which the number of applications

8 for naturalization filed during the preceding fiscal year ex9 ceeded 10,000, for the following purposes:

10 ‘‘(1) Planning and scheduling citizenship prepa11 ration programs and activities to be carried out in

12 the district.

13 ‘‘(2) Discussing administrative and logistical as14 pects of future examinations of applicants for natu15 ralization in the district, including examinations con16 ducted at locations other than an office of the Attor17 ney General.

18 ‘‘(3) Discussing administrative and logistical as19 pects of future ceremonies in the district for the ad20 ministration of oaths of allegiance under section

21 337.

22 ‘‘(4) Planning, and evaluating the effectiveness

23 of, efforts by the Attorney General in the district to

24 promote citizenship preparation and to distribute to
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1 the public information about the opportunities and

2 responsibilities of citizenship.’’.

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

4 this section shall take effect on October 1, 1996.

5 SEC. 8. APPLICATIONS FOR NATURALIZATION.

6 (a) RETURN OF DEFICIENT APPLICATIONS.—Section

7 334 of the Immigration and Naturalization Act (8 U.S.C.

8 1445) is amended by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(g)(1) In cases where the Attorney General returns

10 an application for naturalization to the applicant before

11 the application is considered to be filed by the Attorney

12 General, the returned application shall be accompanied by

13 a written notice summarizing the reason for the return

14 and stating the requirements that need to be met in order

15 for the application to be resubmitted and considered as

16 filed.

17 ‘‘(2) In cases where the Attorney General returns an

18 application for naturalization under paragraph (1), the

19 Attorney General shall provide by regulation for a reason20 able opportunity for the applicant to resubmit the applica21 tion.’’.

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

23 this section shall take effect on October 1, 1996.
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1 SEC. 9. EXAMINATIONS UPON APPLICATIONS FOR NATU2 RALIZATION.

3 (a) WITHDRAWALS OF APPLICATIONS; FAILURES TO

4 APPEAR FOR EXAMINATIONS.—Section 335(e) of the Im5 migration and Naturalization Act (8 U.S.C. 1446(e)) is

6 amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘(e)(1) After an application for naturalization has

8 been filed with the Attorney General, the applicant shall

9 not be permitted to withdraw his application, except with

10 the consent of the Attorney General.

11 ‘‘(2) In cases where the Attorney General does not

12 consent to the withdrawal of the application, the applica13 tion shall be determined on its merits and a final order

14 determination made accordingly. In cases where the Attor15 ney General consents to the withdrawal of the application,

16 the Attorney General shall provide the applicant with a

17 written notice summarizing the reason for the withdrawal

18 and the consent and informing the applicant of the rules

19 governing reopening of the application.

20 ‘‘(3) In cases where the Attorney General consents

21 to the withdrawal of an application for naturalization, the

22 Attorney General shall provide by regulation for a reason23 able opportunity for the applicant to reopen the applica24 tion.

25 ‘‘(4) In cases where an applicant fails to prosecute

26 an application for naturalization, the application shall be
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1 decided on the merits unless the Attorney General dis2 misses it for lack of prosecution.

3 ‘‘(5) If an applicant fails to appear for an examina4 tion upon an application for naturalization that is sched5 uled to be conducted by an employee of the Service, the

6 Attorney General shall close the application temporarily

7 but may not decide the application on its merits, or dis8 miss the application for failure to prosecute, before the

9 date that is one year after the date of the scheduled exam10 ination. In cases where the Attorney General closes an ap11 plication under this paragraph, the Attorney General shall

12 provide by regulation for a reasonable opportunity for the

13 applicant to reopen the application, subject to the payment

14 of a fee, not to exceed 15 percent of the fee imposed for

15 filing the application, except that no fee may be imposed

16 where the applicant provides written notice to the Attor17 ney General of the reason for the non-appearance and the

18 applicant’s request to reschedule the examination within

19 30 days after the date of the scheduled examination. All

20 such fees shall be deposited into the ‘Immigration Exami21 nations Fee Account’ referred to in subsections (m), (n),

22 and (o) of section 286. The Attorney General may waive

23 the imposition of a fee under this paragraph under such

24 circumstances as the Attorney General determines appro25 priate.’’.
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1 (b) NOTICE OF EXAMINATION.—Section 335(b) of

2 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1446(b))

3 is amended by inserting after the first sentence the follow4 ing:

5 ‘‘After such an examination is scheduled, the Attorney

6 General shall provide to the applicant, not later than 10

7 days before the date for which the examination is sched8 uled, a written notice of the date, place, and time of the

9 examination and any documents or records that the appli10 cant should bring to the examination.’’.

11 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

12 this section shall take effect on October 1, 1996.

13 SEC. 10. REPORT ON STATISTICS CONCERNING APPLICA14 TIONS FOR NATURALIZATION.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 332 of the Immigration

16 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1443), as amended by sec17 tion 5(b), is amended by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘(j) Not later than 120 days after the termination

19 of a fiscal year, the Attorney General shall submit a report

20 to the Congress containing the following:

21 ‘‘(1) With respect to requests for withdrawal of

22 an application for naturalization under section

23 335(e)—
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1 ‘‘(A) the number of such requests that

2 were made, granted, and denied during the

3 year;

4 ‘‘(B) the age, national origin, and years of

5 residency in the United States of each applicant

6 who made such a request during the year, and

7 the outcome of the request, including whether

8 or not the applicant reopened the application

9 during the year; and

10 ‘‘(C) the reason given by the Attorney

11 General for granting or denying consent for

12 each such request.

13 ‘‘(2) With respect to applications for naturaliza14 tion returned under section 334(g)—

15 ‘‘(A) the number of such returns that were

16 made during the year;

17 ‘‘(B) the reason for each such return; and

18 ‘‘(C) whether or not the applicant resub19 mitted the application during the year.

20 ‘‘(3) With respect to examinations upon an ap21 plication for naturalization under section 335—

22 ‘‘(A) the percentage of such examinations

23 that were continued during the year to afford

24 the applicant an opportunity to overcome defi25 ciencies and, with respect to each such contin-
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1 ued examination, the reason why the continu2 ance was necessary; and

3 ‘‘(B) the number of applicants who failed

4 to appear during the year for such an examina5 tion that was scheduled to be conducted by an

6 employee of the Service.’’

7 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

8 this section shall take effect on October 1, 1996.

9 SEC. 11. NATURALIZATION THROUGH SERVICE IN THE

10 ARMED FORCES.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 329 of the Immigration

12 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1440) is amended by strik13 ing ‘‘a date designated by the President by Executive

14 order as the date of termination of the Vietnam hos15 tilities,’’ each place such term appears and inserting ‘‘Oc16 tober 15, 1978,’’.

17 SEC. 12. NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD ON NATURALIZA18 TION.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 3 of title III of the Immi20 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) is

21 amended by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD ON NATURALIZATION

23 ‘‘SEC. 362. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is estab24 lished a board to be known as the ‘National Advisory

25 Board on Naturalization’ (in this section referred to as

26 the ‘Board’.
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1 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Board—

2 ‘‘(1) shall evaluate on an ongoing basis the im3 plementation of this title by the Attorney General;

4 ‘‘(2) shall assess on an ongoing basis the ade5 quacy of resources and funds available to the Attor6 ney General for the implementation of this title;

7 ‘‘(3) shall prepare independent biannual reports

8 to the President, the Congress, and the Attorney

9 General relating to the evaluations and assessments

10 made under paragraphs (1) and (2); and

11 ‘‘(4) otherwise shall advise the President, the

12 Congress, and the Attorney General with respect to

13 the implementation of this title.

14 ‘‘(c) COMPOSITION.—

15 ‘‘(1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Board

16 shall be composed of 15 voting members, who shall

17 be appointed by the Attorney General, except as oth18 erwise provided, as follows:

19 ‘‘(A) Two members drawn from among in20 dividuals having extensive academic experience

21 in the study of immigration.

22 ‘‘(B) Three members drawn from among

23 individuals having been recently naturalized, in24 cluding at least two who are engaged in non25 professional employment.
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1 ‘‘(C) Three members drawn from among

2 individuals having extensive recent experience in

3 counseling and advising resident aliens to be4 come naturalized citizens.

5 ‘‘(D) Three members drawn from among

6 individuals having extensive experience in advo7 cating the interests of immigrants.

8 ‘‘(E) Two members to be appointed by the

9 Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate.

10 ‘‘(F) Two members to be appointed by the

11 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of

12 Representatives.

13 ‘‘(2) STAGGERED TERMS.—The members shall

14 serve staggered terms, in a manner deemed appro15 priate by the Attorney General.

16 ‘‘(3) CHAIR; VICE CHAIR.—At the first meeting

17 of the Board each year, the members of the Board

18 shall elect a chair and vice chair, who shall serve for

19 a term of one year.

20 ‘‘(4) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet a suf21 ficient number of times each year to carry out its re22 sponsibilities under this section.

23 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The Attor24 ney General shall provide administrative support, in-
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1 cluding staffing, to enable the Board to fulfill its

2 functions.

3 ‘‘(e) COMPENSATION.—

4 ‘‘(1) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—While away from

5 their homes or regular places of business in the per6 formance of duties for the Board, Board members

7 shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem

8 in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for em9 ployees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57

10 of title 5, United States Code.

11 ‘‘(2) PAY.—Members of the Board who are not offi12 cers or employees of the United States shall be com13 pensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the an14 nual rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Execu15 tive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States

16 Code, for each day (including travel time) during which

17 the member is engaged in the actual business of the

18 Board.

19 ‘‘(f) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM20 MITTEE ACT.—The provisions of the Federal Advisory

21 Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall apply to the Board,

22 except to the extent that such provisions are inconsistent

23 with this section.’’.
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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents

2 of the Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by in3 serting after the item relating to section 361 the following:

‘‘Sec. 362. National advisory board on naturalization.’’.

4 SEC. 13. SUPPORT OF DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall make

6 available funds under this section, in each of 5 consecutive

7 fiscal years (beginning with fiscal year 1997), to the Immi8 gration and Naturalization Service or to other public or

9 private nonprofit entities to support demonstration

10 projects under this section at 10 sites throughout the

11 United States. Each such project shall be designed to pro12 vide for the administration of the oath of allegiance (under

13 section 337(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act)

14 on a business day around the 4th of July for approxi15 mately 500 people whose application for naturalization has

16 been approved. Each project shall provide for appropriate

17 outreach and ceremonial and celebratory activities.

18 (b) SELECTION OF SITES.—The Attorney General

19 shall, in the Attorney General’s discretion, select diverse

20 locations for sites on the basis of the number of natu21 ralization applicants living in proximity to each site and

22 on the degree of local community participation and sup23 port in the project to be held at the site. Not more than

24 2 sites may be located in the same State. The Attorney
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1 General should consider changing the sites selected from

2 year to year.

3 (c) AMOUNTS AVAILABLE; USE OF FUNDS.—

4 (1) AMOUNT.—The amount that may be made

5 available under this section with respect to any sin6 gle site for a site for a year shall not exceed $5,000.

7 (2) USE.—Funds provided under this section

8 may only be used to cover expenses incurred carry9 ing out symbolic swearing-in ceremonies at the dem10 onstration sites, including expenses for—

11 (A) cost of personnel of the Immigration

12 and Naturalization Service (including travel and

13 overtime expenses)

14 (B) local outreach,

15 (C) rental of space, and

16 (D) costs of printing appropriate brochures

17 and other information about the ceremonies.

18 (3) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Funds in the

19 ‘‘Immigration Examinations Fee Account’’ referred

20 to in subsections (m), (n), and (o) of section 286 of

21 the Immigration and Nationality Act may be used to

22 carry out this section.

23 (d) APPLICATION.—In the case of an entity other

24 than the Immigration and Naturalization Service seeking

25 to conduct a demonstration project under this section, no
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1 amounts may be made available to the entity under this

2 section unless an appropriate application has been made

3 to, and approved by, the Attorney General, in a form and

4 manner specified by the Attorney General.

5 (e) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term

6 ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given such term in section

7 101(a)(36) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8

8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(36)).

Æ