I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1980

To provide for demonstration projects throughout the United States in order

to celebrate the process of becoming and being an American citizen.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 30, 1995

Mr. FARR (for himself, Mr. MINETA, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. SERRANO, Ms.

LOFGREN, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Ms. PELOSI, and

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD) introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide for demonstration projects throughout the United

States in order to celebrate the process of becoming

and being an American citizen.

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; PURPOSE.

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

5 ‘‘Proud To Be an American Act of 1995’’.

6 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to cele7 brate the act of becoming an American citizen through

8 sponsorship of appropriate public ceremonies around the

9 4th of July each year.
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1 SEC. 2. SUPPORT OF DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.

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

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

4 years (beginning with 1996), to the Immigration and Nat5 uralization Service or to other public or private nonprofit

6 entities to support demonstration projects under this sec7 tion at 10 sites throughout the United States. Each such

8 project shall be designed to provide for the administration

9 of the oath of allegiance (under section 337(a) of the Im10 migration and Nationality Act) on a business day around

11 the 4th of July for approximately 500 people whose appli12 cation for naturalization has been approved. Each project

13 shall provide for appropriate outreach and ceremonial and

14 celebratory activities.

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

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

17 locations for sites on the basis of the number of natu18 ralization applicants living in proximity to each site and

19 on the degree of local community participation and sup20 port in the project to be held at the site. Not more than

21 2 sites may be located in the same State. The Attorney

22 General should consider changing the sites selected from

23 year to year.

24 (c) AMOUNTS AVAILABLE; USE OF FUNDS.—
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1 (1) AMOUNT.—The amount that may be made

2 available under this section with respect to any sin3 gle site for a site for a year shall not exceed $5,000.

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

5 may only be used to cover expenses incurred carry6 ing out symbolic swearing-in ceremonies at the dem7 onstration sites, including expenses for—

8 (A) cost of personnel of the Immigration

9 and Naturalization Service (including travel and

10 overtime expenses)

11 (B) local outreach,

12 (C) rental of space, and

13 (D) costs of printing appropriate brochures

14 and other information about the ceremonies.

15 (3) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Funds that are

16 otherwise available to the Immigration and Natu17 ralization Service to carry out naturalization activi18 ties (including funds in the Immigration Examina19 tions Fee Account, under section 286(n) of the Im20 migration and Nationality Act) shall be available

21 under this section.

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

23 than the Immigration and Naturalization Service seeking

24 to conduct a demonstration project under this section, no

25 amounts may be made available to the entity under this
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1 section unless an appropriate application has been made

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

3 manner specified by the Attorney General.

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

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

6 101(a)(36) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8

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

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