II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2026 

To ensure that representative payees under the Social Security program 

are subject to criminal background checks. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 16, 2011 

Mr. CASEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To ensure that representative payees under the Social 

Security program are subject to criminal background checks. 

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 ‘‘Allowing Social Secu5 rity to Electronically Screen for Suitability Act of 2011’’ 

6 or the ‘‘ASSESS Act’’. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 2026 IS

1 SEC. 2. BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR REPRESENTATIVE PAY2 EES. 

3 (a) OLD AGE, SURVIVORS, AND DISABILITY INSUR4 ANCE BENEFITS.—Section 205(j)(2) of the Social Secu5 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 405(j)(2)) is amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraph (B)(i)(IV), by inserting 

7 ‘‘subject to subparagraph (F),’’ before ‘‘obtain infor8 mation’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub10 paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(F)(i) For purposes of subparagraph (B)(i)(IV), 

12 section 807(b)(2)(D), and section 1631(a)(2)(B)(ii)(IV), 

13 the Attorney General of the United States (referred to in 

14 this subparagraph as the ‘Attorney General’) and the Di15 rector of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (referred to 

16 in this subparagraph as the ‘Director’) shall provide the 

17 Commissioner of Social Security (referred to in this sub18 paragraph as the ‘Commissioner’) access to the criminal 

19 history record information contained in the National 

20 Crime Information Center’s Interstate Identification 

21 Index (NCIC–III), Wanted Persons File, and to any other 

22 files maintained by the National Crime Information Cen23 ter that may be mutually agreed upon by the Attorney 

24 General and the Commissioner. 

25 ‘‘(ii) Access to information under this subparagraph 

26 shall be provided by means of extracts of the files deVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:30 Dec 23, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2026.IS S2026

smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 2026 IS

1 scribed in clause (i) for placement in the appropriate data2 base by the Commissioner, and shall be provided without 

3 any fee or charge. The Director shall provide periodic up4 dates of the extracts at intervals mutually agreed upon 

5 with the Commissioner. Upon receipt of such updated ex6 tracts, the Commissioner shall make corresponding up7 dates to the appropriate database and destroy previously 

8 provided extracts. The provision of the extracts described 

9 in this clause may be reconsidered by the Attorney General 

10 and the Commissioner upon the development and deploy11 ment of a more cost-effective and efficient means of shar12 ing such information. 

13 ‘‘(iii) Access to an extract described in clause (ii) does 

14 not entitle the Commissioner to obtain the full content of 

15 the corresponding automated criminal history record. To 

16 obtain the full content of a criminal history record, the 

17 Commissioner shall submit the fingerprints of the person 

18 subject to an investigation under subparagraph (A)(i) and 

19 any appropriate fingerprint processing fee authorized by 

20 law to the Criminal Justice Information Services Division 

21 of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

22 ‘‘(iv) For purposes of administering this subpara23 graph, the Commissioner shall, prior to receiving access 

24 to the information described in clause (i) but not later 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 2026 IS

1 than 12 months after the date of enactment of this sub2 paragraph, promulgate final regulations— 

3 ‘‘(I) for purposes of clause (iii), to implement 

4 procedures for the taking of fingerprints; and 

5 ‘‘(II) to establish the conditions for the use of 

6 any information received from the Director, in order 

7 to— 

8 ‘‘(aa) limit the re-dissemination of such in9 formation; 

10 ‘‘(bb) ensure that such information is used 

11 solely for the purposes described in subpara12 graph (B)(i)(IV), section 807(b)(2)(D), and 

13 section 1631(a)(2)(B)(ii)(IV); 

14 ‘‘(cc) ensure the security, confidentiality, 

15 and destruction of such information; and 

16 ‘‘(dd) protect the privacy rights of individ17 uals who are subjects of such information.’’. 

18 (b) SPECIAL BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN VETERANS.— 

19 Section 807(b)(2)(D) of the Social Security Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 1007(b)(2)(D)) is amended by inserting ‘‘subject 

21 to section 205(j)(2)(F),’’ before ‘‘obtain information’’. 

22 (c) SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME.—Section 

23 1631(a)(2)(B)(ii)(IV) of the Social Security Act (42 

24 U.S.C. 1383(a)(2)(B)(ii)(IV)) is amended by inserting 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 2026 IS

1 ‘‘subject to section 205(j)(2)(F),’’ before ‘‘obtain informa2 tion’’. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS