II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2165 

To assist members of the Armed Forces in obtaining United States 

citizenship, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 21, 2005 

Ms. MIKULSKI (for herself, Mr. KENNEDY, and Mr. SARBANES) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To assist members of the Armed Forces in obtaining United 

States citizenship, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Kendell Frederick Citi5 zenship Assistance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. WAIVER OF REQUIREMENT FOR FINGERPRINTS 

7 FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES. 

8 Notwithstanding any other provision of law or any 

9 regulation, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall use 

10 the fingerprints provided by an individual at the time the 
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1 individual enlists in the Armed Forces to satisfy any re2 quirement for fingerprints as part of an application for 

3 naturalization if the individual— 

4 (1) may be naturalized pursuant to section 328 

5 or 329 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

6 U.S.C. 1439 or 1440); 

7 (2) was fingerprinted in accordance with the re8 quirements of the Department of Defense at the 

9 time the individual enlisted in the Armed Forces; 

10 and 

11 (3) submits an application for naturalization 

12 not later than 12 months after the date the indi13 vidual enlisted in the Armed Forces. 

14 SEC. 3. PROVISION OF INFORMATION ON NATURALIZATION 

15 TO MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES. 

16 (a) CITIZENSHIP ADVOCATE.—The Secretary of De17 fense shall establish the position of Citizenship Advocate 

18 at each Military Entry Processing Station to provide infor19 mation and assistance related to the naturalization process 

20 to members of the Armed Forces. An individual serving 

21 as a Citizenship Advocate may be a civilian. 

22 (b) WRITTEN MATERIALS.—The Secretary of De23 fense shall ensure that written information describing the 

24 naturalization process for members of the Armed Forces 

25 is provided to each individual who is not a citizen of the 
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1 United States at the time that the individual enlists in 

2 the Armed Forces. 

3 (c) TELEPHONE HOT LINE.—The Secretary of 

4 Homeland Security shall— 

5 (1) establish a dedicated toll free telephone 

6 service available only to members of the Armed 

7 Forces and the families of such members to provide 

8 information related to naturalization pursuant to 

9 section 328 or 329 of the Immigration and Nation10 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1439 or 1440), including the sta11 tus of an application for such naturalization; 

12 (2) ensure that the telephone service required 

13 by paragraph (1) is operated by employees of the 

14 Department of Homeland Security who— 

15 (A) have received specialized training on 

16 the naturalization process for members of the 

17 Armed Forces and the families of such mem18 bers; and 

19 (B) are physically located in the same unit 

20 as the military processing unit that adjudicates 

21 applications for naturalization pursuant to such 

22 section 328 or 329; and 

23 (3) implement a quality control program to 

24 monitor, on a regular basis, the accuracy and quality 

25 of information provided by the employees who oper-
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1 ate the telephone service required by paragraph (1), 

2 including the breadth of the knowledge related to the 

3 naturalization process of such employees. 

4 SEC. 4. PROVISION OF INFORMATION ON NATURALIZATION 

5 TO THE PUBLIC. 

6 Not later than 30 days after the date that a modifica7 tion to any law or regulation related to the naturalization 

8 process becomes effective, the Secretary of Homeland Se9 curity shall update the appropriate application form for 

10 naturalization, the instructions and guidebook for obtain11 ing naturalization, and the Internet website maintained by 

12 the Secretary of Homeland Security to reflect such modi13 fication. 

14 SEC. 5. REPORTS. 

15 (a) ADJUDICATION PROCESS.—Not later than 120 

16 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

17 Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to 

18 the appropriate congressional committees a report on the 

19 entire process for the adjudication of an application for 

20 naturalization filed pursuant to section 328 or 329 of the 

21 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1439 or 

22 1440), including the process that begins at the time the 

23 application is mailed to, or received by, the Secretary of 

24 Homeland Security, regardless of whether the Secretary 

25 determines that such application is complete, through the 
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1 final disposition of such application. Such report shall in2 clude a description of— 

3 (1) the methods of the Secretary of Homeland 

4 Security and the Secretary of Defense to prepare, 

5 handle, and adjudicate such applications; 

6 (2) the effectiveness of the chain of authority, 

7 supervision, and training of employees of the Gov8 ernment or of other entities, including contract em9 ployees, who have any role in such process or adju10 dication; and 

11 (3) the ability of the Secretary of Homeland Se12 curity and the Secretary of Defense to use tech13 nology to facilitate or accomplish any aspect of such 

14 process or adjudication. 

15 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

16 (1) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the 

17 United States shall conduct a study on the imple18 mentation of this Act by the Secretary of Homeland 

19 Security and the Secretary of Defense, including 

20 studying any technology that may be used to im21 prove the efficiency of the naturalization process for 

22 members of the Armed Forces. 

23 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

24 the date that the Comptroller General submits the 

25 report required by subsection (a), the Comptroller 
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1 General shall submit to the appropriate congres2 sional committees a report on the study required by 

3 paragraph (1). The report shall include any rec4 ommendations of the Comptroller General for im5 proving the implementation of this Act by the Sec6 retary of Homeland Security or the Secretary of De7 fense. 

8 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE9 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres10 sional committees’’ means— 

11 (1) the Committee on Armed Services and the 

12 Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; and 

13 (2) the Committee on Armed Services and the 

14 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep15 resentatives. 

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