II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1677

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish the United

States Citizenship Promotion Agency within the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 16, 1996

Mrs. BOXER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish

the United States Citizenship Promotion Agency within

the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 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 ‘‘Citizenship Promotion

5 Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:
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1 (1) American democracy performs best when

2 the maximum number of people subject to its laws

3 participate in the political process, at all levels of

4 government.

5 (2) Citizenship actively exercised will better as6 sure that individuals both assert their rights and ful7 fill their responsibilities of membership within our

8 political community, thereby benefiting all citizens

9 and residents of the United States.

10 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE IMMIGRATION AND NATION11 ALITY ACT.

12 Title III of the Immigration and Nationality Act is

13 amended by adding at the end the following new chapter:

14 ‘‘CHAPTER 5—CITIZENSHIP PROMOTION

15 ‘‘SEC. 371. DEFINITIONS.

16 ‘‘As used in this chapter—

17 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Agency’ means the United States

18 Citizenship Promotion Agency; and

19 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Board’ means the National Advi20 sory Board on Citizenship established by section

21 373.

22 ‘‘SEC. 372. THE UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP PROMOTION

23 AGENCY.

24 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within

25 the Immigration and Naturalization Service an agency to
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1 be known as the United States Citizenship Promotion

2 Agency.

3 ‘‘(b) MISSION.—The Agency shall have as its mission

4 the following:

5 ‘‘(1) To carry out the functions relating to nat6 uralization arising under chapter 2 of this title.

7 ‘‘(2) To assist in the implementation of a com8 prehensive program of encouraging and assisting eli9 gible immigrants to become naturalized citizens as

10 soon thereafter as they become eligible to do so.

11 ‘‘(c) HEADED BY ASSOCIATE COMMISSIONER.—

12 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.—The Agency shall be

13 headed by an Associate Commissioner for Citizen14 ship. Reasonable efforts shall be made to fill the po15 sition with a naturalized citizen of the United

16 States.

17 ‘‘(2) COMPENSATION.—The position of Associ18 ate Commissioner for Citizenship shall be a position

19 in the Senior Executive Service.

20 ‘‘(d) POWERS.—The Agency is authorized to exercise

21 all necessary and appropriate powers and duties to carry

22 out its mission, including the authority—

23 ‘‘(1) to enter into cooperative agreements with

24 Federal, State, and local governmental entities;
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1 ‘‘(2) to enter into contracts, subject to the

2 availability of appropriations; and

3 ‘‘(3) to make grants to private and nonprofit

4 entities.

5 ‘‘(e) ROLE OF ADVISORY BOARD.—The Commis6 sioner and the Associate Commissioner for Citizenship

7 shall seek the consultation and advice of the Board regard8 ing the policies, practices, and procedures used by the

9 Agency in fulfillment of its duties.

10 ‘‘(f) TERMINATION OF EXISTING OFFICES AND POSI11 TIONS.—(1) There are transferred to the Agency all func12 tions being exercised before the date of enactment of the

13 Citizenship Promotion Act of 1996 by the Attorney Gen14 eral, the Commissioner, or the Service relating to the fol15 lowing:

16 ‘‘(A) The naturalization of persons under chap17 ter 2 of this title.

18 ‘‘(B) The encouragement and assistance of eli19 gible immigrants to become naturalized citizens.

20 ‘‘(2) Upon such date, the Commissioner shall abolish

21 or consolidate, as the case may be, any office or position

22 existing before such date within the Service that per23 formed functions transferred under paragraph (1), if such

24 office or position is not otherwise created by statute.
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1 ‘‘(3) The personnel employed in connection with, and

2 the assets, liabilities, contracts, property, records, and un3 expended balances of appropriations, authorizations, allo4 cations, and other funds employed, used, held, arising

5 from, available to, or to be made available in connection

6 with the functions transferred under this paragraph (1),

7 subject to section 1531 of title 31, United States Code,

8 shall be transferred to the Agency.

9 ‘‘SEC. 373. NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD ON CITIZENSHIP.

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Na11 tional Advisory Board on Citizenship to advise the Associ12 ate Commissioner for Citizenship, the Attorney General,

13 the President, and Congress regarding the carrying out

14 of the Agency’s objectives.

15 ‘‘(b) COMPOSITION.—(1) The Board shall be com16 posed of 9 voting members, who shall be appointed by the

17 Attorney General, except as otherwise provided, as follows:

18 ‘‘(A) One member drawn from among individ19 uals having extensive academic experience in the

20 study of immigration.

21 ‘‘(B) Two members drawn from among individ22 uals having been recently naturalized, including at

23 least one who is engaged in nonprofessional employ24 ment.
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1 ‘‘(C) Two members drawn from among individ2 uals having extensive recent experience in counseling

3 and advising resident aliens to become naturalized

4 citizens.

5 ‘‘(D) Two members drawn from among individ6 uals who have extensive experience working with the

7 immigrant community.

8 ‘‘(E) One member to be appointed by the Com9 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate.

10 ‘‘(F) One member to be appointed by the Com11 mittee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa12 tives.

13 ‘‘(2) The Assistant Secretary of Education for Voca14 tional and Adult Education, or his or her designee, shall

15 serve on the Board in a nonvoting capacity.

16 ‘‘(3) The voting members shall serve staggered terms

17 in a manner to be prescribed by the Attorney General.

18 ‘‘(4) At the first meeting of the Board each year, the

19 members of the Board shall elect a chair and vice chair,

20 who shall serve for a term of one year.

21 ‘‘(5) The Board shall meet no more frequently than

22 quarterly each year to carry out its responsibilities under

23 subsection (c).

24 ‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—(1) The Board shall have

25 the general responsibility to prepare independent biannual
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1 reports relating to the administration of policies of the

2 Agency. Such reports may include minority reports, if

3 timely submitted.

4 ‘‘(2) In the course of carrying out its responsibilities,

5 the Board may do the following:

6 ‘‘(A) Review the policies, plans, and objectives

7 of the Agency, including the effectiveness thereof,

8 both short- and long-term.

9 ‘‘(B) Review programs and policies of other

10 Federal and State agencies under the area of over11 sight of the Agency, as is necessary, including the

12 effectiveness thereof, both short- and long-term.

13 ‘‘(C) Assess the resources and funds for the

14 Agency, and make reports and recommendations to

15 the Commissioner and Congress.

16 ‘‘(3) The Board shall give an annual oral report to

17 the Attorney General, the Commissioner, and the Associ18 ate Commissioner for Citizenship.

19 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS.—The Attorney

20 General shall approve the budget of the Board. The Attor21 ney General and the Commissioner shall provide adminis22 trative support, including staffing, to enable the Board to

23 fulfill its functions.

24 ‘‘(e) COMPENSATION.—While away from their homes

25 or regular places of business in the performance of duties
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1 for the Board, Board members shall be compensated at

2 a rate not to exceed $100 per day and shall be allowed

3 reasonable travel expenses.

4 ‘‘(f) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM5 MITTEE ACT.—The provisions of the Federal Advisory

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

7 except to the extent that this section establishes contrary

8 policies or procedures.

9 ‘‘SEC. 374. NATURALIZATION OUTREACH.

10 ‘‘In order to enable the Agency to fulfill its natu11 ralization outreach duties, the Agency—

12 ‘‘(1) shall seek the assistance of appropriate

13 community groups, private voluntary agencies, and

14 other appropriate organizations; and

15 ‘‘(2) may enter into cooperative agreements

16 with, or make grants to, such other governmental,

17 private, and nonprofit entities (including entities

18 that encourage or facilitate community service or are

19 engaged in such service) that it considers useful in

20 carrying out such duties.

21 ‘‘SEC. 375. FEES.

22 ‘‘(a) NATURALIZATION EXAMINATIONS FEE AC23 COUNT.—There is established in the general fund of the

24 Treasury of the United States a separate account which

25 shall be known as the ‘Naturalization Examinations Fee
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1 Account’ (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘Ac2 count’).

3 ‘‘(b) DEPOSITS.—(1) There shall be deposited into

4 the Account the following:

5 ‘‘(A) All funds in the Immigration Examina6 tions Fee Account that were collected pursuant to

7 section 344(a) before the date of the enactment of

8 the Citizenship Promotion Act of 1996 and that re9 main available for obligation on such date.

10 ‘‘(B) Except as provided in paragraph (2), all

11 fees paid to the Attorney General pursuant to sec12 tion 344(a) after such date.

13 ‘‘(2) Fees paid after such date pursuant to section

14 344(a) by applicants residing in the United States Virgin

15 Islands, and in Guam, shall be paid over to the treasury

16 of the Virgin Islands and the treasury of Guam, respec17 tively.

18 ‘‘(c) AMOUNT OF FEES.—The Attorney General shall

19 establish, and may revise from time to time, the amount

20 of the fees to be collected pursuant to section 344(a) for

21 deposit into the Account. The amount of such fees may

22 be set at a level that will ensure the full recovery of the

23 costs referred to in subsection (d)(1) and the costs of the

24 administration of such fees.
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1 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—(1) The Attorney General

2 may use funds in the Account to cover the following:

3 ‘‘(A) The costs of the Agency in carrying out

4 naturalization functions under chapter 2 of this title.

5 ‘‘(B) The costs of the Agency in encouraging

6 and assisting eligible immigrants in becoming natu7 ralized citizens under this chapter, including the fa8 cilitation of instruction of immigrants in the English

9 language.

10 ‘‘(C) The costs of the Agency in collecting fees

11 for deposit into the Account and in administering

12 the Account.

13 ‘‘(2) Amounts in the Account shall remain available

14 until expended.

15 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.—The Attor16 ney General shall prepare and submit annually to Con17 gress statements of financial condition of the Account, in18 cluding beginning account balance revenues, withdrawals,

19 and ending account balance and projections for the ensu20 ing fiscal year.’’.

21 SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

22 The Immigration and Nationality Act is amended—

23 (1) in section 286 (8 U.S.C. 1356)—

24 (A) in the second proviso of subsection

25 (m), by striking ‘‘and naturalization’’; and
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1 (B) in subsection (n), by striking ‘‘and

2 naturalization’’; and

3 (2) in section 332 (8 U.S.C. 1443)—

4 (A) in subsection (a), by inserting after the

5 first sentence the following new sentence: ‘‘The

6 Attorney General shall discharge such provi7 sions through the United States Citizenship

8 Promotion Agency established under chapter 5

9 of this title.’’; and

10 (B) by striking subsection (h).

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