II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 926

To improve the interstate enforcement of child support and parentage court

orders, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 15 (legislative day, JUNE 5), 1995

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

to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To improve the interstate enforcement of child support and

parentage court orders, 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 ‘‘Interstate Child Sup5 port Act of 1995’’.
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1 TITLE I—CHILD SUPPORT

2 ENFORCEMENT

3 SEC. 101. HOLD ON OCCUPATIONAL, PROFESSIONAL, AND

4 BUSINESS LICENSES.

5 (a) STATE HOLD BASED ON WARRANT OR SUPPORT

6 DELINQUENCY.—Section 466(a) of the Social Security

7 Act (42 U.S.C. 666(a)) is amended by inserting after

8 paragraph (11) the following:

9 ‘‘(12)(A) Procedures under which the State oc10 cupational licensing and regulating departments and

11 agencies may not issue or renew any occupational,

12 professional, or business license of—

13 ‘‘(i) a noncustodial parent who is the sub14 ject of an outstanding failure to appear war15 rant, capias, or bench warrant related to a child

16 support proceeding that appears on the State’s

17 crime information system, until removed from

18 the system; and

19 ‘‘(ii) an individual who is delinquent in the

20 payment of child support, until the obligee or a

21 State prosecutor responsible for child support

22 enforcement consents to, or a court that is re23 sponsible for the order’s enforcement orders,

24 the release of the hold on the license, or an ex25 pedited inquiry and review is completed while
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1 the individual is granted a 60-day temporary li2 cense.

3 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to an

4 individual who makes an adequate showing to the

5 State that the failure to issue or renew an occupa6 tional, professional, or business license will result in

7 undue hardship.’’.

8 (b) FEDERAL HOLD BASED ON SUPPORT DELIN9 QUENCY.—A Federal agency may not issue or renew any

10 occupational, professional, or business license of an indi11 vidual who is delinquent in the payment of child support,

12 until the obligee, the obligee’s attorney, or a State pros13 ecutor responsible for child support enforcement consents

14 to, or a court that is responsible for the order’s enforce15 ment orders, the release of the hold on the license, or an

16 expedited inquiry and review is completed while the indi17 vidual is granted a 60-day temporary license. The preced18 ing sentence shall not apply to an individual who makes

19 an adequate showing to the Federal agency that the fail20 ure to issue or renew an occupational, professional, or

21 business license will result in undue hardship.
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1 SEC. 102. DENIAL OF FEDERAL BENEFITS, LOANS, GUARAN2 TEES, AND EMPLOYMENT TO CERTAIN PER3 SONS WITH LARGE CHILD SUPPORT ARREAR4 AGES.

5 (a) BENEFITS, LOANS, AND GUARANTEES.—Not6 withstanding any other provision of law, each agency or

7 instrumentality of the Federal Government may not,

8 under any program that the agency or instrumentality su9 pervises or administers, provide a benefit to, make a loan

10 to, or provide any guarantee for the benefit of, any individ11 ual—

12 (1) whose child support arrearages, determined

13 under a court order or an order of an administrative

14 process established under State law, exceed $1,000;

15 and

16 (2) who is not in compliance with a plan or an

17 agreement to repay the arrearages.

18 The preceding sentence shall not apply to an individual

19 who makes an adequate showing to such agency or instru20 mentality that the failure to provide a benefit, loan, or

21 guarantee will result in undue hardship.

22 (b) EMPLOYMENT.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

24 provision of law, an individual shall be considered in25 eligible to accept employment in a position in the

26 Federal Government if—
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1 (A) such individual has child support ar2 rearages, determined under a court order or an

3 order of an administrative process established

4 under State law, exceeding $1,000; and

5 (B) such individual is not in compliance

6 with a plan or agreement to repay the arrear7 ages.

8 The preceding sentence shall not apply to an individ9 ual who makes an adequate showing to the Federal

10 Government that ineligibility to accept employment

11 will result in undue hardship.

12 (2) REGULATIONS.—Regulations to carry out

13 paragraph (1) shall—

14 (A) with respect to positions in the execu15 tive branch, be prescribed by the President (or

16 the President’s designee);

17 (B) with respect to positions in the legisla18 tive branch, be prescribed jointly by the Presi19 dent pro tempore of the Senate and the Speak20 er of the House of Representatives (or their

21 designees); and

22 (C) with respect to positions in the judicial

23 branch, be prescribed by the Chief Justice of

24 the United States (or the Chief Justice’s des25 ignee).
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1 (3) CHILD SUPPORT DEFINED.—For purposes

2 of this subsection, the term ‘‘child support’’ has the

3 meaning given such term in section 462(b) of the

4 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 662(b)).

5 SEC. 103. DENIAL OF PASSPORTS TO NONCUSTODIAL PAR6 ENTS SUBJECT TO STATE ARREST WARRANTS

7 IN CASES OF NONPAYMENT OF CHILD SUP8 PORT.

9 The Secretary of State is authorized to refuse a pass10 port or revoke, restrict, or limit a passport in any case

11 in which the Secretary of State determines or is informed

12 by competent authority that the applicant or passport

13 holder is a noncustodial parent who is the subject of an

14 outstanding State warrant of arrest for nonpayment of

15 child support, if the amount in controversy is not less than

16 $10,000.

17 SEC. 104. FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT AMENDMENT.

18 Section 604 of the Consumer Credit Protection Act

19 (15 U.S.C. 1681b) is amended by adding at the end the

20 following:

21 ‘‘(4) To a State agency administering a State plan

22 under section 454 of the Social Security Act, for use to

23 establish or modify a child support award.’’.
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1 SEC. 105. NATIONAL REPORTING OF NEW HIRES AND CHILD

2 SUPPORT INFORMATION.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury, in

4 consultation with the Secretary of Labor, shall establish

5 a system of reporting of new employees by requiring em6 ployers to provide a copy of every new employee’s W–4

7 form to the child support enforcement agency of the State

8 in which the employment is located.

9 (b) EXPANDED USE OF FORM.—The Secretary of the

10 Treasury shall modify the W–4 form completed by the new

11 employee to include—

12 (1) whether a child support obligation is owed

13 by the new employee, and if so, to whom such obli14 gation is payable and the amount of such obligation,

15 (2) whether payment of such obligation is to be

16 by income withholding, and

17 (3) whether the new employee has health care

18 insurance available.

19 SEC. 106. COOPERATION REQUIRED WITH RESPECT TO PA20 TERNITY ESTABLISHMENT AND CHILD SUP21 PORT ENFORCEMENT FOR ELIGIBILITY FOR

22 FAMILY ASSISTANCE.

23 Subject to the provisions of titles IV and XIX of the

24 Social Security Act and notwithstanding any other provi25 sion of law, no Federal funds may be used to provide as26 sistance to, or on behalf of, a child in a family that in-
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1 cludes an individual whom the agency responsible for ad2 ministering such assistance determines is not cooperating

3 in establishing the paternity of such child, or in establish4 ing, modifying, or enforcing a support order with respect

5 to such child, without good cause as determined by such

6 agency in accordance with standards prescribed by such

7 agency which shall take into consideration the best inter8 ests of the child.

9 SEC. 107. AUTHORITY TO COLLECT SUPPORT FROM FED10 ERAL EMPLOYEES.

11 (a) CONSOLIDATION AND STREAMLINING OF AU12 THORITIES.—

13 (1) Section 459 of the Social Security Act (42

14 U.S.C. 659) is amended in the caption by inserting

15 ‘‘INCOME WITHHOLDING,’’ before ‘‘GARNISHMENT’’.

16 (2) Section 459(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

17 659(a)) is amended—

18 (A) by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)

19 CONSENT TO SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT.—

20 (B) by striking ‘‘section 207’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘section 207 of this Act and 38 U.S.C.

22 5301’’; and

23 (C) by striking all that follows ‘‘a private

24 person,’’ and inserting ‘‘to withholding in ac25 cordance with State law pursuant to subsections
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1 (a)(1) and (b) of section 466 and regulations of

2 the Secretary thereunder, and to any other legal

3 process brought, by a State agency administer4 ing a program under this part or by an individ5 ual obligee, to enforce the legal obligation of

6 such individual to provide child support or ali7 mony.’’.

8 (3) Section 459(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

9 659(b)) is amended to read as follows:

10 ‘‘(b) CONSENT TO REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO

11 PRIVATE PERSON.— Except as otherwise provided herein,

12 each entity specified in subsection (a) shall be subject,

13 with respect to notice to withhold income pursuant to sub14 section (a)(1) or (b) of section 466, or to any other order

15 or process to enforce support obligations against an indi16 vidual (if such order or process contains or is accompanied

17 by sufficient data to permit prompt identification of the

18 individual and the moneys involved), to the same require19 ments as would apply if such entity were a private per20 son.’’.

21 (4) Section 459(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

22 659(c)) is redesignated and relocated as paragraph

23 (2) of subsection (f), and is amended—

24 (A) by striking ‘‘responding to interrog25 atories pursuant to requirements imposed by
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1 section 461(b)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘taking ac2 tions necessary to comply with the requirements

3 of subsection (A) with regard to any individ4 ual’’; and

5 (B) by striking ‘‘any of his duties’’ and all

6 that follows and inserting ‘‘such duties.’’.

7 (5) Section 461 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 661) is

8 amended by striking subsection (b), and section 459

9 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 659) is amended by inserting

10 after subsection (b) (as added by paragraph (3) of

11 this subsection) the following:

12 ‘‘(c) DESIGNATION OF AGENT; RESPONSE TO NOTICE

13 OR PROCESS.—(1) The head of each agency subject to the

14 requirements of this section shall—

15 ‘‘(A) designate an agent or agents to receive or16 ders and accept service of process; and

17 ‘‘(B) publish (i) in the appendix of such regula18 tions, (ii) in each subsequent republication of such

19 regulations, and (iii) annually in the Federal Reg20 ister, the designation of such agent or agents, identi21 fied by title of position, mailing address, and tele22 phone number.’’.

23 (6) Section 459 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 659) is

24 amended by striking subsection (d) and by inserting
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1 after subsection (c)(1) (as added by paragraph (5)

2 of this subsection) the following:

3 ‘‘(2) Whenever an agent designated pursuant to para4 graph (1) receives notice pursuant to subsection (a)(1) or

5 (b) of section 466, or is effectively served with any order,

6 process, or interrogatories, with respect to an individual’s

7 child support or alimony payment obligations, such agent

8 shall—

9 ‘‘(A) as soon as possible (but not later than fif10 teen days) thereafter, send written notice of such no11 tice or service (together with a copy thereof) to such

12 individual at his duty station or last-known home

13 address;

14 ‘‘(B) within 30 days (or such longer period as

15 may be prescribed by applicable State law) after re16 ceipt of a notice pursuant to subsection (a)(1) or (b)

17 of section 466, comply with all applicable provisions

18 of such section 466; and

19 ‘‘(C) within 30 days (or such longer period as

20 may be prescribed by applicable State law) after ef21 fective service of any other such order, process, or

22 interrogatories, respond thereto.’’.

23 (7) Section 461 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 661) is

24 amended by striking subsection (c), and section 459

25 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 659) is amended by inserting
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1 after subsection (c) (as added by paragraph (5) and

2 amended by paragraph (6) of this subsection) the

3 following:

4 ‘‘(d) PRIORITY OF CLAIMS.—In the event that a gov5 ernmental entity receives notice or is served with process,

6 as provided in this section, concerning amounts owed by

7 an individual to more than one person—

8 ‘‘(1) support collection under section 466(b)

9 must be given priority over any other process, as

10 provided in section 466(b)(7);

11 ‘‘(2) allocation of moneys due or payable to an

12 individual among claimants under section 466(b)

13 shall be governed by the provisions of such section

14 466(b) and regulations thereunder; and

15 ‘‘(3) such moneys as remain after compliance

16 with subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall be available to

17 satisfy any other such processes on a first-come,

18 first-served basis, with any such process being satis19 fied out of such moneys as remain after the satisfac20 tion of all such processes which have been previously

21 served.’’.

22 (8) Section 459(e) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

23 659(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘(e)’’ and inserting

24 the following:

25 ‘‘(e) NO REQUIREMENT TO VARY PAY CYCLES.—’’.
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1 (9) Section 459(f) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

2 659(f)) is amended by striking ‘‘(f)’’ and inserting

3 the following:

4 ‘‘(f) RELIEF FROM LIABILITY.—(1)’’.

5 (10) Section 461(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

6 661(a)) is redesignated and relocated as section

7 459(g), and is amended—

8 (A) by striking ‘‘(g)’’ and inserting the fol9 lowing:

10 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—’’; and

11 (B) by striking ‘‘section 459’’ and insert12 ing ‘‘this section’’.

13 (11) Section 462 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 662)

14 is amended by striking subsection (f), and section

15 459 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 659) is amended by in16 serting the following after subsection (g) (as added

17 by paragraph (10) of this subsection):

18 ‘‘(h) MONEYS SUBJECT TO PROCESS.—(1) Subject to

19 subsection (i), moneys paid or payable to an individual

20 which are considered to be based upon remuneration for

21 employment, for purposes of this section—

22 ‘‘(A) consist of—

23 ‘‘(i) compensation paid or payable for per24 sonal services of such individual, whether such

25 compensation is denominated as wages, salary,
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1 commission, bonus, pay, allowances, or other2 wise (including severance pay, sick pay, and in3 centive pay);

4 ‘‘(ii) periodic benefits (including a periodic

5 benefit as defined in section 228(h)(3)) or other

6 payments—

7 ‘‘(I) under the insurance system es8 tablished by title II;

9 ‘‘(II) under any other system or fund

10 established by the United States which

11 provides for the payment of pensions, re12 tirement or retired pay, annuities, depend13 ents’ or survivors’ benefits, or similar

14 amounts payable on account of personal

15 services performed by the individual or any

16 other individual;

17 ‘‘(III) as compensation for death

18 under any Federal program;

19 ‘‘(IV) under any Federal program es20 tablished to provide ‘black lung’ benefits;

21 or

22 ‘‘(V) by the Secretary of Veterans Af23 fairs as pension, or as compensation for a

24 service-connected disability or death (ex25 cept any compensation paid by such Sec-
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1 retary to a former member of the Armed

2 Forces who is in receipt of retired or re3 tainer pay if such former member has

4 waived a portion of his retired pay in order

5 to receive such compensation); and

6 ‘‘(iii) worker’s compensation benefits paid

7 under Federal or State law; but

8 ‘‘(B) do not include any payment—

9 ‘‘(i) by way of reimbursement or otherwise,

10 to defray expenses incurred by such individual

11 in carrying out duties associated with his em12 ployment; or

13 ‘‘(ii) as allowances for members of the uni14 formed services payable pursuant to chapter 7

15 of title 37, United States Code, as prescribed

16 by the Secretaries concerned (defined by section

17 101(5) of such title) as necessary for the effi18 cient performance of duty.’’.

19 (12) Section 462(g) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

20 662(g)) is redesignated and relocated as section

21 459(i) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 659(i)).

22 (13)(A) Section 462 of such Act (42 U.S.C.

23 662) is amended—
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1 (i) in subsection (e)(1), by redesignating

2 subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) as clauses (i),

3 (ii), and (iii); and

4 (ii) in subsection (e), by redesignating

5 paragraphs (1) and (2) as subparagraphs (A)

6 and (B).

7 (B) Section 459 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 659)

8 is amended by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of thissection—’’.

10 (C) Subsections (a) through (e) of section 462

11 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 662), as amended by sub12 paragraph (A) of this paragraph, are relocated and

13 redesignated as paragraphs (1) through (4), respec14 tively of section 459(j) (as added by subparagraph

15 (B) of this paragraph, (42 U.S.C. 659(j)), and the

16 left margin of each of such paragraphs (1) through

17 (4) is indented 2 ems to the right of the left margin

18 of subsection (i) (as added by paragraph (12) of this

19 subsection).

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

21 (1) TO PART D OF TITLE IV.—Sections 461 and

22 462 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 661), as amended by

23 subsection (a) of this section, are repealed.

24 (2) TO TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE.—Sec25 tion 5520a of title 5, United States Code, is amend-
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1 ed, in subsections (h)(2) and (i), by striking ‘‘sec2 tions 459, 461, and 462 of the Social Security Act

3 (42 U.S.C. 659, 661, and 662)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec4 tion 459 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

5 659)’’.

6 (c) MILITARY RETIRED AND RETAINER PAY.—

7 (1) DEFINITION OF COURT.—Section

8 1408(a)(1) of title 10, United States Code, is

9 amended—

10 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub11 paragraph (B);

12 (B) by striking the period at the end of

13 subparagraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

14 (C) by adding after subparagraph (C) the

15 following new paragraph:

16 ‘‘(D) any administrative or judicial tribu17 nal of a State competent to enter orders for

18 support or maintenance (including a State

19 agency administering a State program under

20 part D of title IV of the Social Security Act).’’.

21 (2) DEFINITION OF COURT ORDER.—Section

22 1408(a)(2) of such title is amended by inserting ‘‘or

23 a court order for the payment of child support not

24 included in or accompanied by such a decree or set25 tlement,’’ before ‘‘which—’’.
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1 (3) PUBLIC PAYEE.—Section 1408(d) of such

2 title is amended—

3 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘to spouse’’

4 and inserting ‘‘to (or for benefit of)’’; and

5 (B) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence,

6 by inserting ‘‘(or for the benefit of such spouse

7 or former spouse to a State central collections

8 unit or other public payee designated by a

9 State, in accordance with part D of title IV of

10 the Social Security Act, as directed by court

11 order, or as otherwise directed in accordance

12 with such part D)’’ before ‘‘in an amount suffi13 cient’’.

14 (4) RELATIONSHIP TO PART D OF TITLE IV.—

15 Section 1408 of such title is amended by adding at

16 the end the following new subsection:

17 ‘‘(j) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—In any case

18 involving a child support order against a member who has

19 never been married to the other parent of the child, the

20 provisions of this section shall not apply, and the case

21 shall be subject to the provisions of section 459 of the

22 Social Security Act.’’.

23 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

24 this section shall become effective 6 months after the date

25 of the enactment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 108. ENFORCEMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGA2 TIONS OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

3 (a) AVAILABILITY OF LOCATOR INFORMATION.—

4 (1) MAINTENANCE OF ADDRESS INFORMA5 TION.—The Secretary of Defense shall establish a

6 centralized personnel locator service that includes

7 the address of each member of the Armed Forces

8 under the jurisdiction of the Secretary. Upon re9 quest of the Secretary of Transportation, addresses

10 for members of the Coast Guard shall be included in

11 the centralized personnel locator service.

12 (2) TYPE OF ADDRESS.—

13 (A) RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.—Except as

14 provided in subparagraph (B), the address for

15 a member of the Armed Forces shown in the lo16 cator service shall be the residential address of

17 that member.

18 (B) DUTY ADDRESS.—The address for a

19 member of the Armed Forces shown in the loca20 tor service shall be the duty address of that

21 member in the case of a member—

22 (i) who is permanently assigned over23 seas, to a vessel, or to a routinely

24 deployable unit; or

25 (ii) with respect to whom the Sec26 retary concerned makes a determination
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1 that the member’s residential address

2 should not be disclosed due to national se3 curity or safety concerns.

4 (3) UPDATING OF LOCATOR INFORMATION.—

5 Within 30 days after a member listed in the locator

6 service establishes a new residential address (or a

7 new duty address, in the case of a member covered

8 by paragraph (2)(B)), the Secretary concerned shall

9 update the locator service to indicate the new ad10 dress of the member.

11 (4) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—The Sec12 retary of Defense shall make information regarding

13 the address of a member of the Armed Forces listed

14 in the locator service available, on request, to the

15 Federal Parent Locator Service.

16 (b) FACILITATING GRANTING OF LEAVE FOR AT17 TENDANCE AT HEARINGS.—

18 (1) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of each

19 military department, and the Secretary of Transpor20 tation with respect to the Coast Guard when it is

21 not operating as a service in the Navy, shall pre22 scribe regulations to facilitate the granting of leave

23 to a member of the Armed Forces under the juris24 diction of that Secretary in a case in which—
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1 (A) the leave is needed for the member to

2 attend a hearing described in paragraph (2);

3 (B) the member is not serving in or with

4 a unit deployed in a contingency operation (as

5 defined in section 101 of title 10, United States

6 Code); and

7 (C) the exigencies of military service (as

8 determined by the Secretary concerned) do not

9 otherwise require that such leave not be grant10 ed.

11 (2) COVERED HEARINGS.—Paragraph (1) ap12 plies to a hearing that is conducted by a court or

13 pursuant to an administrative process established

14 under State law, in connection with a civil action—

15 (A) to determine whether a member of the

16 Armed Forces is a natural parent of a child; or

17 (B) to determine an obligation of a mem18 ber of the Armed Forces to provide child sup19 port.

20 (3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub21 section:

22 (A) The term ‘‘court’’ has the meaning

23 given that term in section 1408(a) of title 10,

24 United States Code.
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1 (B) The term ‘‘child support’’ has the

2 meaning given such term in section 462 of the

3 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 662).

4 (c) PAYMENT OF MILITARY RETIRED PAY IN COM5 PLIANCE WITH CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS.—

6 (1) DATE OF CERTIFICATION OF COURT

7 ORDER.—Section 1408 of title 10, United States

8 Code, is amended—

9 (A) by redesignating subsection (i) as sub10 section (j); and

11 (B) by inserting after subsection (h) the

12 following new subsection (i):

13 ‘‘(i) CERTIFICATION DATE.—It is not necessary that

14 the date of a certification of the authenticity or complete15 ness of a copy of a court order or an order of an adminis16 trative process established under State law for child sup17 port received by the Secretary concerned for the purposes

18 of this section be recent in relation to the date of receipt

19 by the Secretary.’’.

20 (2) PAYMENTS CONSISTENT WITH ASSIGN21 MENTS OF RIGHTS TO STATES.—Section 1408(d)(1)

22 of such title is amended by inserting after the first

23 sentence the following: ‘‘In the case of a spouse or

24 former spouse who, pursuant to section 402(a)(26)

25 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 602(26)), as-
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1 signs to a State the rights of the spouse or former

2 spouse to receive support, the Secretary concerned

3 may make the child support payments referred to in

4 the preceding sentence to that State in amounts con5 sistent with that assignment of rights.’’.

6 (3) ARREARAGES OWED BY MEMBERS OF THE

7 UNIFORMED SERVICES.—Section 1408(d) of such

8 title is amended by adding at the end the following

9 new paragraph:

10 ‘‘(6) In the case of a court order or an order of an

11 administrative process established under State law for

12 which effective service is made on the Secretary concerned

13 on or after the date of the enactment of this paragraph

14 and which provides for payments from the disposable re15 tired pay of a member to satisy the amount of child sup16 port set forth in the order, the authority provided in para17 graph (1) to make payments from the disposable retired

18 pay of a member to satisy the amount of child support

19 set forth in a court order or an order of an administrative

20 process established under State law shall apply to payment

21 of any amount of child support arrearages set forth in that

22 order as well as to amounts of child support that currently

23 become due.’’.
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1 TITLE II—INTERSTATE CHILD

2 SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT

3 SEC. 201. INTERSTATE RECOGNITION OF CHILD SUPPORT

4 AND PARENTAGE ORDERS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 115 of title 28, United

6 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1738A

7 the following:

8 ‘‘§ 1738B. Full faith and credit to child support and

9 parentage orders

10 ‘‘(a) As used in this section:

11 ‘‘(1) The term ‘child’ means any individual who

12 has not attained the age of 18 years, and any indi13 vidual who has attained the age of 18 years for

14 whom a child support order has been issued pursu15 ant to the laws of a State.

16 ‘‘(2) The term ‘child support’ includes periodic

17 and lump-sum payments for current and past due

18 economic support, payments of premiums for health

19 insurance for children, payments for, or provision of,

20 child care, and payments for educational expenses.

21 ‘‘(3) The term ‘child support order’ means a

22 judgment, decree, or order of a court requiring the

23 payment of money, whether in periodic amounts or

24 lump sum, for the support of a child, and includes
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1 permanent and temporary orders, initial orders and

2 modifications, ongoing support, and arrearages.

3 ‘‘(4) The term ‘child’s State’ means, with re4 spect to a child, the State in which the child resides

5 with a parent or an individual acting as a parent.

6 ‘‘(5) The term ‘contestant’ means an individual,

7 including a parent, who claims a right to receive

8 child support or is under an order to pay child sup9 port, and includes States and political subdivisions

10 to which support rights have been assigned.

11 ‘‘(6) The term ‘court’ means a court, adminis12 trative process, or quasijudicial process of a State

13 that is authorized to—

14 ‘‘(A) adjudicate parentage;

15 ‘‘(B) establish the amount of support pay16 able by a contestant; or

17 ‘‘(C) modify the amount of support pay18 able by a contestant.

19 ‘‘(7) The term ‘home State’ means, with respect

20 to a child, the State in which, immediately preceding

21 the time involved, the child lived with his or her par22 ents, a parent, or an individual acting as parent, for

23 at least 6 consecutive months (including any periods

24 of temporary absence), and if the child has not at-
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1 tained the age of 6 months, the State in which the

2 child lived from birth with any of such individuals.

3 ‘‘(8) The term ‘individual acting as a parent’

4 means an individual, other than a parent, who has

5 physical custody of a child and who has either been

6 awarded custody by a court or claims a right to cus7 tody.

8 ‘‘(9) The terms ‘modification’ and ‘modify’ refer

9 to a change in a child support order or an order ad10 judicating parentage that modifies, replaces, super11 sedes, or otherwise is made subsequent to such prior

12 order, whether or not made by the same court that

13 issued such prior order.

14 ‘‘(10) The term ‘State’ means a State of the

15 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com16 monwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory or possession

17 of the United States, and Indian country as defined

18 in section 1151 of title 18, United States Code.

19 ‘‘(b) A court of a State shall recognize and enforce

20 according to its terms a child support order or an order

21 adjudicating parentage against an individual over whom

22 personal jurisdiction has been exercised consistent with

23 this section, and shall not modify such an order except

24 as provided in subsection (f).
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1 ‘‘(c) A court of a State may exercise personal jurisdic2 tion over a nonresident contestant if there is any basis

3 consistent with the constitution of the State and the Con4 stitution of the United States for the exercise.

5 ‘‘(d) A court of a State which has issued a child sup6 port order or an order adjudicating parentage consistent

7 with this section shall have continuing, exclusive jurisdic8 tion of the order for so long as the State remains the

9 child’s State or the residence of any contestant, unless an10 other State, acting in accordance with subsection (f), has

11 modified the order.

12 ‘‘(e) Before a court of a State makes a child support

13 order or adjudicates parentage, reasonable notice and op14 portunity to be heard shall be given to the contestants.

15 ‘‘(f) A court of a State may modify a child support

16 order or an order adjudicating parentage issued by a court

17 of another State if—

18 ‘‘(1) each contestant has filed written consent

19 for the court of the State to modify the order and

20 assume continuing, exclusive jurisdiction of the

21 order; and

22 ‘‘(2) the court of the State otherwise has juris23 diction to issue such an order.

24 ‘‘(g) A court of a State which no longer has continu25 ing, exclusive jurisdiction of a child support order or an
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1 order adjudicating parentage may enforce the order with

2 respect to unsatisfied obligations which accrued before the

3 date the order is modified in accordance with subsection

4 (f).

5 ‘‘(h) A court of a State shall not exercise jurisdiction

6 in any proceeding for a child support order or an adjudica7 tion of parentage commenced during the pendency of a

8 proceeding in a court of another State when the court of

9 the other State is exercising jurisdiction consistent with

10 this section unless—

11 ‘‘(1) the proceeding was filed in the State be12 fore the expiration of time allowed in the other State

13 for filing a responsive pleading challenging the exer14 cise of jurisdiction by the other State;

15 ‘‘(2) the contesting party timely challenges the

16 exercise of jurisdiction by the other State; and

17 ‘‘(3) if applicable, the court is in the home

18 State of the child.

19 ‘‘(i)(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3),

20 the forum State’s law shall apply in a proceeding to estab21 lish, modify, or enforce a child support order or an order

22 adjudicating parentage.

23 ‘‘(2) A court of a State shall apply the law of the

24 State that issued a child support order or an order adju25 dicating parentage in interpreting such an order.
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1 ‘‘(3) In an action to enforce a child support order

2 or an order adjudicating parentage, the statute of limita3 tions under the laws of the forum State or the issuing

4 State, whichever is longer, shall apply.’’.

5 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis

6 for such chapter is amended by inserting after the item

7 relating to section 1738A the following:

‘‘1738B. Full faith and credit to child support and parentage orders.’’.

8 TITLE III—HIDING ASSETS

9 SEC. 301. FRAUDULENT TRANSFER PURSUIT.

10 Section 466(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

11 666(a)), as amended by section 101, is amended by insert12 ing after paragraph (12) the following:

13 ‘‘(13) Procedures requiring that, in any case re14 lated to child support, any transfer of property by

15 an individual who owes a child support arrearage

16 shall be presumed to be made with the intent to

17 avoid payment of the arrearage, and may be rebut18 ted by evidence to the contrary.

19 ‘‘(14) Procedures that allow the State to void

20 fraudulent conveyances of property that are made in

21 an attempt to avoid child support obligations.’’.

22 TITLE IV—EFFECTIVE DATE

23 SEC. 401. EFFECTIVE DATE.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in section 107

25 and subsection (b), the provisions of, and the amendments
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1 made by, this Act shall be effective with respect to cal2 endar quarters beginning on or after October 1, 1995.

3 (b) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of a State that the

4 Secretary of Health and Human Services determines re5 quires State legislation (other than legislation appropriat6 ing funds) in order to meet the additional requirements

7 imposed by the amendments made by this Act, the State

8 shall not be regarded as failing to comply with the require9 ments of such amendments before the first day of the first

10 calendar quarter beginning after the close of the first reg11 ular session of the State legislature that begins after the

12 date of enactment of this Act. For purposes of this sub13 section, in the case of a State that has a 2-year legislative

14 session, each year of the session shall be treated as a sepa15 rate regular session of the State legislature.

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