I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1487

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 9, 1997

Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

AN ACT

To establish a National Voluntary Mutual Reunion Registry.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION. 1. NATIONAL VOLUNTARY MUTUAL REUNION

2 REGISTRY.

3 Part E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42

4 U.S.C. 670 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the

5 following:

6 ‘‘SEC. 479A. NATIONAL VOLUNTARY MUTUAL REUNION REG7 ISTRY.

8 ‘‘(a) EXCHANGE OF MUTUALLY REQUESTED IDENTI9 FYING INFORMATION.—The Secretary, in the discretion of

10 the Secretary and provided that there is no net cost to

11 the Federal Government, may use the facilities of the De12 partment of Health and Human Services to facilitate the

13 voluntary, mutually requested exchange of identifying in14 formation that has been mutually consented to, by an

15 adult adopted individual who is 21 years of age or older

16 with—

17 ‘‘(1) any birth parent of the adult adopted indi18 vidual; or

19 ‘‘(2) any adult sibling who is 21 years of age

20 or older, of the adult adopted individual,

21 if all such persons involved have, on their own initiative,

22 consented by a signed notarized statement to the exchange

23 of such identifying information.

24 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall ensure

25 that a National Voluntary Mutual Reunion Registry estab-
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1 lished under this section (in this section referred to as the

2 ‘‘Registry’’) meets the following requirements:

3 ‘‘(1) CENTRALIZED CAPACITY.—The Registry

4 provides a centralized nationwide capacity for the in5 formation described in subsection (a) and utilizes

6 appropriately designed computer and data process7 ing methods to protect the privacy of the informa8 tion contained in the Registry, and does not intrude

9 on any other data system maintained by the Depart10 ment of Health and Human Services.

11 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROCEDURES.—The

12 Registry complies with procedures established by the

13 Secretary that provide that—

14 ‘‘(A) only information necessary to facili15 tate a match shall be contained in the Registry

16 and the Registry shall not attempt to make con17 tact for the purpose of facilitating a reunion

18 with any individual who is not entered into or

19 participating in the Registry;

20 ‘‘(B) to the maximum extent feasible, the

21 confidentiality and privacy rights and interests

22 of all parties participating in the Registry are

23 protected; and

24 ‘‘(C) information pertaining to any individ25 ual that is maintained in connection with any
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1 activity carried out under this section shall be

2 confidential and not be disclosed for any pur3 pose without the prior, written, informed con4 sent of the individual with respect to whom

5 such information applies or is maintained.

6 ‘‘(c) REASONABLE FEES.—Reasonable fees, estab7 lished by taking into consideration, and not to exceed, the

8 average charge of comparable services offered by States,

9 may be collected for services provided under this section.

10 ‘‘(d) PENALTY FOR VIOLATION.—

11 ‘‘(1) FINE AND IMPRISONMENT.—Any individ12 ual or entity that is found to have disclosed or used

13 confidential information in violation of the provisions

14 of this section shall be subject to a fine of $5000

15 and imprisonment for a period not to exceed 1 year.

16 ‘‘(2) NONAPPLICABILITY OF SECTION 3571 OF

17 TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE.—The provisions of

18 section 3571 of title 18, United States Code, shall

19 not apply to a violation described in paragraph (1).

20 ‘‘(e) NO PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this section in21 validates or limits any law of a State or of a political sub22 division of a State concerning adoption and the confiden23 tiality of that State’s sealed adoption record policy.’’.

Passed the Senate November 8, 1997.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.