II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1953

To amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility

Act of 1996 to authorize the establishment of a voluntary legal employment authentication program (LEAP) as a successor to the current

pilot programs for employment eligibility confirmation.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 17, 1999

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

to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant

Responsibility Act of 1996 to authorize the establishment

of a voluntary legal employment authentication program

(LEAP) as a successor to the current pilot programs

for employment eligibility confirmation.

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 ‘‘Legal Employment Au5 thentication Program (LEAP) Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZING LEGAL EMPLOYMENT AUTHENTICA2 TION PROGRAM (LEAP) AS A SUCCESSOR TO

3 CURRENT PILOT PROGRAMS.

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF LEGAL EMPLOYMENT AU5 THENTICATION PROGRAM (LEAP).—Subtitle A of title IV

6 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Respon7 sibility Act of 1996 (division C of Public Law 104–208)

8 is amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘Subtitle A—Legal Employment Au10 thentication Program (LEAP)

11 for Employment Eligibility Con12 firmation

13 ‘‘SEC. 401. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, in close

15 consultation with the Secretary of Labor and the Commis16 sioner of Social Security, shall establish a legal employ17 ment authentication program for employment eligibility

18 confirmation under this subtitle.

19 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Attorney General shall

20 implement such program in a manner that permits per21 sons and other entities to have elections under section 402

22 of this division made and in effect no later than 1 year

23 after the date of the enactment of Legal Employment Au24 thentication Program (LEAP) Act of 1999.

25 ‘‘(c) REFERENCES IN SUBTITLE.—In this subtitle—
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1 ‘‘(1) PROGRAM AND LEAP REFERENCES.—The

2 terms ‘program’ and ‘LEAP’ refer to the legal em3 ployment authentication program provided for under

4 this subtitle.

5 ‘‘(2) CONFIRMATION SYSTEM.—The term ‘con6 firmation system’ means the confirmation system es7 tablished under section 404 of this division.

8 ‘‘(3) REFERENCES TO SECTION 274A.—Any ref9 erence in this subtitle to section 274A (or a subdivi10 sion of such section) is deemed a reference to such

11 section (or subdivision thereof) of the Immigration

12 and Nationality Act.

13 ‘‘(4) I–9 OR SIMILAR FORM.—The term ‘I–9 or

14 similar form’ means the form used for purposes of

15 section 274A(b)(1)(A) or such other form as the At16 torney General determines to be appropriate.

17 ‘‘ (5) LIMITED APPLICATION TO RECRUITERS

18 AND REFERRERS.—Any reference to recruitment or

19 referral (or a recruiter or referrer) in relation to em20 ployment is deemed a reference only to such recruit21 ment or referral (or recruiter or referrer) that is

22 subject to section 274A(a)(1)(B)(ii).

23 ‘‘(6) UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP.—The term

24 ‘United States citizenship’ includes United States

25 nationality.
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1 ‘‘(7) STATE.—The term ‘State’ has the mean2 ing given such term in section 101(a)(36) of the Im3 migration and Nationality Act.

4 ‘‘SEC. 402. VOLUNTARY ELECTION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE

5 PROGRAM.

6 ‘‘(a) VOLUNTARY ELECTION.—Subject to subsection

7 (c)(3)(B), any person or other entity that conducts any

8 hiring (or recruitment or referral) may elect to participate

9 in the program. Except as specifically provided in sub10 section (e), the Attorney General may not require any per11 son or other entity to participate in the program.

12 ‘‘(b) BENEFIT OF REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a person or other entity

14 is participating in the program and obtains con15 firmation of identity and employment eligibility in

16 compliance with the terms and conditions of the pro17 gram with respect to the hiring (or recruitment or

18 referral) of an individual for employment in the

19 United States, the person or entity has established

20 a rebuttable presumption that the person or entity

21 has not violated section 274A(a)(1)(A) with respect

22 to such hiring (or such recruitment or referral).

23 ‘‘(2) CONSTRUCTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not

24 be construed as preventing a person or other entity

25 that has an election in effect under subsection (a)
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1 from establishing an affirmative defense under sec2 tion 274A(a)(3) if the person or entity complies with

3 the requirements of section 274A(a)(1)(B) but fails

4 to obtain confirmation under paragraph (1).

5 ‘‘(c) GENERAL TERMS OF ELECTIONS.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An election under sub7 section (a) shall be in such form and manner, under

8 such terms and conditions, and shall take effect, as

9 the Attorney General shall specify. The Attorney

10 General may not impose any fee as a condition of

11 making an election or participating in the program.

12 ‘‘(2) SCOPE OF ELECTION.—Any electing per13 son or the entity may provide that the election under

14 subsection (a) shall apply (during the period in

15 which the election is in effect)—

16 ‘‘(A) to all its hiring (and all recruitment

17 or referral); or

18 ‘‘(B) to its hiring (or recruitment and re19 ferral) in one or more places of hiring (or re20 cruitment or referral, as the case may be).

21 ‘‘(3) ACCEPTANCE OF ELECTIONS.—The Attor22 ney General shall accept all elections made under

23 subsection (a).

24 ‘‘(4) TERMINATION OF ELECTIONS.—The At25 torney General may terminate an election by a per-
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1 son or other entity under this section because the

2 person or entity has substantially failed to comply

3 with its obligations under the program. A person or

4 other entity may terminate an election in such form

5 and manner as the Attorney General shall specify.

6 ‘‘(d) CONSULTATION, EDUCATION, AND PUB7 LICITY.—

8 ‘‘(1) CONSULTATION.—The Attorney General,

9 the Secretary of Labor, and the Commissioner of So10 cial Security shall closely consult with representa11 tives of employers (and recruiters and referrers) in

12 the development and implementation of the program,

13 including the education of employers (and recruiters

14 and referrers) about such programs.

15 ‘‘(2) PUBLICITY.—The Attorney General shall

16 widely publicize the election process and program,

17 including the voluntary nature of the program and

18 the advantages to employers (and recruiters and re19 ferrers) of making an election under this section.

20 ‘‘(3) ASSISTANCE THROUGH DISTRICT OF21 FICES.—The Attorney General shall designate one or

22 more individuals in each District office of the Immi23 gration and Naturalization Service for a Service Dis24 trict in which the program is being implemented—
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1 ‘‘(A) to inform persons and other entities

2 that seek information about the program of the

3 voluntary nature of such programs, and

4 ‘‘(B) to assist persons and other entities in

5 electing and participating in the program in ef6 fect in the District, in complying with the re7 quirements of section 274A, and in facilitating

8 confirmation of the identity and employment

9 eligibility of individuals consistent with such

10 section.

11 ‘‘(e) SELECT ENTITIES REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE

12 IN THE PROGRAM.—

13 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND INDE14 PENDENT AGENCIES.—

15 ‘‘(A) EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS.—

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each Department

17 and independent agency of the Federal

18 Government shall elect to participate in the

19 program and shall comply with the terms

20 and conditions of such an election.

21 ‘‘(ii) ELECTION.—Subject to clause

22 (iii), the Secretary of each such Depart23 ment and head of each such independent

24 agency may limit the election to hiring oc25 curring in certain areas and in specified di-
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1 visions within the Department or agency in

2 the same manner as is permitted under

3 subsection (c)(2).

4 ‘‘(iii) ROLE OF ATTORNEY GEN5 ERAL.—The Attorney General shall assist

6 and coordinate elections under this sub7 paragraph in such manner as assures

8 that—

9 ‘‘(I) a significant portion of the

10 total hiring within each Department

11 and independent agency is covered

12 under the program, and

13 ‘‘(II) there is significant partici14 pation by the Federal Executive

15 branch in the program.

16 ‘‘(B) LEGISLATIVE BRANCH.—Each Mem17 ber of Congress, each officer of Congress, and

18 the head of each agency of the legislative

19 branch, that conducts hiring shall elect to par20 ticipate in the program and comply with the

21 terms and conditions of such an election.

22 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION TO CERTAIN VIOLATORS.—

23 An order under section 274A(e)(4) or section

24 274B(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act

25 may require the subject of the order to participate
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1 in, and comply with the terms of, the program with

2 respect to the subject’s hiring (or recruitment or re3 ferral) of individuals in a State covered by the pro4 gram.

5 ‘‘(3) CONSEQUENCE OF FAILURE TO PARTICI6 PATE.—If a person or other entity is required under

7 this subsection to participate in the program and

8 fails to comply with the requirements of such pro9 gram with respect to an individual—

10 ‘‘(A) such failure shall be treated as a vio11 lation of section 274A(a)(1)(B) with respect to

12 that individual, and

13 ‘‘(B) a rebuttable presumption is created

14 that the person or entity has violated section

15 274A(a)(1)(A).

16 Subparagraph (B) shall not apply in any prosecution

17 under section 274A(f)(1).

18 ‘‘(f) CONSTRUCTION.—This subtitle shall not affect

19 the authority of the Attorney General under any other law

20 (including section 274A(d)(4)) to conduct demonstration

21 projects in relation to section 274A.

22 ‘‘SEC. 403. PROCEDURES FOR PARTICIPANTS IN THE PRO23 GRAM.

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A person or other entity that

25 elects to participate in the program agrees to conform to
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1 the following procedures in the case of the hiring (or re2 cruitment or referral) for employment in the United States

3 of each individual covered by the election:

4 ‘‘(1) PROVISION OF ADDITIONAL INFORMA5 TION.—The person or entity shall obtain from the

6 individual (and the individual shall provide) and

7 shall record on the I–9 or similar form—

8 ‘‘(A) the individual’s social security ac9 count number, if the individual has been issued

10 such a number, and

11 ‘‘(B) if the individual does not attest to

12 United States citizenship under section

13 274A(b)(2), such identification or authorization

14 number established by the Immigration and

15 Naturalization Service for the alien as the At16 torney General shall specify,

17 and shall retain the original form and make it avail18 able for inspection for the period and in the manner

19 required of I–9 forms under section 274A(b)(3).

20 ‘‘(2) PRESENTATION OF DOCUMENTATION.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The person or other

22 entity, and the individual whose identity and

23 employment eligibility are being confirmed,

24 shall, subject to subparagraph (B), fulfill the
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1 requirements of section 274A(b) with the fol2 lowing modifications:

3 ‘‘(i) A document referred to in section

4 274A(b)(1)(B)(ii) (as redesignated by sec5 tion 412(a) of this division) must be des6 ignated by the Attorney General as suit7 able for the purpose of identification in the

8 program.

9 ‘‘(ii) A document referred to in sec10 tion 274A(b)(1)(D) must contain a photo11 graph of the individual.

12 ‘‘(iii) The person or other entity has

13 complied with the requirements of section

14 274A(b)(1) with respect to examination of

15 a document if the document reasonably ap16 pears on its face to be genuine and it rea17 sonably appears to pertain to the indi18 vidual whose identity and work eligibility is

19 being confirmed.

20 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION OF REQUIREMENT TO

21 EXAMINE DOCUMENTATION.—If the Attorney

22 General finds that the program would reliably

23 determine with respect to an individual

24 whether—
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1 ‘‘(i) the person with the identity

2 claimed by the individual is authorized to

3 work in the United States, and

4 ‘‘(ii) the individual is fraudulently

5 using the social security account number of

6 another person,

7 if a person or entity could fulfill the require8 ment to examine documentation contained in

9 subparagraph (A) of section 274A(b)(1) by ex10 amining a document specified in either subpara11 graph (B) or (D) of such section, the Attorney

12 General may provide that, for purposes of such

13 requirement, only such a document need be ex14 amined. In such case, any reference in section

15 274A(b)(1)(A) to a verification that an indi16 vidual is not an unauthorized alien shall be

17 deemed to be a verification of the individual’s

18 identity.

19 ‘‘(3) SEEKING CONFIRMATION.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara21 graph (C), the person or other entity shall

22 make an inquiry, as provided in section

23 404(a)(1) of this division, using the confirma24 tion system to seek confirmation of the identity

25 and employment eligibility of an individual, by
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1 not later than the end of 3 working days (as

2 specified by the Attorney General) after the

3 date of the hiring (or recruitment or referral, as

4 the case may be).

5 ‘‘(B) EXTENSION OF TIME PERIOD.—If the

6 person or other entity in good faith attempts to

7 make an inquiry during such 3 working days

8 and the confirmation system has registered that

9 not all inquiries were received during such time,

10 the person or entity can make an inquiry in the

11 first subsequent working day in which the con12 firmation system registers that it has received

13 all inquiries. If the confirmation system cannot

14 receive inquiries at all times during a day, the

15 person or entity merely has to assert that the

16 entity attempted to make the inquiry on that

17 day for the previous sentence to apply to such

18 an inquiry, and does not have to provide any

19 additional proof concerning such inquiry.

20 ‘‘(C) PERMITTING USE OF MACHINE-READ21 ABLE DOCUMENTS.—If the individual whose

22 identity and employment eligibility must be con23 firmed presents to the person or entity hiring

24 (or recruiting or referring) the individual a li25 cense or other document described in section
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1 274A(b)(1)(D)(i) that includes a machine-read2 able social security account number, the person

3 or entity may make an inquiry through the con4 firmation system by using a machine-readable

5 feature of such document.

6 ‘‘(D) LIMITED DISCLOSURE.—The con7 firmation system shall disclose to the person or

8 entity making the inquiry only a confirmation

9 or nonconfirmation of the individual’s eligibility

10 to be employed and shall not disclose any social

11 security account number or any other social se12 curity account information.

13 ‘‘(E) USE OF ELECTRONIC INQUIRY SYS14 TEM.—The confirmation system shall permit,

15 not later than 2 years after the date of the en16 actment of this subparagraph, for inquiries to

17 be made, and confirmation and nonconfirmation

18 to be made transmitted, through electronic

19 media (such as a modem or telephone).

20 ‘‘(4) CONFIRMATION OR NONCONFIRMATION.—

21 ‘‘(A) CONFIRMATION UPON INITIAL IN22 QUIRY.—If the person or other entity receives

23 an appropriate confirmation of an individual’s

24 identity and work eligibility under the confirma25 tion system within the time period specified
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1 under section 404(b) of this division, the person

2 or entity shall record on the I–9 or similar form

3 an appropriate code that is provided under the

4 system and that indicates a final confirmation

5 of such identity and work eligibility of the indi6 vidual.

7 ‘‘(B) NONCONFIRMATION UPON INITIAL IN8 QUIRY AND SECONDARY VERIFICATION.—

9 ‘‘(i) NONCONFIRMATION.—If the per10 son or other entity receives a tentative

11 nonconfirmation of an individual’s identity

12 or work eligibility under the confirmation

13 system within the time period specified

14 under 404(b) of this division, the person or

15 entity shall so inform the individual for

16 whom the confirmation is sought.

17 ‘‘(ii) NO CONTEST.—If the individual

18 does not contest the nonconfirmation with19 in the time period specified in section

20 404(c) of this division, the nonconfirmation

21 shall be considered final. The person or en22 tity shall then record on the I–9 or similar

23 form an appropriate code which has been

24 provided under the system to indicate a

25 tentative nonconfirmation.
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1 ‘‘(iii) CONTEST.—If the individual

2 does contest the nonconfirmation, the indi3 vidual shall utilize the process for sec4 ondary verification provided under section

5 404(c) of this division. The nonconfirma6 tion will remain tentative until a final con7 firmation or nonconfirmation is provided

8 by the confirmation system within the time

9 period specified in such section. In no case

10 shall an employer terminate employment of

11 an individual because of a failure of the in12 dividual to have identity and work eligi13 bility confirmed under this section until a

14 nonconfirmation becomes final. Nothing in

15 this clause shall apply to a termination of

16 employment for any reason other than be17 cause of such a failure.

18 ‘‘(iv) RECORDING OF CONCLUSION ON

19 FORM.—If a final confirmation or noncon20 firmation is provided by the confirmation

21 system under section 404(c) of this divi22 sion regarding an individual, the person or

23 entity shall record on the I–9 or similar

24 form an appropriate code that is provided

25 under the system and that indicates a con-
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1 firmation or nonconfirmation of identity

2 and work eligibility of the individual.

3 ‘‘(C) CONSEQUENCES OF NONCONFIRMA4 TION.—

5 ‘‘(i) TERMINATION OR NOTIFICATION

6 OF CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT.—If the per7 son or other entity has received a final

8 nonconfirmation regarding an individual

9 under subparagraph (B), the person or en10 tity may terminate employment (or recruit11 ment or referral) of the individual. If the

12 person or entity does not terminate em13 ployment (or recruitment or referral) of

14 the individual, the person or entity shall

15 notify the Attorney General of such fact

16 through the confirmation system or in such

17 other manner as the Attorney General may

18 specify.

19 ‘‘(ii) FAILURE TO NOTIFY.—If the

20 person or entity fails to provide notice with

21 respect to an individual as required under

22 clause (i), the failure is deemed to con23 stitute a violation of section 274A(a)(1)(B)

24 with respect to that individual and the ap25 plicable civil monetary penalty under sec-
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1 tion 274A(e)(5) shall be (notwithstanding

2 the amounts specified in such section) no

3 less than $500 and no more than $1,000

4 for each individual with respect to whom

5 such violation occurred.

6 ‘‘(iii) CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT

7 AFTER FINAL NONCONFIRMATION.—If the

8 person or other entity continues to employ

9 (or to recruit or refer) an individual after

10 receiving final nonconfirmation, a rebut11 table presumption is created that the per12 son or entity has violated section

13 274A(a)(1)(A). The previous sentence shall

14 not apply in any prosecution under section

15 274A(f)(1).

16 ‘‘(b) PROTECTION FROM LIABILITY FOR ACTIONS

17 TAKEN ON THE BASIS OF INFORMATION PROVIDED BY

18 THE CONFIRMATION SYSTEM.—No person or entity par19 ticipating in the program shall be civilly or criminally lia20 ble under any law for any action taken in good faith reli21 ance on information provided through the confirmation

22 system.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 404. EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY CONFIRMATION SYS2 TEM.

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, in co4 operation with the Secretary of Labor and the Commis5 sioner of Social Security, shall establish the program con6 firmation system through which the Attorney General (or

7 a designee of the Attorney General, which may be a non8 governmental entity)—

9 ‘‘(1) responds to inquiries made by electing per10 sons and other entities at any time through a toll11 free telephone line or other toll-free electronic media

12 concerning an individual’s identity and whether the

13 individual is authorized to be employed, and

14 ‘‘(2) maintains records of the inquiries that

15 were made, of confirmations provided (or not pro16 vided), and of the codes provided to inquirers as evi17 dence of their compliance with their obligations

18 under the program.

19 To the extent practicable, the Attorney General shall seek

20 to establish such a system using one or more nongovern21 mental entities.

22 ‘‘(b) INITIAL RESPONSE.—The confirmation system

23 shall provide confirmation or a tentative nonconfirmation

24 of an individual’s identity and employment eligibility with25 in 3 working days of the initial inquiry. If providing con26 firmation or tentative nonconfirmation, the confirmation
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1 system shall provide an appropriate code indicating such

2 confirmation or such nonconfirmation.

3 ‘‘(c) SECONDARY VERIFICATION PROCESS IN CASE

4 OF TENTATIVE NONCONFIRMATION.—In cases of ten5 tative nonconfirmation, the Attorney General shall specify,

6 in consultation with the Commissioner of Social Security,

7 Secretary of Labor, and the Commissioner of the Immi8 gration and Naturalization Service, an available secondary

9 verification process to confirm the validity of information

10 provided and to provide a final confirmation or noncon11 firmation within 10 working days after the date of the

12 tentative nonconfirmation. When final confirmation or

13 nonconfirmation is provided, the confirmation system shall

14 provide an appropriate code indicating such confirmation

15 or nonconfirmation.

16 ‘‘(d) DESIGN AND OPERATION OF SYSTEM.—The

17 confirmation system shall be designed and operated—

18 ‘‘(1) to maximize its reliability and ease of use

19 by persons and other entities making elections under

20 section 402(a) of this division consistent with insu21 lating and protecting the privacy and security of the

22 underlying information;

23 ‘‘(2) to respond to all inquiries made by such

24 persons and entities on whether individuals are au-
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1 thorized to be employed and to register all times

2 when such inquiries are not received;

3 ‘‘(3) with appropriate administrative, technical,

4 and physical safeguards to prevent unauthorized dis5 closure of personal information; and

6 ‘‘(4) to have reasonable safeguards against the

7 system’s resulting in unlawful discriminatory prac8 tices based on national origin or citizenship status,

9 including—

10 ‘‘(A) the selective or unauthorized use of

11 the system to verify eligibility;

12 ‘‘(B) the use of the system prior to an

13 offer of employment;

14 ‘‘(C) the exclusion of certain individuals

15 from consideration for employment as a result

16 of a perceived likelihood that additional

17 verification will be required, beyond what is re18 quired for most job applicants; or

19 ‘‘(D) the authority of the Immigration and

20 Naturalization Service to impose a civil money

21 penalty of not less than $500 and no more than

22 $1,000 for each individual with respect to

23 whom such a violation occurred.

24 ‘‘(e) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE COMMISSIONER OF

25 SOCIAL SECURITY.—As part of the confirmation system,
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1 the Commissioner of Social Security, in consultation with

2 the entity responsible for administration of the system,

3 shall establish a reliable, secure method, which, within the

4 time periods specified under subsections (b) and (c), com5 pares the name and social security account number pro6 vided in an inquiry against such information maintained

7 by the Commissioner in order to confirm (or not confirm)

8 the validity of the information provided regarding an indi9 vidual whose identity and employment eligibility must be

10 confirmed, the correspondence of the name and number,

11 whether the individual has presented a social security ac12 count number that is not valid for employment, and

13 whether the individual is fraudulently using the social se14 curity account number of another person. The Commis15 sioner shall not disclose or release social security informa16 tion (other than such confirmation or nonconfirmation),

17 except that if an officer or employee in connection with

18 conducting activities under the program discovers evidence

19 of criminal activity, the officer or employee may report

20 such activity to authorized law enforcement officials.

21 ‘‘(f) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE COMMISSIONER OF

22 THE IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE.—As

23 part of the confirmation system, the Commissioner of the

24 Immigration and Naturalization Service, in consultation

25 with the entity responsible for administration of the sys-
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1 tem, shall establish a reliable, secure method, which, with2 in the time periods specified under subsections (b) and (c),

3 compares the name and alien identification or authoriza4 tion number described in section 403(a)(1)(B) of this divi5 sion which are provided in an inquiry against such infor6 mation maintained by the Commissioner in order to con7 firm (or not confirm) the validity of the information pro8 vided, the correspondence of the name and number, wheth9 er the alien is authorized to be employed in the United

10 States, and whether the individual is fraudulently using

11 the social security account number of another person.

12 ‘‘(g) UPDATING INFORMATION.—The Commissioners

13 of Social Security and the Immigration and Naturalization

14 Service shall update their information in a manner that

15 promotes the maximum accuracy and shall provide a proc16 ess for the prompt correction of erroneous information, in17 cluding instances in which it is brought to their attention

18 in the secondary verification process described in sub19 section (c).

20 ‘‘(h) LIMITATION ON USE OF THE CONFIRMATION

21 SYSTEM AND ANY RELATED SYSTEMS.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

23 provision of law, nothing in this subtitle shall be

24 construed to permit or allow any department, bu25 reau, or other agency of the United States Govern-
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1 ment to utilize any information, data base, or other

2 records assembled under this subtitle for any other

3 purpose other than as provided for under the pro4 gram.

5 ‘‘(2) NO NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION CARD.—

6 Nothing in this subtitle shall be construed to author7 ize, directly or indirectly, the issuance or use of na8 tional identification cards or the establishment of a

9 national identification card.

10 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General shall

11 enter into a cooperative agreement with the Secretary of

12 Labor and the Commissioner of Social Security for the

13 purpose of carrying out this subtitle. Under the agree14 ment, officers and employees of the Immigration and Nat15 uralization Service and of the Department of Labor, in

16 cooperation with the Social Security Administration, are

17 authorized to confirm the eligibility of individuals to be

18 employed in the United States. In confirming such eligi19 bility, such officers and employees may use records that

20 include Social Security account numbers to determine with

21 respect to an individual whether the person with the iden22 tity claimed by the individual is authorized to be employed

23 in the United States and whether the individual is fraudu24 lently using the social security account number of another

25 person. Under the agreement, the Social Security Admin-
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1 istration is authorized to release to employees of the Immi2 gration and Naturalization Service information, including

3 (but not limited to) the following:

4 ‘‘(1) The name, date of birth, and social secu5 rity account number of individuals.

6 ‘‘(2) All records relating to any alien.

7 ‘‘(3) All records relating to any individual

8 whom the Attorney General suspects is fraudulently

9 using the social security account number of another

10 person, including records that indicate that an indi11 vidual has requested a high number of replacement

12 social security account number cards.

13 ‘‘SEC. 405. ANNUAL REPORTS.

14 ‘‘The Attorney General shall submit to the Commit15 tees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and

16 of the Senate reports on the program. Such reports

17 shall—

18 ‘‘(1) assess the degree of fraudulent attesting of

19 United States citizenship,

20 ‘‘(2) include recommendations on whether or

21 not the program should be modified, and

22 ‘‘(3) assess the benefits of the program to em23 ployers and the degree to which they assist in the

24 enforcement of section 274A.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 406. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated, for fiscal

3 year 2000 and each succeeding fiscal year, such sums as

4 may be necessary to carry out this subtitle.’’.

5 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The items in the table

6 of contents in section 1(d) of the Illegal Immigration Re7 form and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (division

8 C of Public Law 104–208) relating to subtitle A of title

9 IV are amended to read as follows:

‘‘SUBTITLE A—LEGAL EMPLOYMENT AUTHENTICATION PROGRAM (LEAP)

FOR EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY CONFIRMATION

‘‘Sec. 401. Establishment of program.

‘‘Sec. 402. Voluntary election to participate in the program.

‘‘Sec. 403. Procedures for participants in the program.

‘‘Sec. 404. Employment eligibility confirmation system.

‘‘Sec. 405. Annual reports.

‘‘Sec. 406. Authorization of appropriations.’’.

10 (c) SUNSET OF CURRENT CITIZEN ATTESTATION

11 AND MACHINE-READABLE-DOCUMENT PILOT PRO12 GRAMS.—The pilot programs under subsections (b) and

13 (c) of section 403 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and

14 Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (division C of Pub15 lic Law 104–208) (as in effect before the date of the en16 actment of this Act) shall terminate when the program

17 under section 404(a) of such Act (as amended by this Act)

18 becomes effective and any reference in such subsections

19 to a pilot program under subsection (a) shall be to such
27

•S 1953 IS

1 program as in effect before the date of the enactment of

2 this Act.

Æ