I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3895

To authorize amounts required to be paid by the United States pursuant

to a judgment or settlement in favor of an individual to be used to

pay child support and alimony obligations of the individual.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 25, 1996

Mr. GANSKE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To authorize amounts required to be paid by the United

States pursuant to a judgment or settlement in favor

of an individual to be used to pay child support and

alimony obligations of the individual.

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 ‘‘Child Support En5 hancement Act of 1996’’.
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1 SEC. 2. AMOUNTS REQUIRED TO BE PAID BY THE UNITED

2 STATES PURSUANT TO A JUDGMENT OR SET3 TLEMENT IN FAVOR OF AN INDIVIDUAL AU4 THORIZED TO BE USED TO PAY CHILD SUP5 PORT AND ALIMONY OBLIGATIONS OF THE

6 INDIVIDUAL.

7 Part D of title IV of the Social Security Act (42

8 U.S.C. 650–669) is amended by inserting after section

9 459 the following:

10 ‘‘SEC. 459A. AMOUNTS REQUIRED TO BE PAID BY THE UNIT11 ED STATES PURSUANT TO A JUDGMENT OR

12 SETTLEMENT IN FAVOR OF AN INDIVIDUAL

13 AUTHORIZED TO BE USED TO PAY CHILD

14 SUPPORT AND ALIMONY OBLIGATIONS OF

15 THE INDIVIDUAL.

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Amounts due from, or payable

17 by, the United States or the District of Columbia (includ18 ing any agency, subdivision, or instrumentality thereof)

19 pursuant to a judgment against the United States or the

20 District of Columbia in favor of, or pursuant to a settle21 ment by the United States or the District of Columbia

22 of any claim of, an individual who has a legal obligation

23 to provide child support or make alimony payments, shall

24 be subject, in like manner and to the same extent as if

25 the United States or the District of Columbia were a pri26 vate person, to any legal process brought by a State agen-
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1 cy administering a program under a State plan approved

2 under this part or by an individual obligee, to enforce the

3 obligation.

4 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—Rules similar

5 to the rules of subsections (b), (c), (d), and (f) of section

6 459 and the rules of section 461 shall apply to the disposi7 tion of amounts pursuant to subsection (a) of this section

8 in the same manner in which such rules apply to the dis9 position of moneys under section 459(a).

10 ‘‘(c) LEGAL PROCESS DEFINED.—The term ‘legal

11 process’ means any writ, order, summons, or other similar

12 process in the nature of garnishment or attachment—

13 ‘‘(1) which is issued by—

14 ‘‘(A) a court or an administrative agency

15 of competent jurisdiction in any State, territory,

16 or possession of the United States;

17 ‘‘(B) a court or an administrative agency

18 of competent jurisdiction in any foreign country

19 with which the United States has entered into

20 an agreement which requires the United States

21 to honor the process; or

22 ‘‘(C) an authorized official pursuant to an

23 order of such a court or an administrative agen24 cy of competent jurisdiction or pursuant to

25 State or local law; and
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1 ‘‘(2) which is directed to, and the purpose of

2 which is to compel, a governmental entity which

3 holds moneys which are otherwise payable to an in4 dividual to make a payment from the moneys to an5 other party in order to satisfy a legal obligation of

6 the individual to provide child support or make ali7 mony payments.

8 ‘‘(d) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—The definitions set forth

9 in subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d), and paragraphs (1),

10 (2), and (3) of subsection (g), of section 462 shall apply

11 for purposes of this section.’’.

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