I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 482

To direct that certain Federal financial benefits be provided only to citizens

and nationals of the United States.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 11, 1995

Mr. HUNTER (for himself, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. DORNAN, Mr. STUMP, Mr.

HANCOCK, Mr. SAXTON, and Mr. JONES) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and, in addition, the Committees on Banking and Financial Services and Agriculture,

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the

committee concerned

A BILL

To direct that certain Federal financial benefits be provided

only to citizens and nationals of the United States.

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 ‘‘Federal Benefit Integ5 rity Act’’.
2

•HR 482 IH

1 SEC. 2. PROVISION OF AID TO FAMILIES WITH DEPENDENT

2 CHILDREN ONLY TO CITIZENS AND NATION3 ALS OF THE UNITED STATES.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 402(a) of the Social Secu5 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 602(a)) is amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

7 (44);

8 (2) by striking the period at the end of para9 graph (45) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

10 (3) by inserting after paragraph (45) the fol11 lowing:

12 ‘‘(46) provide that—

13 ‘‘(A) aid under the State plan shall not be

14 payable to any family that applies therefor and

15 does not include a citizen or national of the

16 United States; and

17 ‘‘(B) the amount of aid payable under the

18 State plan to any family that is a recipient

19 thereof and does not include a citizen or na20 tional of the United States shall, notwithstand21 ing any other provision of this part, be reduced

22 each year (but not below zero) by a dollar

amount equal to 1 23 ⁄3 of the amount of such aid

24 as of the later of the effective date of this para25 graph or the first day the family does not in26 clude such a citizen or national.’’.
3

•HR 482 IH

1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

2 subsection (a) shall take effect at the end of the 1-year

3 period that begins with the date of the enactment of this

4 Act, and shall apply to payments under part A of title

5 IV of the Social Security Act for calendar quarters ending

6 after such 1-year period, without regard to whether regu7 lations to implement such amendments are promulgated

8 by the end of such 1-year period.

9 SEC. 3. PROVISION OF SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME

10 BENEFITS ONLY TO CITIZENS AND NATION11 ALS OF THE UNITED STATES.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1614(a)(1) of the Social

13 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1382c(a)(1)) is amended by strik14 ing subparagraph (B)(i) and inserting the following:

15 ‘‘(B)(i) is a citizen or national of the United

16 States, or’’.

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1621 of

18 such Act (42 U.S.C. 1382j) is hereby repealed.

19 (c) PHASE-OUT OF BENEFITS CURRENTLY PAID TO

20 INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE NOT CITIZENS OR NATIONALS.—

21 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any individual

22 who, on the date of the enactment of this Act, is not a

23 citizen or national of the United States and is receiving

24 supplemental security income benefits under title XVI of

25 the Social Security Act shall, for purposes of such title,
4

•HR 482 IH

1 be considered a citizen or national of the United States

2 during the 3-year period that begins with such date of en3 actment, except that the benefits to which the individual

shall be entitled under such title shall be reduced by 1 4 ⁄3

5 from the level of such benefits as of such date of enact6 ment, each year during such 3-year period.

7 SEC. 4. USE OF ASSISTED HOUSING BY ALIENS.

8 Section 214 of the Housing and Community Develop9 ment Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 1436a) is amended to read

10 as follows:

11 ‘‘SEC. 214. RESTRICTION ON USE OF ASSISTED HOUSING.

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro13 vision of law, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel14 opment may not make financial assistance available for

15 the benefit of any individual after the expiration of the

16 3-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of

17 the Federal Benefit Integrity Act unless the individual is

18 a citizen or national of the United States.

19 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION OF NEW ASSISTANCE.—Notwith20 standing any other provision of law, the Secretary of

21 Housing and Urban Development may not make financial

22 assistance available for the benefit of any individual who

23 is not a citizen or national of the United States after the

24 expiration of the 1-year period beginning on the date of

25 the enactment of the Federal Benefit Integrity Act unless
5

•HR 482 IH

1 such individual is receiving financial assistance on such

2 date.

3 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—For

4 purposes of this section, the term ‘financial assistance’

5 means financial assistance made available pursuant to the

6 United States Housing Act of 1937, section 235 or 236

7 of the National Housing Act, or section 101 of the Hous8 ing and Urban Development Act of 1965.

9 ‘‘(d) DISCRETIONARY CONTINUATION OF FINANCIAL

10 ASSISTANCE.—If, following completion of the applicable

11 hearing process, financial assistance for any individual re12 ceiving such assistance on the date referred to in sub13 section (a) is to be terminated, the public housing agency

14 or other local governmental entity involved (in the case

15 of public housing or assistance under section 8 of the

16 United States Housing Act of 1937) or the Secretary of

17 Housing and Urban Development (in the case of any other

18 financial assistance) may, in its discretion, take one of the

19 following actions:

20 ‘‘(1) CONTINUED PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE.—

21 Permit the continued provision of financial assist22 ance, if necessary to avoid the division of a family

23 in which the head of household or spouse is a citizen

24 or national of the United States.
6

•HR 482 IH

1 ‘‘(2) DEFERRED TERMINATION OF ASSIST2 ANCE.—Defer the termination of financial assist3 ance, if necessary to permit the orderly transition of

4 the individual and any family members involved to

5 other affordable housing, except that—

6 ‘‘(A) any deferral under this paragraph

7 shall be for a 6-month period and may be re8 newed by the public housing agency or other

9 entity involved for an aggregate period of 3

10 years; and

11 ‘‘(B) at the beginning of each deferral pe12 riod, the public housing agency or other entity

13 involved shall inform the individual and family

14 members of their ineligibility for financial as15 sistance and offer them other assistance in find16 ing other affordable housing.

17 For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘family’ means

18 a head of household, any spouse, any parents of the head

19 of household, any parents of the spouse, and any children

20 of the head of household or spouse.

21 ‘‘(e) DECLARATION OF CITIZENSHIP.—Financial as22 sistance may not be provided for the benefit of an individ23 ual unless the following requirements are met:

24 ‘‘(1) STATEMENT.—There is a declaration in

25 writing by the individual (or, in the case of an indi-
7

•HR 482 IH

1 vidual who is a child, by another on the individual’s

2 behalf), under penalty of perjury, stating that the

3 individual is a citizen or national of the United

4 States.

5 ‘‘(2) DOCUMENTATION.—There is presented

6 such documentation as the Secretary determines

7 constitutes reasonable evidence indicating that the

8 individual is a citizen or national of the United

9 States.’’.

10 SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOOD STAMP ACT OF 1977.

11 (a) AMENDMENTS.—The Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7

12 U.S.C. 2011–2032) is amended—

13 (1) in section 5 by striking subsection (i),

14 (2) in the first sentence of section 6(f) by strik15 ing ‘‘(2) either’’ and all that follows through ‘‘house16 hold.’’, and inserting ‘‘(2) a citizen or national of the

17 United States.’’, and

18 (3) in section 11(e)(2) by striking ‘‘either citi19 zens or are aliens’’ and inserting ‘‘citizens or nation20 als of the United States’’.

21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION OF AMEND22 MENTS.—

23 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take

24 effect 1 year after the date of the enactment of this

25 Act.
8

•HR 482 IH

1 (2) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.—The

2 amendments made by subsection (a) shall not apply

3 with respect to certification periods beginning before

4 the effective date of this section.

Æ