I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1616

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for the granting

of United States citizenship, through the issuance of a certificate of

citizenship, to any person who, after obtaining the status of an alien

lawfully admitted for permanent residence, completes 3 years of honorable service on active duty in the Armed Forces, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 26, 2001

Mr. KELLER (for himself and Mr. DIAZ-BALART) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide

for the granting of United States citizenship, through

the issuance of a certificate of citizenship, to any person

who, after obtaining the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, completes 3 years of

honorable service on active duty in the Armed Forces,

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 ‘‘Veterans’ Citizenship

5 Act of 2001’’.
2

•HR 1616 IH

1 SEC. 2. CITIZENSHIP FOR LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENT

2 ALIENS COMPLETING 3 YEARS OF HONOR3 ABLE SERVICE IN THE ARMED FORCES.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 328 of the Immigration

5 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1439) is amended to read

6 as follows:

7 ‘‘CITIZENSHIP THROUGH SERVICE IN THE ARMED FORCES

8 OF THE UNITED STATES

9 ‘‘SEC. 328. (a) A person described in subsection (b)

10 may apply for naturalization under this section without

11 regard to any other requirement of this title. Such an ap12 plication may be filed abroad. The Attorney General shall

13 approve an application for naturalization under this sec14 tion, and shall issue a certificate of citizenship to the per15 son filing the application, upon proof that the require16 ments of subsection (b) have been met.

17 ‘‘(b)(1) A person described in this subsection is a per18 son who, after acquiring the status of an alien lawfully

19 admitted for permanent residence, serves on active duty

20 in the Armed Forces of the United States and either—

21 ‘‘(A) completes not less than 3 years of such

22 service characterized by the Secretary concerned as

23 honorable service; or

24 ‘‘(B) is discharged from the Armed Forces due

25 to disability associated with wounds received while
3

•HR 1616 IH

1 on active duty that resulted in the award of the Pur2 ple Heart.

3 ‘‘(2) The Attorney General shall accept as sufficient

4 documentation of service referred to in paragraph

5 (1)(A)—

6 ‘‘(A) duly authenticated copies of the records of

7 the executive department having custody of the

8 records of the person’s service, showing the period of

9 such service and the characterization of such service;

10 or

11 ‘‘(B) in the case of a person separated from ac12 tive duty in the Armed Forces before submitting an

13 application under this section, the person’s official

14 certificate of separation from active duty (known as

15 a ‘DD 214 Form’), showing the period or periods

16 that the person served on active duty and showing

17 the characterization of the person’s service on active

18 duty.

19 ‘‘(c) The Attorney General shall present a certificate

20 of citizenship issued under this section as follows:

21 ‘‘(1) For a person who is a member of the

22 Armed Forces of the United States serving on active

23 duty, the Attorney General shall expeditiously for24 ward the certificate to the Secretary concerned for
4

•HR 1616 IH

1 presentation to the person in such manner as the

2 Secretary may direct.

3 ‘‘(2) For a person not covered by paragraph

4 (1), the Attorney General shall present the certifi5 cate to the person.’’.

6 ‘‘(d) For purposes of this section, the term ‘Secretary

7 concerned’ has the meaning given that term in section 101

8 of title 10, United States Code.’’.

Æ