I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1379 

To assist aliens who have been lawfully admitted in becoming citizens of 

the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2007 

Mr. GUTIERREZ (for himself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. HONDA, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Mr. REYES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To assist aliens who have been lawfully admitted in becoming 

citizens of the United States, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Citizenship Promotion Act of 2007’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Immigration service fees. 

Sec. 3. Administration of tests for naturalization. 

Sec. 4. Voluntary electronic filing of applications. 


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Sec. 5. Timely background checks. 

Sec. 6. National citizenship promotion program. 

1 SEC. 2. IMMIGRATION SERVICE FEES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (m) of section 286 of 

3 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(m)) 

4 is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(m) IMMIGRATION SERVICE FEES.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para7 graph (2) and notwithstanding any other provision 

8 of law, all adjudication fees as are designated by the 

9 Secretary of Homeland Security in regulations shall 

10 be deposited as offsetting receipts into a separate ac11 count entitled ‘Immigration Examinations Fee Ac12 count’ in the Treasury of the United States, whether 

13 collected directly by the Secretary or through clerks 

14 of courts. 

15 ‘‘(2) VIRGIN ISLANDS AND GUAM.—All fees re16 ceived by the Secretary of Homeland Security from 

17 applicants residing in the Virgin Islands of the 

18 United States, or in Guam, under this subsection 

19 shall be paid over to the treasury of the Virgin Is20 lands or to the treasury of Guam, respectively. 

21 ‘‘(3) FEES FOR IMMIGRATION SERVICES.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara23 graph (B), the Secretary of Homeland Security 


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1 may set fees for providing immigration services 

2 at a level that will— 

3 ‘‘(i) ensure recovery of the full costs 

4 of providing such services, or a portion 

5 thereof, including the costs of similar serv6 ices provided without charge to asylum ap7 plicants or other immigrants; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) recover the full cost of admin9 istering the collection of fees under this 

10 paragraph, or a portion thereof. 

11 ‘‘(B) REPORT REQUIREMENT.—The Sec12 retary of Homeland Security may not increase 

13 any fee under this paragraph above the level of 

14 such fee on the day before the date of the intro15 duction of the Citizenship Promotion Act of 

16 2007, until— 

17 ‘‘(i) the Secretary submits to the 

18 Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate 

19 and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

20 House of Representatives a report that— 

21 ‘‘(I) identifies the direct and indi22 rect costs associated with providing 

23 immigration services, and distin24 guishes such costs from immigration 


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1 enforcement and national security 

2 costs; and 

3 ‘‘(II) contains information re4 garding the amount the fee will be in5 creased; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) a period of 45 days has expired 

7 beginning on the date that the report in 

8 clause (i) is received by the committees de9 scribed in such clause.’’. 

10 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con11 gress that— 

12 (1) the Secretary of Homeland Security should 

13 set fees under section 286(m)(3) of the Immigration 

14 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(m)(3)), as 

15 amended by subsection (a) of this section, at a level 

16 that ensures recovery of only the direct costs associ17 ated with the services described in such section 

18 286(m)(3); and 

19 (2) Congress should appropriate to the Sec20 retary of Homeland Security such funds as may be 

21 necessary to cover the indirect costs associated with 

22 the services described in such section 286(m)(3). 

23 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 286 of the 

24 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356) is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) in subsections (d), (e), (f), (h), (i), (j), (k), 

2 (l), (n), (o), (q), (t), and (u), by striking ‘‘Attorney 

3 General’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Sec4 retary of Homeland Security’’; 

5 (2) in subsection (i) of such section, by striking 

6 ‘‘Attorney General’s’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’s’’; 

7 and 

8 (3) in subsection (r)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Depart10 ment of Justice’’ and inserting ‘‘Department of 

11 Homeland Security’’; and 

12 (B) in paragraphs (3) and (4), by striking 

13 ‘‘Attorney General’’ each place it appears and 

14 inserting ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security’’. 

15 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For 

16 each fiscal year, there is authorized to be appropriated to 

17 the Secretary of Homeland Security an amount equal to 

18 the difference between the fees collected under section 

19 286(m)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

20 U.S.C. 1356(m)(3)), as amended by subsection (a) of this 

21 section, and the cost of providing the services referred to 

22 in such section 286(m)(3). 


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1 SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION OF TESTS FOR NATURALIZATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 312 of 

3 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1423) is 

4 amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(a) NATURALIZATION TEST.— 

6 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS.—Except as otherwise 

7 provided in this title, a person may not be natural8 ized as a citizen of the United States upon the appli9 cation of such person if such person cannot dem10 onstrate the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) A proficiency in the English lan12 guage. 

13 ‘‘(B) A knowledge and understanding of— 

14 ‘‘(i) the fundamentals of the history of 

15 the United States; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) the principles and form of gov17 ernment of the United States. 

18 ‘‘(2) TESTING.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

20 Homeland Security, in administering any test 

21 that the Secretary uses to determine whether 

22 an applicant for naturalization as a citizen of 

23 the United States has the proficiency and 

24 knowledge sufficient to meet the requirements 

25 of paragraph (1), shall administer such test 

26 uniformly throughout the United States. 


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1 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATION.—In selecting and 

2 phrasing items in the administration of a test 

3 described in subparagraph (A) and in evalu4 ating the performance of an applicant on such 

5 test, the Secretary shall consider the following: 

6 ‘‘(i) The age of the applicant. 

7 ‘‘(ii) The education level of the appli8 cant. 

9 ‘‘(iii) The amount of time the appli10 cant has resided in the United States. 

11 ‘‘(iv) The efforts made by the appli12 cant, and the opportunities available to the 

13 applicant, to acquire the knowledge and 

14 proficiencies required by paragraph (1). 

15 ‘‘(v) Such other factors as the Sec16 retary considers appropriate. 

17 ‘‘(C) ENGLISH LANGUAGE TESTING.—The 

18 requirement in paragraph (1)(A) shall be satis19 factorily met if an applicant can— 

20 ‘‘(i) speak words in ordinary usage in 

21 the English language; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) read or write simple words and 

23 phrases in ordinary usage in the English 

24 language. 


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1 ‘‘(D) PROHIBITION ON EXTRAORDINARY

2 AND UNREASONABLE CONDITIONS.—The Sec3 retary may not impose any extraordinary or un4 reasonable condition on any applicant seeking 

5 to meet the requirements of paragraph (1).’’. 

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Subsection (b) of 

7 such section is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘subsection 

9 (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)’’; 

10 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘subsection 

11 (a)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)(A)’’; and 

12 (3) in paragraph (3)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘subsection (a)(2)’’ and in14 serting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)(B)’’; 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘The Attorney General’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘The Secretary of Homeland Se17 curity’’; and 

18 (C) by striking ‘‘determined by the Attor19 ney General’’ and inserting ‘‘determined by the 

20 Secretary’’. 

21 SEC. 4. VOLUNTARY ELECTRONIC FILING OF APPLICA22 TIONS. 

23 The Secretary of Homeland Security may not require 

24 that an applicant or petitioner for permanent residence or 


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1 citizenship of the United States use an electronic method 

2 to file any application to, or access a customer account. 

3 SEC. 5. TIMELY BACKGROUND CHECKS. 

4 (a) STUDY.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

6 the United States shall conduct a study on the proc7 ess used by the Department of Justice on the day 

8 before the date of the enactment of this Act to con9 duct a background check on an applicant for citizen10 ship of the United States. 

11 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act and annually 

13 thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United 

14 States shall report to Congress on the findings of 

15 the study required by paragraph (1). 

16 (3) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report re17 quired by paragraph (2) shall include the following 

18 information with respect to the calendar year pre19 ceding the date on which the report is filed: 

20 (A) The number of background checks con21 ducted by the Department of Justice on appli22 cants for citizenship of the United States. 

23 (B) The types of such background checks 

24 conducted. 


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1 (C) The average time spent on each such 

2 type of background check. 

3 (D) A description of the obstacles that im4 pede the timely completion of such background 

5 checks. 

6 (b) TIMELY COMPLETION OF BACKGROUND

7 CHECKS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a request 

9 submitted to the Attorney General by the Secretary 

10 of Homeland Security for a background check on an 

11 applicant for temporary or permanent residence or 

12 citizenship of the United States, the Attorney Gen13 eral shall make a reasonable effort to complete a 

14 background check on such applicant not later than 

15 90 days after the Attorney General receives such re16 quest from the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

17 (2) DELAYS ON BACKGROUND CHECKS.—If a 

18 background check described in paragraph (1) is not 

19 completed by the Attorney General before the date 

20 that is 91 days after the date that the Attorney 

21 General receives a request described in paragraph 

22 (1)— 

23 (A) the Attorney General shall document 

24 the reason why such background check was not 

25 completed before such date; 


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1 (B) if such background check is not com2 pleted before the date that is 121 days after the 

3 date of such receipt, then the Attorney General 

4 shall document the reason why such back5 ground check was not completed before such 

6 date; and 

7 (C) if such background check is not com8 pleted before the date that is 181 days after the 

9 date of such receipt, then the Attorney General 

10 shall, not later than 210 days after the date of 

11 such receipt, submit to the appropriate congres12 sional committees and the Secretary of Home13 land Security a report that describes— 

14 (i) the reason that such background 

15 check was not completed within 180 days; 

16 and 

17 (ii) the earliest date on which the At18 torney General is certain the background 

19 check will be completed. 

20 (3) ANNUAL REPORT ON DELAYED BACK21 GROUND CHECKS.—Not later than the end of each 

22 fiscal year, the Attorney General shall submit to the 

23 appropriate congressional committees a report con24 taining, with respect to that fiscal year— 


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1 (A) the number of background checks de2 scribed in subparagraph (B) or (C) of para3 graph (2); 

4 (B) the time taken to complete each such 

5 background check; 

6 (C) a statistical analysis of the causes of 

7 the delays in completing such background 

8 checks; and 

9 (D) a description of the efforts being made 

10 by the Attorney General to address each such 

11 cause. 

12 (4) NOTIFICATION TO APPLICANT.—If, with re13 spect to a background check on an applicant de14 scribed in paragraph (1), the Secretary of Homeland 

15 Security receives a report under paragraph (2)(C), 

16 then the Secretary shall provide to such applicant a 

17 copy of such report, redacted to remove any classi18 fied information contained therein. 

19 (5) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT20 TEES.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appropriate 

21 congressional committees’’ means the following: 

22 (A) The Committee on the Judiciary of the 

23 Senate. 

24 (B) The Committee on Homeland Security 

25 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 


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1 (C) The Committee on the Judiciary of the 

2 House of Representatives. 

3 (D) The Committee on Homeland Security 

4 of the House of Representatives. 

5 (6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

6 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Attor7 ney General such funds as may be necessary to 

8 carry out the provisions of this subsection. 

9 SEC. 6. NATIONAL CITIZENSHIP PROMOTION PROGRAM. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 

12 2008, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall es13 tablish a program to assist aliens who have been 

14 lawfully admitted for permanent residence in becom15 ing citizens of the United States. 

16 (2) DESIGNATION.—The program required by 

17 paragraph (1) shall be known as the ‘‘New Ameri18 cans Initiative’’ (in this section referred to as the 

19 ‘‘Program’’). 

20 (b) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—As part of the Program 

21 required by subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Se22 curity shall— 

23 (1) award grants in accordance with subsection 

24 (c); and 


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1 (2) carry out outreach activities in accordance 

2 with subsection (d). 

3 (c) GRANTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

5 Security shall award grants to eligible entities to as6 sist aliens who have been lawfully admitted for per7 manent residence in becoming citizens of the United 

8 States. 

9 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this sub10 section, the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means a not-for11 profit organization that has experience working with 

12 immigrant communities. 

13 (3) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under 

14 this subsection shall be used for activities to assist 

15 aliens who have been lawfully admitted for perma16 nent residence in becoming citizens of the United 

17 States, including— 

18 (A) conducting English language and citi19 zenship classes for such aliens; 

20 (B) providing legal assistance, by attorneys 

21 or entities accredited by the Board of Immigra22 tion Appeals, to such aliens to assist such aliens 

23 in becoming citizens of the United States; 

24 (C) carrying out outreach activities and 

25 providing education to immigrant communities 


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1 to assist such aliens in becoming citizens of the 

2 United States; and 

3 (D) assisting such aliens with applications 

4 to become citizens of the United States, as al5 lowed by Federal and State law. 

6 (4) APPLICATION FOR GRANT.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity 

8 seeking a grant under this subsection shall sub9 mit an application to the Secretary of Home10 land Security at such time, in such manner, 

11 and accompanied by such information as the 

12 Secretary shall require. 

13 (B) CONTENTS.—Each application sub14 mitted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall in15 clude a description of— 

16 (i) the activities for which a grant 

17 under this section is sought; 

18 (ii) the manner in which the entity 

19 plans to leverage available private and 

20 State and local government resources to 

21 assist aliens who have been lawfully admit22 ted for permanent residence in becoming 

23 citizens of the United States; 

24 (iii) the experience of the entity in 

25 carrying out the activities for which a 


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1 grant under this section is sought, includ2 ing the number of aliens and geographic 

3 regions served by such entity; and 

4 (iv) the manner in which the entity 

5 plans to employ best practices developed by 

6 adult educators, State and local govern7 ments, and community organizations— 

8 (I) to promote citizenship and 

9 civic participation by such aliens; and 

10 (II) to provide assistance to such 

11 aliens with the process of becoming 

12 citizens of the United States. 

13 (d) OUTREACH.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu14 rity shall— 

15 (1) develop outreach materials targeted to 

16 aliens who have been lawfully admitted for perma17 nent residence to encourage such aliens to apply to 

18 become citizens of the United States; and 

19 (2) make such outreach materials available 

20 through— 

21 (A) public service announcements; 

22 (B) advertisements; and 

23 (C) such other media as the Secretary de24 termines is appropriate. 


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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 

3 Homeland Security, $80,000,000 to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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