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[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 773 Introduced in House (IH)]

108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 773

  To amend section 5318 of title 31, United States Code, to authorize 
   financial institutions to accept matricula consular issued in the 
            United States as a valid form of identification.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 13, 2003

Mr. Hinojosa (for himself, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Gutierrez, Ms. Velazquez, 
  Mr. Reyes, Mr. Gonzalez, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Ortiz, Mr. Baca, Ms. 
     Solis, Mr. Pastor, Mr. Acevedo-Vila, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of 
  California, Mr. Serrano, and Mr. Grijalva) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
  To amend section 5318 of title 31, United States Code, to authorize 
   financial institutions to accept matricula consular issued in the 
            United States as a valid form of identification.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``21st Century Access to Banking 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) As financial institutions more carefully scrutinize 
        identifying documents presented by foreign nationals seeking to 
        open new accounts, they are increasingly accepting the 
        matricula consular as the primary form of identification for 
        Mexican citizens residing in the United States.
            (2) The matricula consular is a water-sealed photo 
        identification card issued by the Government of Mexico to 
        Mexican nationals who--
                    (A) complete an application form in person at any 
                of the 47 consulate offices of the Government of Mexico 
                within the United States; and
                    (B) submit a certified copy of a birth certificate, 
                present an official picture ID issued by any Mexican or 
                U.S. authority, and show proof of residence in the 
                consular district by presenting a phone, rent, or power 
                bill.
            (3) The card known as the matricula consular contains a 
        serial number, the individual's name, date and place of birth, 
        the United States address of such individual, as well as the 
        card's date of issuance and expiration.
            (4) Mexican consulate offices in the United States are also 
        developing a telephone verification service that will allow 
        financial institutions and other persons to confirm the 
        authenticity of any matricula consular.
            (5) Accepting matricula consular as a form of 
        identification allows Mexican immigrants to enter the financial 
        mainstream and provides banks and other financial institutions 
        with a new, fast-growing market.
            (6) Opening a bank account is often impossible for Mexican 
        nationals who lack the generally required 2 forms of 
        identification and as a consequence, they often use expensive 
        check-cashing services to cash payroll checks and wire services 
        to send money to relatives in Mexico and carry large sums of 
        cash, which has increasingly made them targets of crime.
            (7) Institutions located in areas with large Hispanic 
        populations have established a variety of programs to meet the 
        needs of this growing segment of the population, including the 
        maintenance of bilingual automated teller machines, the 
        employment of bilingual staff, and the establishment of loan 
        packages and business banking services geared to Hispanic 
        businesses.
            (8) The acceptance of the matricula consular issued by 
        consulates of the Government of Mexico as a form of 
        identification is consistent with the proposed customer 
        identification verification regulations prescribed under 
        section 5318(l) of title 31, United States Code.

SEC. 3. ACCEPTANCE OF MATRICULA CONSULAR FOR IDENTIFICATION AND 
              VERIFICATION OF CUSTOMERS WHO OPEN ACCOUNTS AT FINANCIAL 
              INSTITUTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Paragraph (6) of section 5318(l) of title 31, 
United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
            ``(6) Matricula consular.--Subject to regulations 
        prescribed under this subsection, a matricula consular issued 
        in the United States by a duly authorized consular officer of 
        the Government of Mexico shall be a valid form of 
        identification of the individual to whom the card is issued for 
        purposes of this subsection.''.
    (b) Effective Date of Regulations.--The Secretary of the Treasury 
shall prescribe such regulations in final form as may be necessary to 
give effect to the amendment made by subsection (a) before the end of 
the 90-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>
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