II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 79 

To impose a fine with respect to international remittance transfers if the 

sender is unable to verify legal status in the United States, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 7, 2015 

Mr. VITTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To impose a fine with respect to international remittance 

transfers if the sender is unable to verify legal status 

in 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Remittance Status 

5 Verification Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STATUS VERIFICATION FOR REMITTANCE TRANS2 FERS. 

3 Section 919 of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (re4 lating to remittance transfers) (15 U.S.C. 1693o–1) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub7 section (h); and 

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(g) STATUS VERIFICATION OF SENDER.— 

11 ‘‘(1) REQUEST FOR PROOF OF STATUS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each remittance 

13 transfer provider shall request from each sender 

14 of a remittance transfer, the recipient of which 

15 is located in any country other than the United 

16 States, proof of the status of that sender under 

17 the immigration laws, prior to the initiation of 

18 the remittance transfer. 

19 ‘‘(B) ACCEPTABLE DOCUMENTATION.—Ac20 ceptable documentation of the status of the 

21 sender under this paragraph— 

22 ‘‘(i) shall be, in any State that re23 quires proof of legal residence— 

24 ‘‘(I) a State-issued driver’s li25 cense or Federal passport; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) the same documentation as 

2 required by the State for proof of 

3 identity for the issuance of a driver’s 

4 license, or as required for a passport; 

5 ‘‘(ii) shall be, in any State that does 

6 not require proof of legal residence, such 

7 documentation as the Bureau shall require, 

8 by rule; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) does not include any matricula 

10 consular card. 

11 ‘‘(2) FINE FOR NONCOMPLIANCE.—Each remit12 tance transfer provider shall impose on any sender 

13 who is unable to provide the proof of status re14 quested under paragraph (1) at the time of transfer, 

15 a fine equal to 7 percent of the United States dollar 

16 amount to be transferred (excluding any fees or 

17 other charges imposed by the remittance transfer 

18 provider). 

19 ‘‘(3) SUBMISSION OF FINES TO BUREAU.—All 

20 fines imposed and collected by a remittance transfer 

21 provider under paragraph (2) shall be submitted to 

22 the Bureau, in such form and in such manner as the 

23 Bureau shall establish, by rule. 

24 ‘‘(4) ADMINISTRATIVE AND ENFORCEMENT

25 COSTS.—The Bureau shall use fines submitted 


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1 under paragraph (3) to pay the administrative and 

2 enforcement costs to the Bureau in carrying out this 

3 subsection. 

4 ‘‘(5) USE OF FINES FOR BORDER PROTEC5 TION.—Amounts from the collection of fines under 

6 this subsection that remain available after the pay7 ment of expenses described in paragraph (4), shall 

8 be transferred by the Bureau to the Treasury, to be 

9 used to pay expenses relating to United States Cus10 toms and Border Protection for border security fenc11 ing, infrastructure, and technology. 

12 ‘‘(6) DEFINITION RELATING TO IMMIGRATION

13 STATUS.—In this subsection, the term ‘immigration 

14 laws’ has the same meaning as in section 101(a) of 

15 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

16 1101(a)).’’. 

17 SEC. 3. STUDY AND REPORT REGARDING REMITTANCE 

18 TRANSFER PROCESSING FINES AND IDENTI19 FICATION PROGRAM. 

20 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

21 States shall conduct a study to determine the effects of 

22 the enactment of section 919(g) of the Electronic Fund 

23 Transfer Act, as amended by this Act. 

24 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

25 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 


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1 submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

2 Urban Affairs and the Committee on Homeland Security 

3 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Com4 mittee on Financial Services of the House of Representa5 tives a report on the results of the study conducted under 

6 paragraph (1) that includes— 

7 (1) an analysis of the costs and benefits of com8 plying with section 919(g) of the Electronic Fund 

9 Transfer Act, as amended by this Act; and 

10 (2) recommendations about whether the fines 

11 imposed under that section 919(g) should be ex12 tended or increased. 

Æ 


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