I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1961

To improve the interstate enforcement of child support and parentage court

orders, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 4, 1993

Mrs. KENNELLY (for herself, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. BARLOW, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, and Mr. MORAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred

jointly to the Committees on Ways and Means, the Judiciary, Natural

Resources, Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, Post Office and Civil Service, and House Administration

A BILL

To improve the interstate enforcement of child support and

parentage court orders, 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; REFERENCE; TABLE OF CON4 TENTS.

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

6 ‘‘Interstate Child Support Act of 1993’’.

7 (b) REFERENCE TO SOCIAL SECURITY ACT.—Except

8 as otherwise specifically provided, wherever in this Act an

9 amendment is expressed in terms of an amendment to or
2

•HR 1961 IH

1 repeal of a section or other provision, the reference shall

2 be considered to be made to that section or other provision

3 of the Social Security Act.

4 (c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

5 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; reference; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings, declarations, and purposes.

TITLE I—LOCATE AND CASE TRACKING

Sec. 101. Expansion of functions of Federal Parent Locator Service.

Sec. 102. Expansion of data bases accessed by parent locator systems.

Sec. 103. Expansion of access to national network for location of parents.

Sec. 104. Private access to locate and enforcement services.

Sec. 105. National reporting of new hires and child support information.

Sec. 106. Access to law enforcement records systems.

Sec. 107. Broadcasting of warrants on State networks.

Sec. 108. Case monitoring.

Sec. 109. Access to financial records.

TITLE II—ESTABLISHMENT

Sec. 201. Interstate recognition of child support and parentage orders.

Sec. 202. Service of process on Federal employees and members of the armed

services in connection with proceedings relating to child support and parentage obligations.

Sec. 203. Presumed address of obligor and obligee.

Sec. 204. Notice to custodial parents.

Sec. 205. Uniform State rules in parentage and child support cases.

Sec. 206. Fair Credit Reporting Act amendment.

Sec. 207. National Child Support Guidelines Commission.

Sec. 208. Guideline principles.

Sec. 209. Duration of support.

Sec. 210. Evidence.

Sec. 211. Telephonic appearance in interstate cases.

Sec. 212. Uniform terms in orders.

Sec. 213. Social security numbers on marriage licenses, divorce decrees, parentage decrees, and birth certificates.

Sec. 214. Administrative subpoena power.

Sec. 215. Legal assistance programs.

Sec. 216. Indian child support.

Sec. 217. Support orders outreach and demonstrations.

TITLE III—PARENTAGE

Sec. 301. Parentage.

TITLE IV—ENFORCEMENT

Sec. 401. Direct wage withholding.

Sec. 402. Priorities in application of withheld wages.
3

•HR 1961 IH

Sec. 403. Additional benefits subject to garnishment.

Sec. 404. Consumer Credit Protection Act amendments.

Sec. 405. Prohibition against use of election of remedies doctrine to prevent collection of child support.

Sec. 406. Hold on occupational, professional, and business licenses.

Sec. 407. Driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations denied to persons failing to

appear in child support cases.

Sec. 408. Liens on certificates of vehicle title.

Sec. 409. Attachment of bank accounts.

Sec. 410. Seizure of lottery winnings, settlements, payouts, awards, and bequests, and sale of forfeited property, to pay child support arrearages.

Sec. 411. Fraudulent transfer pursuit.

Sec. 412. Full IRS collection.

Sec. 413. Tax refund offset program expanded to cover non-AFDC post-minor

children.

Sec. 414. Attachment of public and private retirement funds.

Sec. 415. Reporting of child support arrearages to credit bureaus.

Sec. 416. Statutes of limitation.

Sec. 417. Interest.

Sec. 418. Bankruptcy.

Sec. 419. Federal Government cooperation in enforcement of support obligations of members and former members of the armed forces.

Sec. 420. States required to enact the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act.

Sec. 421. IRS reconciliation process.

Sec. 422. Denial of passports to noncustodial parents subject to State arrest

warrants in cases of nonpayment of child support.

Sec. 423. Denial of Federal benefits, loans, guarantees, and employment to certain persons with large child support arrearages.

Sec. 424. States required to order courts to allow assignment of life insurance

benefits to satisfy child support arrearages.

Sec. 425. Interests in jointly held property subject to assignment to satisfy

child support arrearages.

Sec. 426. International child support enforcement.

TITLE V—COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION

Sec. 501. Priorities in distribution of collected child support.

Sec. 502. State claims against noncustodial parent limited to assistance provided to the child.

Sec. 503. Fees for non-AFDC clients.

Sec. 504. Collection and disbursement points for child support.

Sec. 505. Sense of the Congress that States should encourage parents to use

the State child support agency to collect and process child support payments.

TITLE VI—FEDERAL ROLE

Sec. 601. Placement and role of the Office of Child Support Enforcement.

Sec. 602. Training.

Sec. 603. Staffing.

Sec. 604. Demonstration projects to test alternative approaches to incentive

funding for State child support programs.

Sec. 605. Child support definition.

Sec. 606. Audits.

Sec. 607. Child support assurance demonstration projects.
4

•HR 1961 IH

Sec. 608. Children’s trust fund.

Sec. 609. Study of reasons for nonpayment of child support.

Sec. 610. Study of effectiveness of administrative processes; report.

Sec. 611. Publication of best child support practices.

Sec. 612. Establishment of permanent child support advisory committee.

TITLE VII—STATE ROLE

Sec. 701. Advocation of children’s economic security.

Sec. 702. Duties of State child support agencies.

Sec. 703. Sense of the Congress regarding quality of and accessibility to child

support services.

Sec. 704. Process for change of payee in IV–D cases.

Sec. 705. Sense of the Congress supporting use of administrative procedures in

child support cases.

Sec. 706. Sense of the Congress supporting establishment of State child support councils.

TITLE VIII—JOBS FOR UNEMPLOYED NONCUSTODIAL PARENTS

Sec. 801. Parents Fair Share Demonstration Projects.

TITLE IX—EFFECTIVE DATE

Sec. 901. Effective date.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS, DECLARATIONS, AND PURPOSES.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

3 (1) there is a large and growing number of

4 child support and parentage cases annually involving

5 disputes between parents or presumed parents who

6 reside in different States;

7 (2) the laws by which the courts of the various

8 States determine their authority to establish, en9 force, or modify a child support order, or to deter10 mine parentage are not uniform;

11 (3) those laws, along with the limits imposed by

12 a Federal system, on the authority of each State to

13 take certain actions outside its own boundaries, con14 tribute to—
5

•HR 1961 IH

1 (A) the pressing problem of parties moving

2 to avoid jurisdiction;

3 (B) inequities based solely on choice of

4 domicile;

5 (C) disregard of court orders resulting in

6 massive arrearages nationwide;

7 (D) excessive relitigation of cases;

8 (E) the establishment of conflicting orders

9 by the courts of various States; and

10 (F) inter-jurisdiction travel and commu11 nication that is so expensive and time consum12 ing as to disrupt parties’ occupations and com13 mercial activities; and

14 (4) among the results of these conditions are—

15 (A) the failure of the courts of such juris16 dictions to give full faith and credit to the judi17 cial proceedings of the other States;

18 (B) the deprivation of rights of liberty and

19 property without due process of law;

20 (C) burdens on commerce among the

21 States; and

22 (D) harm to the welfare of children and

23 their parents and other custodians.

24 (b) DECLARATION.—Based on the findings stated in

25 subsection (a), it is necessary to establish national stand-
6

•HR 1961 IH

1 ards under which the courts of each State will determine

2 their jurisdiction to establish, enforce, or modify a child

3 support order, or to determine parentage and the effect

4 to be given by each State to such determinations by the

5 courts of other States.

6 (c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to—

7 (1) expand the forums available to establish,

8 enforce, or modify a child support order, or to deter9 mine parentage so that such actions may be heard

10 in the State that has the strongest interest in the

11 child’s financial security;

12 (2) promote and expand the exchange of infor13 mation and other forms of mutual assistance be14 tween States that are concerned with the same child;

15 (3) facilitate the enforcement of support decrees

16 among the States;

17 (4) discourage continuing interstate controver18 sies over child support in the interest of greater fi19 nancial stability and secure family relationships for

20 the child; and

21 (5) avoid jurisdictional competition and conflict

22 between courts in matters relating to the establish23 ment, enforcement, and modification of child support

24 orders, and to the determination of parentage, which

25 have resulted in the movement of parties among
7

•HR 1961 IH

1 States and a low percentage of interstate cases with

2 support orders, thereby adversely affecting children’s

3 well-being.

4 (d) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the term

5 ‘‘State’’ means the several States, the District of Colum6 bia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories and

7 possessions of the United States, and Indian country (as

8 defined in section 1151 of title 18, United States Code).

9 TITLE I—LOCATE AND CASE

10 TRACKING

11 SEC. 101. EXPANSION OF FUNCTIONS OF FEDERAL PARENT

12 LOCATOR SERVICE.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653) is

14 amended—

15 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘enforcing

16 support obligations against such parent’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘establishing parentage, establishing, modifying,

18 and enforcing child support obligations, and enforc19 ing child visitation rights and responsibilities, and

20 which shall use safeguards to prevent the disclosure

21 of information in cases that would jeopardize the

22 safety of the custodial parent or any child of the

23 custodial parent’’;

24 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting after the 2nd

25 sentence the following: ‘‘Information with respect to
8

•HR 1961 IH

1 an absent parent shall not be disclosed to any person

2 if the disclosure would jeopardize the safety of the

3 custodial parent or any child of the custodial parent.

4 Information with respect to an absent parent shall

5 not be disclosed to any person (other than the custo6 dial parent) unless the custodial parent has been no7 tified in advance of the disclosure.’’; and

8 (3) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘and such

9 reasonable fees’’ after ‘‘such documents’’.

10 (b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of

11 the Congress that—

12 (1) the denial of visitation rights under a child

13 support order should be treated as irrelevant in any

14 action brought to enforce the support provisions of

15 the order; and

16 (2) the failure to pay child support pursuant to

17 a child support order should be treated as irrelevant

18 in any action brought to enforce visitation rights

19 under the order.

20 SEC. 102. EXPANSION OF DATA BASES ACCESSED BY PAR21 ENT LOCATOR SYSTEMS.

22 (a) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR FEDERAL PAR23 ENT LOCATOR SERVICE.—Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653) is

24 amended—
9

•HR 1961 IH

1 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘the most re2 cent address and place of employment’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘the most recent residential address, employer

4 name and address, and amounts and nature of in5 come and assets’’;

6 (2) in subsection (c)(3), by striking ‘‘the resi7 dent parent’’ and inserting ‘‘either parent’’; and

8 (3) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the

9 following:

10 ‘‘(4) The Secretary of the Treasury shall enter into

11 an agreement with the Secretary to provide prompt access

12 by the Secretary (in accordance with this subsection and

13 section 6103(l)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986)

14 to the quarterly estimated Federal income tax returns

15 filed by individuals with the Internal Revenue Service.’’.

16 (b) STATE INFORMATION.—Section 466(a) (42

17 U.S.C. 666(a)) is amended by inserting after paragraph

18 (10) the following:

19 ‘‘(11) Procedures under which the State child

20 support enforcement agency shall have automated

21 on-line or batch access (or, if necessary,

22 nonautomated access) to information regarding resi23 dential addresses, employers and employer address24 es, income and assets, and medical insurance bene-
10

•HR 1961 IH

1 fits with respect to absent parents that is available

2 through any data base maintained by—

3 ‘‘(A) any agency of the State or any politi4 cal subdivision thereof, that contains informa5 tion on residential addresses, or on employers

6 and employer addresses, as the State deems ap7 propriate;

8 ‘‘(B) any publicly regulated utility com9 pany located in the State;

10 ‘‘(C) any credit reporting agency located in

11 the State; and

12 ‘‘(D) any trade or labor union located in

13 the State.

14 ‘‘(12) Procedures under which the State child

15 support enforcement agency shall—

16 ‘‘(A) maintain a child support order reg17 istry which shall include each child support

18 order (or an abstract thereof) issued or modi19 fied in the State on or after the effective date

20 of this paragraph; and

21 ‘‘(B) transmit electronically to the Office

22 of Child Support Enforcement an abstract of

23 each such order, containing such information

24 and in such form as the Secretary may pre25 scribe pursuant to section 452(a)(11).’’.
11

•HR 1961 IH

1 (c) FEDERAL REGISTRY OF ABSTRACTS OF CHILD

2 SUPPORT ORDERS.—Section 452(a) (42 U.S.C 652(a)),

3 as amended by section 212(a) of this Act, is amended—

4 (1) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘and’’ after

5 the semicolon;

6 (2) in paragraph (11), by striking the period at

7 the end of the 2nd sentence and inserting ‘‘; and’’;

8 and

9 (3) by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(12) maintain a registry of all child support

11 order abstracts received from States pursuant to

12 section 466(a)(12)(B).’’.

13 (d) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of

14 the Congress that the Secretary of Health and Human

15 Services should investigate, pursuant to section 453(e) of

16 the Social Security Act, accessing Federal data banks that

17 are not linked to the Parent Locator Service which are

18 more than marginally useful in locating absent parents.

19 SEC. 103. EXPANSION OF ACCESS TO NATIONAL NETWORK

20 FOR LOCATION OF PARENTS.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653) is

22 amended by adding at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(g) The Secretary shall expand the Parent Locator

24 Service to establish a national network based on the com-
12

•HR 1961 IH

1 prehensive statewide child support enforcement systems

2 developed by the States, to—

3 ‘‘(1) allow each State to—

4 ‘‘(A) locate any absent parent who owes

5 child support, for whom a child support obliga6 tion is being established, or for whom an order

7 for visitation is being enforced, by—

8 ‘‘(i) accessing the records of other

9 State agencies and sources of locate infor10 mation directly from one computer system

11 to another; and

12 ‘‘(ii) accessing Federal sources of lo13 cate information in the same fashion;

14 ‘‘(B) access the files of other States to de15 termine whether there are other child support

16 orders and obtain the details of those orders;

17 ‘‘(C) provide for both on-line and batch

18 processing of locate requests, with on-line ac19 cess restricted to cases in which the information

20 is needed immediately (for such reasons as

21 court appearances) and batch processing used

22 to ‘troll’ data bases to locate individuals or up23 date information periodically; and

24 ‘‘(D) direct locate requests to individual

25 States or Federal agencies, broadcast requests
13

•HR 1961 IH

1 to selected States, or broadcast cases to all

2 States when there is no indication of the source

3 of needed information;

4 ‘‘(2) provide for a maximum of 48-hour turn5 around time for information to be broadcast and re6 turned to a requesting State;

7 ‘‘(3) provide ready access to courts of the infor8 mation on the network by location of a computer

9 terminal in each court; and

10 ‘‘(4) access the registry of child support orders

11 for public and private cases maintained at the State

12 level by the State agencies as described in section

13 466(a)(12).’’.

14 (b) EXPANDED STATE INTERACTION WITH NA15 TIONAL NETWORK.—Section 454(16) (42 U.S.C.

16 654(16)) is amended—

17 (1) by striking ‘‘and (E)’’ and inserting ‘‘(E)’’;

18 and

19 (2) by striking ‘‘enforcement;’’ and inserting

20 ‘‘enforcement, and (F) to provide access to the na21 tional network developed pursuant to section

22 453(g);’’.

23 (c) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the

24 Congress that the national network established under sec25 tion 453(g) of the Social Security Act should be used to
14

•HR 1961 IH

1 access State records only through the agency that admin2 isters the State plan approved under part D of title IV

3 of such Act.

4 SEC. 104. PRIVATE ACCESS TO LOCATE AND ENFORCEMENT

5 SERVICES.

6 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

7 section 102(b) of this Act, is amended by inserting after

8 paragraph (12) the following:

9 ‘‘(13)(A) Procedures under which private attor10 neys and pro se obligees must be given access to

11 State locate resources and through enforcement

12 techniques of the State child support enforcement

13 agency, for the purpose of establishing, modifying,

14 and enforcing child support, visitation, and parent15 age orders, in accordance with safeguards estab16 lished—

17 ‘‘(i) to provide the custodial parent ad18 vance notice of any release of information with

19 respect to a noncustodial parent; and

20 ‘‘(ii) to prevent release of information with

21 respect to a noncustodial parent if the release

22 may jeopardize the safety of the noncustodial

23 parent, the custodial parent, or any child of ei24 ther parent; and
15

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(B) The procedures described in subparagraph

2 (A) must require the State—

3 ‘‘(i) to develop and publish guidelines im4 plementing the safeguards described in sub5 paragraph (A); and

6 ‘‘(ii) if the State provides for reasonable

7 fees for the access referred to in subparagraph

8 (A), to establish such fees in accordance with

9 guidelines developed and published by the State

10 that set schedules for such fees.’’.

11 SEC. 105. NATIONAL REPORTING OF NEW HIRES AND CHILD

12 SUPPORT INFORMATION.

13 (a) FEDERAL IMPLEMENTATION OF SYSTEM.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas15 ury, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor,

16 shall establish a system of reporting of new employ17 ees by requiring employers to provide a copy of every

18 new employee’s W–4 form to the employment secu19 rity agency of the State in which the employment is

20 located.

21 (2) EXPANDED USE OF FORM.—The Secretary

22 of the Treasury shall modify the W–4 form to be

23 completed by a new employee to enable the employee

24 to indicate on the form—
16

•HR 1961 IH

1 (A) whether the employee owes child sup2 port, and if so—

3 (i) to whom the support is payable

4 and the amount of the support payable;

5 and

6 (ii) whether the support is to be paid

7 through wage withholding; and

8 (B) whether health care insurance is avail9 able to the new employee, and, if so, whether

10 the new employee has obtained such insurance

11 for the dependent children of the new employee.

12 (3) EMPLOYER WITHHOLDING OBLIGATION.—

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of the Inter14 nal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to employ15 ment taxes) is amended by inserting after chap16 ter 24 the following new chapter:

17 ‘‘CHAPTER 24A—COLLECTION OF CHILD

18 SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS AT SOURCE

19 ON WAGES

‘‘Sec. 3411. Child support obligations collected at source.

20 ‘‘SEC. 3411. CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS COLLECTED AT

21 SOURCE.

22 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT OF WITHHOLDING.—Every em23 ployer making payment of wages shall deduct and with-
17

•HR 1961 IH

1 hold upon such wages a specified child support obligation

2 amount.

3 ‘‘(b) SPECIFIED CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATION

4 AMOUNT.—For purposes of this chapter, the specified

5 child support obligation amount with respect to any em6 ployee shall be determined based on—

7 ‘‘(1) information provided by the employee, or

8 (if an agency of the State in which the employer is

9 located notifies the employer that such information

10 is inaccurate) information provided by the agency;

11 and

12 ‘‘(2) information contained in any wage with13 holding order received by the employer from any

14 State.

15 ‘‘(c) LIABILITY FOR PAYMENT.—The employer shall

16 be liable for the payment of the specified child support

17 obligation amount to the payee identified by the employee.

18 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES.—For purposes of this chapter

19 (and so much of subtitle F as relates to this chapter), any

20 specified child support obligation amount shall be treated

21 as if it were a tax withheld under chapter 24 and rules

22 similar to the rules of such chapter shall apply.’’

23 (B) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of

24 chapters of subtitle C of the Internal Revenue

25 Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the
18

•HR 1961 IH

1 item relating to chapter 24 the following new

2 item:

‘‘CHAPTER 24A. Child support obligations collected at source.’’

3 (4) WITHHELD CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS

4 REPORTED ON W–2 FORMS.—Subsection (a) of sec5 tion 6051 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (re6 lating to receipts for employees) is amended by

7 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (8), by strik8 ing the period at the end of paragraph (9) and in9 serting ‘‘, and’’, and by inserting after paragraph

10 (9) the following new paragraph:

11 ‘‘(10) the total amount of specified child sup12 port obligations withheld under section 3411.’’

13 (b) STATE IMPLEMENTATION OF SYSTEM.—Section

14 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by section 104

15 of this Act, is amended by inserting after paragraph (13)

16 the following:

17 ‘‘(14) Procedures under which the State shall—

18 ‘‘(A) use the Parent Locator Service estab19 lished under section 453 to access information

20 in the national registry of child support orders

21 maintained pursuant to section 452(a)(12) with

22 respect to new employee, compare such infor23 mation with the information reported on W–4

24 forms of new employees, and identify child sup25 port obligations not reported on such forms;
19

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(B) if child support information from the

2 W–4 form of a new employee agrees with infor3 mation with respect to the new employee in the

4 national registry of child support orders main5 tained pursuant to section 452(a)(12), notify

6 the individual owed the support (or the individ7 ual’s designee) of such information;

8 ‘‘(C) notify an employer of any new em9 ployee who has not reported on the W–4 form

10 a child support obligation of the new employee,

11 using the wage withholding order developed

12 under section 452(a)(14);

13 ‘‘(D) impose monetary penalties on—

14 ‘‘(i) any individual who owes child

15 support and fails to report the obligation

16 to provide the support on a Federal income

17 tax W–4 form at time of employment;

18 ‘‘(ii) any employer who fails to for19 ward a W–4 form for a new employee to

20 the State employment security agency

21 within 10 calendar days of the date of the

22 first payroll from which the new employee

23 is paid; and

24 ‘‘(iii) any employer who fails to with25 hold from the pay of any new employee
20

•HR 1961 IH

1 who reports a child support obligation on

2 a W–4 form an amount equal to the sup3 port owed, or fails to pay to the individual

4 owed the obligation the amount so with5 held, within 10 calendar days of the date

6 of the payroll, using electronic funds trans7 fer, if possible, unless otherwise notified by

8 a State agency;

9 ‘‘(E) provide the services described in this

10 paragraph to any individual owed child support

11 who applies for assistance under the State plan;

12 and

13 ‘‘(F) on request of another State, broad14 cast over the Parent Locator Service to such

15 other State child support information from W–

16 4 forms that have been sent to the State em17 ployment security agency.’’.

18 SEC. 106. ACCESS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT RECORDS SYS19 TEMS.

20 (a) ACCESS BY CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT

21 AGENCIES.—The head of the National Criminal Informa22 tion Center, the head of the National Law Enforcement

23 Telecommunications Network, and the head of any other

24 national or regional system for tracking individuals shall

25 each—
21

•HR 1961 IH

1 (1) allow Federal, State, and local child support

2 enforcement agencies access to the information of

3 the system for purposes of establishing paternity or

4 a child support obligation of an individual tracked

5 by the system, using appropriate safeguards to pre6 vent improper release of such information; and

7 (2) if an access code is required to gain such

8 access, provide the access code to each child support

9 enforcement agency that applies for the code.

10 (b) LOSS OF FEDERAL FUNDING.—A non-Federal

11 system for tracking individuals that fails to comply with

12 paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) shall not be eligi13 ble to receive Federal funding for the system.

14 SEC. 107. BROADCASTING OF WARRANTS ON STATE NET15 WORKS.

16 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

17 section 105 of this Act, is amended by inserting after

18 paragraph (14) the following:

19 ‘‘(15) Procedures under which the State—

20 ‘‘(A) shall broadcast on any State or local

21 crime information system each failure-to-appear

22 warrant, capias, and bench warrant issued by a

23 State court in any proceeding related to child

24 support; and
22

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(B) shall, in a criminal case, remit to any

2 individual to whom the defendant owes child

3 support any security posted by or on behalf of

4 the defendant and forfeited, to the extent of

5 any arrearage in the payment of the support.’’.

6 SEC. 108. CASE MONITORING.

7 Section 454(16)(E) (42 U.S.C. 654(16)(E)) is

8 amended by inserting ‘‘, not less frequently that once

9 every 3 years’’ before the semicolon.

10 SEC. 109. ACCESS TO FINANCIAL RECORDS.

11 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

12 section 105 of this Act, is amended by inserting after

13 paragraph (15) the following:

14 ‘‘(16) Procedures under which the State may

15 obtain access to financial records maintained with

16 respect to any person by any financial institution

17 doing business in the State, for the purpose of estab18 lishing or enforcing a child support obligation of the

19 person.’’.

20 TITLE II—ESTABLISHMENT

21 SEC. 201. INTERSTATE RECOGNITION OF CHILD SUPPORT

22 AND PARENTAGE ORDERS.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 115 of title 28, United

24 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1738A

25 the following:
23

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘§ 1738B. Full faith and credit to child support and

2 parentage orders

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:

4 ‘‘(1) The term ‘child’ means any individual who

5 has not attained the age of 18 years, and any indi6 vidual who has attained the age of 18 years for

7 whom a child support order has been issued pursu8 ant to the laws of a State.

9 ‘‘(2) The term ‘child support’ includes periodic

10 and lump-sum payments for current and past due

11 economic support, payments of premiums for health

12 insurance for children, payments for or provision of

13 child care, and payments for educational expenses.

14 ‘‘(3) The term ‘child support order’ means a

15 judgment, decree or order of a court requiring the

16 payment of money, whether in periodic amounts or

17 lump sum, for the support of a child and includes

18 permanent and temporary orders, initial orders and

19 modifications, ongoing support and arrearages.

20 ‘‘(4) The term ‘child’s State’ means, with re21 spect to a child, the State in which the child resides

22 with a parent or an individual acting as a parent.

23 ‘‘(5) The term ‘contestant’ means an individual,

24 including a parent, who claims a right to receive

25 child support or is under an order to pay child sup-
24

•HR 1961 IH

1 port, and includes States and political subdivisions

2 to which support rights have been assigned.

3 ‘‘(6) The term ‘court’ means a court, adminis4 trative process, or quasijudicial process of a State

5 that is authorized to—

6 ‘‘(A) adjudicate parentage;

7 ‘‘(B) establish the amount of support pay8 able by a contestant; or

9 ‘‘(C) modify the amount of support pay10 able by a contestant.

11 ‘‘(7) The term ‘home State’ means, with respect

12 to a child, the State in which, immediately preceding

13 the time involved, the child lived with his or her par14 ents, a parent, or an individual acting as parent, for

15 at least 6 consecutive months (including any periods

16 of temporary absence), and if the child has not at17 tained the age of 6 months, the State in which the

18 child lived from birth with any of such individuals.

19 ‘‘(8) The term ‘individual acting as a parent’

20 means an individual, other than a parent, who has

21 physical custody of a child and who has either been

22 awarded custody by a court or claims a right to cus23 tody.

24 ‘‘(9) The terms ‘modification’ and ‘modify’ refer

25 to a change in a child support order or an order ad-
25

•HR 1961 IH

1 judicating parentage that modifies, replaces, super2 sedes, or otherwise is made subsequent to such prior

3 order, whether or not made by the same court that

4 issued such prior order.

5 ‘‘(10) The term ‘State’ means a State of the

6 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com7 monwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory or possession

8 of the United States, and Indian country as defined

9 in section 1151 of title 18, United States Code.

10 ‘‘(b) FULL FAITH AND CREDIT.—The courts of each

11 State shall recognize and enforce according to its terms

12 a child support order or an order adjudicating parentage

13 against an individual over whom personal jurisdiction has

14 been exercised consistent with this section, and shall not

15 modify such an order except as provided in subsection (f).

16 ‘‘(c) BASES OF JURISDICTION.—A court of a State

17 may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident con18 testant if there is any basis consistent with the constitu19 tion of the State and the Constitution of the United States

20 for the exercise.

21 ‘‘(d) CONTINUING EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION.—A

22 court of a State which has issued a child support order

23 or an order adjudicating parentage consistent with this

24 section shall have continuing, exclusive jurisdiction of the

25 order for so long as the State remains the child’s State
26

•HR 1961 IH

1 or the residence of any contestant, unless another State,

2 acting in accordance with subsection (f), has modified the

3 order.

4 ‘‘(e) NOTICE AND HEARING.—Before a court of a

5 State makes a child support order or adjudicates parent6 age, reasonable notice and opportunity to be heard shall

7 be given to the contestants.

8 ‘‘(f) MODIFICATION.—A court of a State may modify

9 a child support order or an order adjudicating parentage

10 issued by a court of another State if—

11 ‘‘(1) each contestant has filed written consent

12 for the court of the State to modify the order and

13 assume continuing, exclusive jurisdiction of the

14 order; and

15 ‘‘(2) the court of the State otherwise has juris16 diction to issue such an order.

17 ‘‘(g) ENFORCEMENT OF PRIOR ORDERS.—A court of

18 a State which no longer has continuing, exclusive jurisdic19 tion of a child support order or an order adjudicating par20 entage may enforce the order with respect to unsatisfied

21 obligations which accrued before the date the order is

22 modified in accordance with subsection (f).

23 ‘‘(h) WITHHOLDING EXERCISE OF JURISDICTION.—

24 A court of a State shall not exercise jurisdiction in any

25 proceeding for a child support order or an adjudication
27

•HR 1961 IH

1 of parentage commenced during the pendency of a pro2 ceeding in a court of another State when the court of the

3 other State is exercising jurisdiction consistent with this

4 section unless—

5 ‘‘(1) the proceeding was filed in the State be6 fore the expiration of time allowed in the other State

7 for filing a responsive pleading challenging the exer8 cise of jurisdiction by the other State;

9 ‘‘(2) the contesting party timely challenges the

10 exercise of jurisdiction by the other State; and

11 ‘‘(3) if applicable, the court is in the home

12 State of the child.

13 ‘‘(i) CHOICE OF LAW.—(1) Except as provided in

14 paragraphs (2) and (3), the forum State’s law shall apply

15 in a proceeding to establish, modify, or enforce a child

16 support order or an order adjudicating parentage.

17 ‘‘(2) The courts of a State shall apply the law of the

18 State that issued a child support order or an order adju19 dicating parentage in interpreting such an order.

20 ‘‘(3) In an action to enforce a child support order

21 or an order adjudicating parentage, the statute of limita22 tions under the laws of the forum State or the issuing

23 State, whichever is longer, shall apply.’’.
28

•HR 1961 IH

1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis

2 for such chapter is amended by inserting after the item

3 relating to section 1738A the following:

‘‘1738B. Full faith and credit to child support and parentage orders.’’.

4 SEC. 202. SERVICE OF PROCESS ON FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

5 AND MEMBERS OF THE ARMED SERVICES IN

6 CONNECTION WITH PROCEEDINGS RELATING

7 TO CHILD SUPPORT AND PARENTAGE OBLI8 GATIONS.

9 Part D of title IV (42 U.S.C. 651–670) is amended

10 by inserting after section 460 the following:

11 ‘‘SEC. 460A. SERVICE OF PROCESS ON FEDERAL EMPLOY12 EES AND MEMBERS OF THE ARMED SERV13 ICES IN CONNECTION WITH PROCEEDINGS

14 RELATING TO CHILD SUPPORT AND PARENT15 AGE OBLIGATIONS.

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The head of each Government

17 agency shall, in accordance with applicable regulations

18 under subsection (b), designate an agent for receipt of

19 service of process, for any Federal employee or member

20 of the Armed Forces serving in or under such agency, in

21 connection with an action, brought in a court of competent

22 jurisdiction within any State, territory, or possession of

23 the United States, for obtaining a child support order or

24 for establishing parentage.
29

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—Regulations governing the im2 plementation of this section with respect to the executive,

3 legislative, or judicial branch of the Government shall be

4 promulgated by the authority or authorities responsible

5 for promulgating regulations under section 461 with re6 spect to the branch of Government involved.

7 ‘‘(c) INTERPRETIVE RULE.—This section shall not be

8 construed to prevent any otherwise eligible individual from

9 requesting or being granted a stay or continuance in any

10 judicial proceeding, including under the Soldiers’ and Sail11 ors’ Civil Relief Act of 1940.

12 ‘‘(d) GOVERNMENT AGENCY DEFINED.—For pur13 poses of this section, the term ‘Government agency’ means

14 each agency of the Federal Government, including—

15 ‘‘(1) an Executive agency (as defined by section

16 105 of title 5, United States Code);

17 ‘‘(2) the Department of Defense, to the extent

18 that any Federal employee serving in or under that

19 agency or any member of the armed services is in20 volved;

21 ‘‘(3) the United States Postal Service and the

22 Postal Rate Commission;

23 ‘‘(4) the government of the District of Colum24 bia;
30

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(5) an agency within the legislative or judicial

2 branch of the Government; and

3 ‘‘(6) an advisory committee to which the Fed4 eral Advisory Committee Act applies.’’.

5 SEC. 203. PRESUMED ADDRESS OF OBLIGOR AND OBLIGEE.

6 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

7 section 107 of this Act, is amended by inserting after

8 paragraph (16) the following:

9 ‘‘(17) Procedures under which the State shall—

10 ‘‘(A) require the court or administrative

11 agency with authority to issue the final order in

12 a child support or parentage case to require

13 each party subject to the order to file with the

14 court or administrative agency, on or before the

15 date the order is issued—

16 ‘‘(i) the party’s residential address or

17 addresses;

18 ‘‘(ii) the party’s mailing address or

19 addresses;

20 ‘‘(iii) the party’s home telephone num21 ber or numbers;

22 ‘‘(iv) the party’s driver’s license num23 ber;

24 ‘‘(v) the party’s social security ac25 count number;
31

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(vi) the name of each employer of

2 the party;

3 ‘‘(vii) the addresses of each place of

4 employment of the party; and

5 ‘‘(viii) the party’s work telephone

6 number or numbers;

7 ‘‘(B) require the court or administrative

8 agency in any action related to child support to

9 presume, for the purpose of providing sufficient

10 notice (other than the initial notice in an action

11 to establish parentage or a child support order),

12 that the noncustodial parent resides at the last

13 residential address given by the noncustodial

14 parent to the court or agency, or a more recent

15 address provided in good faith by the parent

16 owed the support obligation; and

17 ‘‘(C) ensure that information concerning

18 the location of a custodial parent or a child of

19 the custodial parent is not released to a

20 noncustodial parent if a court order has been

21 issued against the noncustodial parent for the

22 physical protection of the custodial parent or

23 the child.’’.

24 SEC. 204. NOTICE TO CUSTODIAL PARENTS.

25 Section 454 (42 U.S.C. 654) is amended—
32

•HR 1961 IH

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

2 (23);

3 (2) by striking the period at the end of para4 graph (24) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

5 (3) by inserting after paragraph (24) the fol6 lowing:

7 ‘‘(25) provide that the agency administering the

8 plan—

9 ‘‘(A) shall make reasonable attempts to

10 provide timely notice to any individual owed

11 child support of any proceeding to establish,

12 modify, or enforce the support obligation;

13 ‘‘(B) shall not delay any such proceeding

14 solely due to the failure of the custodial parent

15 to appear; and

16 ‘‘(C) shall, within 14 days after the date

17 an order that establishes, modifies, or enforces

18 a child support obligation is issued, provide the

19 custodial parent of the child with a copy of the

20 order.’’.

21 SEC. 205. UNIFORM STATE RULES IN PARENTAGE AND

22 CHILD SUPPORT CASES.

23 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

24 section 203 of this Act, is amended by inserting after

25 paragraph (17) the following:
33

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(18) Procedures under which, in the State—

2 ‘‘(A) a party may, in a single cause of ac3 tion, seek judicial determination of the parent4 age of a child and judicial establishment of a

5 child support order with respect to the child;

6 ‘‘(B) the venue for determination of par7 entage of a child shall be in the county of resi8 dence of the child;

9 ‘‘(C) a court or agency that issues a par10 entage or child support order shall have con11 tinuing and exclusive jurisdiction over the order

12 until the court or agency transfers such juris13 diction to the appropriate court or agency in

14 the county of residence of the child, or the par15 ties consent to be bound by another court or

16 agency in the State that has subject matter ju17 risdiction;

18 ‘‘(D) proceedings to enforce or modify of a

19 child support order may be transferred to the

20 city, county, or district in which the child re21 sides without any requirement that the order be

22 filed or the defendant be served again;

23 ‘‘(E) a court or agency that hears a par24 entage or child support cases shall have state25 wide jurisdiction over the parties to the case,
34

•HR 1961 IH

1 and the parentage and child support orders is2 sued by the court or agency shall have state3 wide effect for enforcement purposes; and

4 ‘‘(F) denial of visitation rights may not be

5 used as a defense in an action to enforce an ob6 ligation to provide child support and the failure

7 to provide child support may not be used as a

8 defense in an action to enforce visitation

9 rights.’’.

10 SEC. 206. FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT AMENDMENT.

11 Section 604 of the Consumer Credit Protection Act

12 (15 U.S.C. 1681b) is amended by adding at the end the

13 following:

14 ‘‘(4) To a State agency administering a State plan

15 under section 454 of the Social Security Act, for use to

16 establish or modify a child support award.’’.

17 SEC. 207. NATIONAL CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINES COMMIS18 SION.

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a

20 commission to be known as the ‘‘National Child Support

21 Guidelines Commission’’ (in this section referred to as the

22 ‘‘Commission’’).

23 (b) GENERAL DUTIES.—The Commission shall con24 vene a conference to study the desirability of a national

25 child support guideline, and if such guideline is advisable,
35

•HR 1961 IH

1 the Commission shall develop for congressional consider2 ation a national child support guideline that is based on

3 the conference’s study of various guideline models, the de4 ficiencies of such models, and any needed improvements,

5 taking into consideration differences in the cost of living

6 in different areas of the United States. In developing such

7 guideline, the Commission shall consider indexing the

8 guideline to the cost of living, specifying minimum (rather

9 than maximum) amounts, or using other methodologies to

10 reflect such differences.

11 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—

12 (1) NUMBER; APPOINTMENT.—

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall

14 be composed of 9 individuals appointed jointly

15 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services

16 and the Congress, not later than January 15,

17 1995.

18 (B) QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS.—

19 Members of the Commission shall be appointed

20 from among those who are able to provide ex21 pertise and experience in the evaluation and de22 velopment of child support guidelines.

23 (2) TERMS OF OFFICE.—Each member shall be

24 appointed for a term of 2 years. A vacancy in the
36

•HR 1961 IH

1 Commission shall be filled in the manner in which

2 the original appointment was made.

3 (d) COMMISSION POWERS, COMPENSATION, ACCESS

4 TO INFORMATION, AND SUPERVISION.—The first sentence

5 of subparagraph (C), the first and third sentences of sub6 paragraph (D), subparagraph (F) (except with respect to

7 the conduct of medical studies), clauses (ii) and (iii) of

8 subparagraph (G), and subparagraph (H) of section

9 1886(e)(6) of the Social Security Act shall apply to the

10 Commission in the same manner in which such provisions

11 apply to the Prospective Payment Assessment Commis12 sion.

13 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the ap14 pointment of members, the Commission shall submit to

15 the President, the Committee on Ways and Means of the

16 House of Representatives, and the Committee on Finance

17 of the Senate, a report on the results of the study de18 scribed in subsection (b) and the final assessment by the

19 Commission of issues relating to a national child support

20 guideline.

21 (f) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate

22 upon the submission of the report described in subsection

23 (e).
37

•HR 1961 IH

1 SEC. 208. GUIDELINE PRINCIPLES.

2 Section 467 (42 U.S.C. 667) is amended by adding

3 at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(d) The guidelines established pursuant to sub5 section (a) shall be based on, and applied in accordance

6 with, the following principles:

7 ‘‘(1) A change in the child support amount re8 sulting from the application of the guidelines since

9 the entry of the last support order is sufficient rea10 son for modification of a child support obligation

11 without the necessity of showing any other change in

12 circumstance. The State may set a minimum time13 frame between reviews of modifications based on the

14 guidelines, absent other changes in circumstances.

15 ‘‘(2) Not later than 1995, each State shall es16 tablish automatic child support order review proce17 dures based on the automated calculation of the

18 amount of support to which a child is entitled, to en19 sure that the amount is sufficient to meet the needs

20 of the child, and takes into account any changes in

21 the income of the parents of the child.

22 ‘‘(3) The State shall advise any custodial parent

23 who is not receiving aid under a State plan approved

24 under part A of the review of a child support award

25 made with respect to a child of the custodial parent,

26 of any proposed modification in the amount of the
38

•HR 1961 IH

1 award based on the review, and of the right of the

2 custodial parent to decline to seek the modification.

3 ‘‘(e) The guidelines established pursuant to sub4 section (a) may consider the treatment of the following:

5 ‘‘(1) Work-related or job-training-related child

6 care expenses of either parent for the care of chil7 dren of either parent.

8 ‘‘(2) Health insurance and related uninsured

9 health care expenses, and school expenses incurred

10 on behalf of the child for whom the child support

11 order is sought.

12 ‘‘(3) Multiple family child raising obligations

13 other than those for the child for whom the child

14 support order is sought.

15 ‘‘(f) Each State must publish the guidelines estab16 lished pursuant to subsection (a).’’.

17 SEC. 209. DURATION OF SUPPORT.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C.

19 666(a)), as amended by section 206 of this Act, is amend20 ed by inserting after paragraph (17) the following:

21 ‘‘(18) Procedures under which the State—

22 ‘‘(A) imposes on 1 or both parents of a

23 child an obligation to continue to provide sup24 port for the child until not earlier than the later

25 of the date the child attains 18 years of age or
39

•HR 1961 IH

1 the date the child is graduated from or is no

2 longer enrolled in secondary school or its equiv3 alent, unless the child is married or is otherwise

4 emancipated by a court of competent jurisdic5 tion;

6 ‘‘(B) provides that courts with jurisdiction

7 over child support cases may, in accordance

8 with criteria established by the State, order—

9 ‘‘(i) child support, payable to an adult

10 child, at least up to the age of 22 years for

11 a child enrolled in an accredited post12 secondary or vocational school or college

13 who is a student in good standing; and

14 ‘‘(ii) either or both parents to pay for

15 postsecondary school support based on

16 each parent’s financial ability to pay;

17 ‘‘(C) provides for child support to continue

18 beyond the child’s minority if the child is dis19 abled, unable to be self-supportive, and the dis20 ability arose during the child’s minority; and

21 ‘‘(D) provides that courts should consider

22 the effect of child support received on means23 tested governmental benefits and whether to

24 credit governmental benefits against a support

25 award amount.’’.
40

•HR 1961 IH

1 (b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of

2 the Congress that, if children receive child support while

3 obtaining postsecondary education, they will attain higher

4 levels of education affording them a greater chance to

5 break the welfare cycle.

6 SEC. 210. EVIDENCE.

7 (a) NATIONAL SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM.—Section

8 452(a) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)), as amended by sections 211(a)

9 and 102(c) of this Act, is amended—

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

11 (11);

12 (2) by striking the period at the end of para13 graph (12) and inserting a semicolon; and

14 (3) by inserting after paragraph (12) the fol15 lowing:

16 ‘‘(13) develop and distribute a national sub17 poena duces tecum, which shall be designed to be

18 used by any State or local child support agency or

19 child support litigant to reach income information on

20 the prior 12 months of income or on accumulated in21 come to date of any recipient of income;

22 ‘‘(14) establish a simplified certification process

23 and admissibility procedure for out-of-State docu24 ments in child support or parentage cases.’’.
41

•HR 1961 IH

1 (b) STATE LAWS.—Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C.

2 666(a)), as amended by section 209 of this Act, is amend3 ed by inserting after paragraph (19) the following:

4 ‘‘(20) Procedures under which—

5 ‘‘(A) in a child support case in the State—

6 ‘‘(i) the subpoena duces tecum devel7 oped pursuant to section 452(a)(13) shall

8 be used, if necessary, to reach income in9 formation on the prior 12 months of in10 come or on accumulated income to date of

11 any individual;

12 ‘‘(ii) an entity that is a source of in13 come for the individual may comply with

14 such a subpoena by timely mailing the in15 formation described in the subpoena to an

16 address supplied in the subpoena;

17 ‘‘(iii) the State shall permit such a

18 subpoena to be enforced against such an

19 entity in the State, with the entity bearing

20 the burden of justifying any failure to com21 ply with the subpoena; and

22 ‘‘(iv) information supplied by an en23 tity in response to such a subpoena shall

24 be admissible to prove the truth of the in25 formation;
42

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(B) a certified copy of an out-of-State

2 order, decree, or judgment related to child sup3 port or parentage shall be admitted once of4 fered in the courts of the State if the order, de5 cree, or judgment is regular on its face;

6 ‘‘(C) electronically transmitted information

7 and documents faxed to a court or administra8 tive agency that contain information related to

9 the amount of a child support obligation and

10 the terms of the order imposing the obligation

11 may be offered as evidence of the amount and

12 the terms, and electronically transmitted

13 records of payment of a child support agency

14 that are regular on their face shall be admissi15 ble as evidence in a child support or parentage

16 proceeding to prove the truth of the matter as17 serted in the records;

18 ‘‘(D) out-of-State depositions, interrog19 atories, admissions of fact, and other discovery

20 documents may be offered and shall be admit21 ted in a child support or parentage proceeding

22 to prove the truth of the matters asserted in

23 the documents if regular on their face and if

24 such documents comply with the appropriate
43

•HR 1961 IH

1 discovery rule or law of the State where the dis2 covery was conducted; and

3 ‘‘(E) written, videotaped, or audiotaped

4 evidence related to a child support or parentage

5 proceeding may be offered and shall be admit6 ted to prove the truth of the matter asserted

7 therein.’’.

8 SEC. 211. TELEPHONIC APPEARANCE IN INTERSTATE

9 CASES.

10 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

11 section 212(b) of this Act, is amended by inserting after

12 paragraph (20) the following:

13 ‘‘(21) Procedures under which the parties to an

14 interstate parentage or child support administrative

15 or judicial proceeding may appear and participate by

16 telephonic means in lieu of appearing personally.’’.

17 SEC. 212. UNIFORM TERMS IN ORDERS.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 452(a) (42 U.S.C.

19 652(a)) is amended—

20 (1) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘and’’ after

21 the semicolon;

22 (2) in paragraph (10), by striking the period at

23 the end of the 2nd sentence and inserting ‘‘; and’’;

24 and

25 (3) by adding at the end the following:
44

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(11) not later than 12 months after the date

2 of the enactment of this paragraph, develop, in con3 junction with State executive and judicial organiza4 tions, a uniform abstract of a child support order,

5 for use by all State courts to record, with respect to

6 each child support order in the child support order

7 registry established under section 466(a)(12)—

8 ‘‘(A) the date support payments are to

9 begin under the order;

10 ‘‘(B) the circumstances upon which sup11 port payments are to end under the order;

12 ‘‘(C) the amount of child support payable

13 pursuant to the order expressed as a sum cer14 tain to be paid on a monthly basis, arrearages

15 expressed as a sum certain as of a certain date,

16 and any payback schedule for the arrearages;

17 ‘‘(D) whether the order awards support in

18 a lump sum (nonallocated) or per child;

19 ‘‘(E) if the award is in a lump sum, the

20 event causing a change in the support award

21 and the amount of any change;

22 ‘‘(F) other expenses covered by the order;

23 ‘‘(G) the names of the parents subject to

24 the order;
45

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(H) the social security account numbers

2 of the parents;

3 ‘‘(I) the name, date of birth, and social se4 curity account number (if any) of each child

5 covered by the order;

6 ‘‘(J) the identification (FIPS code, name,

7 and address) of the court that issued the order;

8 ‘‘(K) any information on health care sup9 port required by the order; and

10 ‘‘(L) the party to contact if additional in11 formation is obtained.’’.

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

13 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact14 ment of this Act.

15 SEC. 213. SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS ON MARRIAGE LI16 CENSES, DIVORCE DECREES, PARENTAGE DE17 CREES, AND BIRTH CERTIFICATES.

18 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

19 section 212 of this Act, is amended by inserting after

20 paragraph (21) the following:

21 ‘‘(22) Procedures under which the social secu22 rity account number (if any) of—

23 ‘‘(A) each individual applying for a mar24 riage license is to be listed by the individual’s

25 name on the license;
46

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(B) each party granted a divorce decree is

2 to be listed by the party’s name on the decree,

3 if any party to the decree is pregnant or a par4 ent; and

5 ‘‘(C) each individual determined to be a

6 parent of a child in an action to establish par7 entage is to be listed by the individual’s name

8 on the decree containing the determination; and

9 ‘‘(D) each parent of a child is to be listed

10 by the parent’s name on the child’s birth certifi11 cate.’’.

12 SEC. 214. ADMINISTRATIVE SUBPOENA POWER.

13 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

14 section 214 of this Act, is amended by inserting after

15 paragraph (22) the following:

16 ‘‘(23) Procedures under which the State child

17 support enforcement agency may issue a subpoena

18 which—

19 ‘‘(A) requires the individual served to

20 produce and deliver documents to, or to appear

21 at, a court or administrative agency on a cer22 tain date; and

23 ‘‘(B) penalizes an individual for failing to

24 comply with the subpoena.’’.
47

•HR 1961 IH

1 SEC. 215. LEGAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.

2 (a) USE OF FUNDS FOR CHILD SUPPORT CASES.—

3 The Legal Services Corporation shall ensure that at least

4 10 percent of the funds it provides to each recipient in

5 a fiscal year be used to assist eligible clients to obtain child

6 support to which they may be entitled.

7 (b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

8 (1) the term ‘‘child support’’ means a payment

9 of money or provision of a benefit for the support

10 of a child, and includes periodic and lump-sum pay11 ments for current and past due economic support,

12 payments of premiums for health insurance for chil13 dren, payments for or provision of child care, and

14 payments for educational expenses; and

15 (2) the term ‘‘eligible client’’ has the meaning

16 given that term in section 1002(3) of the Legal

17 Services Corporation Act (42 U.S.C. 2996a(3)).

18 SEC. 216. INDIAN CHILD SUPPORT.

19 (a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the

20 Congress that—

21 (1) children residing on Indian reservations be

22 accorded the same right of support that is currently

23 afforded off-reservation children; and

24 (2) State and tribal governments should, to the

25 greatest extent possible, ensure that jurisdictional is26 sues do not prevent any Indian child, on- or off-res-
48

•HR 1961 IH

1 ervation, from receiving support to which the child

2 is entitled.

3 (b) FULL FAITH AND CREDIT OF SUPPORT OR4 DERS.—The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C.

5 1901 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the follow6 ing:

7 ‘‘TITLE IV—INDIAN CHILD

8 SUPPORT

9 ‘‘SEC. 401. FULL FAITH AND CREDIT.

10 ‘‘(a) Every Indian tribe shall give full faith and credit

11 to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of the

12 United States, every State, and every territory or posses13 sion of the United States applicable to Indian child sup14 port proceedings to the same extent that the Indian tribe

15 gives full faith and credit to public acts, records, and judi16 cial proceedings of any other entity pursuant to section

17 101(d) of this Act.

18 ‘‘(b) The United States, every State, every territory

19 or possession of the United States, and every Indian tribe

20 shall give full faith and credit to the public acts, records,

21 and judicial proceedings of any Indian tribe applicable to

22 Indian child support proceedings to the same extent that

23 such entities give full faith and credit to public acts,

24 records, and judicial proceedings of any other entity.’’.
49

•HR 1961 IH

1 SEC. 217. SUPPORT ORDERS OUTREACH AND DEMONSTRA2 TIONS.

3 (a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the

4 Congress that States should work with community-based

5 organizations with ties to underserved populations to de6 velop better methods to reach and work with such popu7 lations to encourage the filing of more support orders.

8 (b) STATES REQUIRED TO CONDUCT SURVEYS OF

9 UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Part D of title IV (42

11 U.S.C. 651–669) is amended by adding at the end

12 the following:

13 ‘‘SEC. 470. STATE SURVEYS OF UNDERSERVED POPU14 LATIONS.

15 ‘‘Each State, as a condition for having a State plan

16 approved under this part, must conduct surveys to identify

17 populations underserved by child support services, and de18 velop outreach programs to serve such populations in

19 places such as child care centers, parenting classes, pre20 natal classes, and unemployment offices.’’.

21 (2) FEDERAL FINANCIAL PARTICIPATION.—Sec22 tion 455(a)(1) (42 U.S.C. 655(a)(1)) is amended—

23 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking

24 ‘‘and’’ at the end;

25 (B) in subparagraph (C) by adding ‘‘and’’

26 at the end; and
50

•HR 1961 IH

1 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (C)

2 the following:

3 ‘‘(D) equal to 90 percent of so much of the

4 sums expended during such quarter as are attrib5 utable to operating programs described in section

6 470,’’.

7 (c) MATERIALS TO ASSIST PERSONS WITH LOW LIT8 ERACY LEVELS.—The Secretary of Health and Human

9 Services shall fund demonstration projects and technical

10 assistance grants to States to develop applications and in11 formational materials directed to individuals with low lit12 eracy levels or difficulties reading English.

13 (d) REVIEW OF WRITTEN MATERIALS.—The Sec14 retary of Health and Human Services shall review all writ15 ten materials provided to persons served by the Office of

16 Child Support Enforcement to ensure that any require17 ment contained in the materials is presented clearly and

18 in a manner that is easily understandable by such persons.

19 (e) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS TO IMPROVE CO20 ORDINATION BETWEEN CERTAIN STATE PUBLIC ASSIST21 ANCE AGENCIES.—The Secretary of Health and Human

22 Services shall make grants to States to conduct dem23 onstration projects to test various methods for improving

24 the coordination of services and case processing between

25 the State agency referred to in section 402(a)(3) of the
51

•HR 1961 IH

1 Social Security Act and the State agency referred to in

2 section 454(3) of such Act.

3 (f) REFERRAL OF CUSTODIAL PARENTS TO COMMU4 NITY RESOURCES TO COMBAT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—

5 Section 454 (42 U.S.C. 654) is amended—

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

7 (24);

8 (2) by striking the period at the end of para9 graph (25) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

10 (3) by inserting after paragraph (25) the fol11 lowing:

12 ‘‘(26) provide that the agency administering the

13 plan—

14 ‘‘(A) may represent custodial parents in

15 custody cases; and

16 ‘‘(B) must refer to appropriate community

17 resources custodial parents against whom or

18 whose children violence has been threatened as

19 a result of cooperation with a State agency in

20 establishing or enforcing a child support order,

21 in accordance with procedures developed by the

22 State to reduce the risk of violence, such as ex23 empting the custodial parent from any require24 ment of face-to-face meetings with persons

25 other than from the agency.’’.
52

•HR 1961 IH

1 TITLE III—PARENTAGE

2 SEC. 301. PARENTAGE.

3 (a) STATE PLAN.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 454 (42 U.S.C.

5 654), as amended by section 218(f) of this Act, is

6 amended—

7 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para8 graph (25);

9 (B) by striking the period at the end of

10 paragraph (26) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

11 (C) by inserting after paragraph (26) the

12 following:

13 ‘‘(27) in order to encourage voluntary paternity

14 acknowledgement, provide for—

15 ‘‘(A) the development and distribution of

16 material at schools, hospitals (not later than 2

17 years after the effective date of this paragraph),

18 agencies administering the programs under part

19 A of this title and title XIX, prenatal health20 care providers, WIC programs, health depart21 ments, clinics, and other appropriate locations

22 that describe the benefits and responsibilities of

23 paternity establishment and the process by

24 which paternity services may be obtained;
53

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(B) outreach programs at hospitals and

2 birthing facilities and programs for prenatal

3 care, child birth, and parenting, in accordance

4 with regulations which shall be prescribed by

5 the Secretary not later than 1 year after such

6 effective date; and

7 ‘‘(C) the use of consent procedures.’’.

8 (2) ENHANCED FEDERAL MATCH.—Section

9 455(a)(1) (42 U.S.C. 655(a)(1)) is amended—

10 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub11 paragraph (B);

12 (B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub13 paragraph (C); and

14 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (C)

15 the following:

16 ‘‘(D) equal to 90 percent (rather than the

17 percentage specified in subparagraph (A)) of so

18 much of the sums expended during such quar19 ter as are attributable to costs incurred in car20 rying out section 454(27);’’.

21 (b) STATE LAW.—Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)),

22 as amended by section 215 of this Act, is amended by in23 serting after paragraph (23) the following:

24 ‘‘(24) Procedures under which—
54

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(A) in a parentage case, an individual

2 who signs the signature line provided for a fa3 ther on a State birth certificate is rebuttably

4 presumed to be a parent of the child, and a

5 birth certificate so signed is admissible as evi6 dence of such parentage;

7 ‘‘(B) a simple, civil consent procedure is

8 available for individuals who agree to acknowl9 edge parentage of a child;

10 ‘‘(C) an acknowledgment of parentage of a

11 child—

12 ‘‘(i) may be incorporated in a wit13 nessed, written statement which includes a

14 statement that the individual—

15 ‘‘(I) understands the con16 sequences of paternity acknowledg17 ment;

18 ‘‘(II) is signing the statement

19 voluntarily; and

20 ‘‘(III) does not object to a court

21 entering an order for parentage of the

22 child based on the acknowledgment,

23 without notice before the order is is24 sued and without the requirement of
55

•HR 1961 IH

1 pleadings, service, summons, testi2 mony, or a hearing;

3 ‘‘(ii) is registered as part of the proc4 ess of registering the birth certificate of

5 the child; and

6 ‘‘(iii) is admissible in court as evi7 dence of the individual’s parentage of the

8 child;

9 ‘‘(D) collection of information for purposes

10 of establishing a child support obligation may

11 be done during the parentage acknowledgment

12 process, to the maximum extent consistent with

13 the State constitution;

14 ‘‘(E) a civil procedure (and not a criminal

15 procedure) is used in parentage determination

16 cases;

17 ‘‘(F) parentage is determined by a prepon18 derance of the evidence;

19 ‘‘(G) a party may bring a parentage case

20 without joinder of the named child, and State

21 law regarding privity of the parties shall govern

22 the res judicata effect of nonjoinder;

23 ‘‘(H) the results of a parentage test are

24 rebuttably presumed to be accurate in a parent25 age case, if the test results are admitted as evi-
56

•HR 1961 IH

1 dence of the matter tested and are

2 uncontroverted, and the test has an accuracy

3 rate of at least 98 percent;

4 ‘‘(I) a determination of parentage may be

5 made against a noncooperative party who re6 fuses to submit to a court order to submit to

7 parentage testing;

8 ‘‘(J) an objection to parentage testing or

9 to the results of a parentage test must be made

10 in writing at least 21 days before trial, and if

11 no such objection is made, the test results are

12 admissible as evidence of the matter tested,

13 without any requirement for the attendance of

14 a representative of the hospital, clinic, or par15 entage laboratory that conducted the test;

16 ‘‘(K) prenatal and post-natal parentage17 testing bills are admissible as evidence of par18 entage, without any requirement of third-party

19 foundation testimony, and any such bill is

20 prima facie evidence of the expenses incurred

21 on behalf of the child for the procedures in22 cluded in the bill;

23 ‘‘(L) a default order is entered in a parent24 age case on a proper showing of evidence of

25 parentage and of service of process on the de-
57

•HR 1961 IH

1 fendant, without regard to the personal pres2 ence of the plaintiff;

3 ‘‘(M) a temporary child support order is

4 entered against an individual if—

5 ‘‘(i) the individual is presumed to be

6 the parent of the child by reason of the re7 sults of a parentage test;

8 ‘‘(ii) the individual has signed a state9 ment acknowledging parentage of the child;

10 or

11 ‘‘(iii) there is other clear and convinc12 ing evidence that the individual is a parent

13 of the child;

14 ‘‘(N) an individual determined by law to be

15 the parent of a child is precluded from claiming

16 nonparentage of the child as a defense in a

17 child support case;

18 ‘‘(O) a single action may be brought to de19 termine the parentage of a child and to estab20 lish a child support obligation with respect to

21 the child; and

22 ‘‘(P)(i) an action to determine the parent23 age of a child may be brought only in the coun24 ty in which the child resides; and
58

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) if the child who is the subject of a

2 parentage determination action moves to an3 other county, the action is to be transferred to

4 the other county, on request of the custodial

5 parent of the child.’’.

6 (c) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the

7 Congress that, in a proceeding to establish paternity, once

8 paternity is alleged, the burden of proof should shift to

9 the alleged father.

10 TITLE IV—ENFORCEMENT

11 SEC. 401. DIRECT WAGE WITHHOLDING.

12 (a) STATE LAW.—Section 466(b) (42 U.S.C. 666(b))

13 is amended by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(11)(A) Upon the issuance or modification by

15 a State court or administrative agency of an order

16 imposing a child support obligation on an individual,

17 the State shall transmit to any employer of the indi18 vidual a wage withholding order developed under

19 section 452(a)(14) directing the employer to with20 hold amounts from the wages of the individual pur21 suant to the order.

22 ‘‘(B) Any individual or entity engaged in com23 merce, as a condition of doing business in the State,

24 shall, on receipt of a wage withholding order devel-
59

•HR 1961 IH

1 oped under section 452(a)(14) that is regular on its

2 face and has been issued by a court of any State—

3 ‘‘(i) immediately provide a copy of the

4 order to the employee subject to the order;

5 ‘‘(ii) within 10 days after receipt of the

6 order, comply with the order;

7 ‘‘(iii) forward the amount withheld pursu8 ant to the order to the State or custodial parent

9 specified in the order; and

10 ‘‘(iii) keep records of the amounts so with11 held.

12 ‘‘(C) Such an order may be served on the in13 come source directly or by first-class mail.

14 ‘‘(D) An individual or entity who complies with

15 such an order may not be held liable for wrongful

16 withholding of income from the employee subject to

17 the order.

18 ‘‘(E)(i) The State shall impose a civil fine of

19 $1,000 on any individual or entity who receives such

20 an order, and fails to comply with the order within

21 10 days after receipt.

22 ‘‘(ii) The 10-day period described in clause (i)

23 shall be extended by any period during which the in24 dividual or entity contests the order, until the con25 test is finally decided.
60

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(12) If the State transmits to an individual or

2 entity engaged in commerce in another State a wage

3 withholding order issued by the State with respect to

4 an employee of the individual or entity, and the indi5 vidual or entity contests or refuses to comply with

6 the order, the State shall send an informational copy

7 of the order to the registry established under sub8 section (a)(12) of such other State or of the State

9 from which the income of the employee is paid.

10 ‘‘(13) If an employee requests a hearing to con11 test wage withholding based on claim of a mistake

12 of fact, the hearing may be held in the State from

13 which the income is paid or in which the employee

14 is employed, and, within 45 days after the income

15 source receives the withholding order, the entity con16 ducting the hearing must adjudicate the claim. The

17 State in which the hearing is held shall provide ap18 propriate services in cases enforced under the State

19 plan to ensure that the interests of the individual to

20 whom the withheld income is to be paid are ade21 quately represented.’’.

22 (b) UNIFORM WITHHOLDING ORDER.—Section

23 452(a) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)), as amended by sections

24 211(a), 102(c), and 209(a) of this Act, is amended—
61

•HR 1961 IH

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

2 (12);

3 (2) by striking the period at the end of para4 graph (13) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

5 (3) by inserting after paragraph (13) the fol6 lowing:

7 ‘‘(14) develop a uniform order to be used in all

8 cases in which income is to be withheld for the pay9 ment of child support, which shall contain the name

10 of the individual whose income is to be withheld, the

11 number of children covered by the order, and the in12 dividual or State to whom the withheld income is to

13 be paid, and be generic to allow for the service of

14 the order on all sources of income.’’.

15 SEC. 402. PRIORITIES IN APPLICATION OF WITHHELD

16 WAGES.

17 Section 466(b) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

18 section 401(a) of this Act, is amended by inserting after

19 paragraph (13) the following:

20 ‘‘(14) Procedures under which the amounts

21 withheld pursuant to a child support or wage with22 holding order are to be applied in the following

23 order:

24 ‘‘(A) To payments of support due during

25 the month of withholding.
62

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(B) To payments of premiums for health

2 care insurance coverage for dependent children.

3 ‘‘(C) To payments of support due before

4 the month of withholding, and of unreimbursed

5 health-care expenses.’’.

6 SEC. 403. ADDITIONAL BENEFITS SUBJECT TO GARNISH7 MENT.

8 (a) FEDERAL DEATH BENEFITS, BLACK LUNG BEN9 EFITS, AND VETERANS BENEFITS.—Section 462(f)(2) (42

10 U.S.C. 662(f)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘(not including’’

11 and all that follows through ‘‘compensation)’’.

12 (b) WORKERS’ COMPENSATION.—Section 462(f) (42

13 U.S.C. 662(f)) is amended—

14 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph

15 (1);

16 (2) by striking the period at the end of para17 graph (2) and inserting ‘‘, or’’; and

18 (3) by adding at the end the following:

19 ‘‘(3) workers’ compensation benefits.’’.

20 SEC. 404. CONSUMER CREDIT PROTECTION ACT AMEND21 MENTS.

22 (a) PREEMPTION OF STATE LAWS.—Section 307 of

23 the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1677) is

24 amended—
63

•HR 1961 IH

1 (1) by striking ‘‘This’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) IN

2 GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), this’’;

3 (2) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph

4 (1);

5 (3) by striking the period at the end of para6 graph (2) and inserting ‘‘, or’’; and

7 (4) by adding at the end the following:

8 ‘‘(3) providing a cause of action, either by the

9 State or a private individual, to enforce a Federal or

10 State law related to garnishment for the purpose of

11 securing child support.

12 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a)(1) shall not apply

13 to the laws of any State that prohibit or restrict garnish14 ments for the purpose of securing support for any per15 son.’’.

16 (b) OTHER FORMS OF INCOME.—Title III of such

17 Act (15 U.S.C. 1671 et seq.) is amended by adding at

18 the end the following:

19 ‘‘SEC. 308. OTHER FORMS OF INCOME.

20 ‘‘This title does not apply to forms of income that

21 are not earnings within the definition contained in section

22 302(a).’’.

23 (c) PRIORITY OF DEBTS.—Title III of such Act (15

24 U.S.C. 1671 et seq.), as amended by subsection (b) of this

25 section, is amended by adding at the end the following:
64

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 309. PRIORITY OF DEBTS.

2 ‘‘If an individual’s disposable earnings are not suffi3 cient to pay—

4 ‘‘(1) a garnishment intended to satisfy a Fed5 eral debt; and

6 ‘‘(2) a garnishment intended to satisfy a debt

7 related to the support of any child,

8 the Federal debt shall be satisfied through garnishment

9 only after the debt related to child support has first been

10 satisfied.’’.

11 (d) ADDITIONAL INDEBTEDNESS IN ANTI-DIS12 CHARGE SECTION.—Section 304 of such Act (16 U.S.C.

13 1674) is amended by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(c) The prohibition contained in subsection (a) shall

15 apply to any employee whose earnings are subject to gar16 nishment for more than one indebtedness, if the additional

17 indebtedness arises from an order for the support of a

18 child.’’.

19 SEC. 405. PROHIBITION AGAINST USE OF ELECTION OF

20 REMEDIES DOCTRINE TO PREVENT COLLEC21 TION OF CHILD SUPPORT.

22 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

23 section 301(b) of this Act, is amended by inserting after

24 paragraph (24) the following:

25 ‘‘(25) Procedures which prohibit any State

26 court from applying the doctrine of election of rem-
65

•HR 1961 IH

1 edies to prevent a custodial parent from collecting or

2 seeking to collect child support from a noncustodial

3 parent.’’.

4 SEC. 406. HOLD ON OCCUPATIONAL, PROFESSIONAL, AND

5 BUSINESS LICENSES.

6 (a) STATE HOLD BASED ON WARRANT OR SUPPORT

7 DELINQUENCY.—Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as

8 amended by section 405 of this Act, is amended by insert9 ing after paragraph (25) the following:

10 ‘‘(26) Procedures under which the State occu11 pational licensing and regulating departments and

12 agencies may not issue or renew any occupational,

13 professional, or business license of—

14 ‘‘(A) a noncustodial parent who is the sub15 ject of an outstanding failure to appear war16 rant, capias, or bench warrant related to a child

17 support proceeding that appears on the State’s

18 crime information system, until removed from

19 the system; and

20 ‘‘(B) an individual who is delinquent in the

21 payment of child support, until the obligee or a

22 State prosecutor responsible for child support

23 enforcement consents to, or a court that is re24 sponsible for the order’s enforcement orders,

25 the release of the hold on the license, or an ex-
66

•HR 1961 IH

1 pedited inquiry and review is completed while

2 the individual is granted a 60-day temporary li3 cense.’’.

4 (b) FEDERAL HOLD BASED ON SUPPORT DELIN5 QUENCY.—A Federal agency may not issue or renew any

6 occupational, professional, or business license of an indi7 vidual who is delinquent in the payment of child support,

8 until the obligee, the obligee’s attorney or a State prosecu9 tor responsible for child support enforcement consents to,

10 or a court that is responsible for the order’s enforcement

11 orders, the release of the hold on the license, or an expe12 dited inquiry and review is completed while the individual

13 is granted a 60-day temporary license.

14 SEC. 407. DRIVER’S LICENSES AND VEHICLE REGISTRA15 TIONS DENIED TO PERSONS FAILING TO AP16 PEAR IN CHILD SUPPORT CASES.

17 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

18 section 406(a) of this Act, is amended by inserting after

19 paragraph (26) the following:

20 ‘‘(27) Procedures under which the State motor

21 vehicle department—

22 ‘‘(A) may not issue or renew the driver’s li23 cense or any vehicle registration (other than

24 temporary) of any noncustodial parent who is

25 the subject of an outstanding failure to appear
67

•HR 1961 IH

1 warrant, capias, or bench warrant related to a

2 child support proceeding that appears on the

3 State’s crime information system, until removed

4 from the system;

5 ‘‘(B) upon receiving notice that an individ6 ual to whom a State driver’s license or vehicle

7 registration has been issued is the subject of a

8 warrant related to a child support proceeding,

9 shall issue a show cause order to the individual

10 requesting the individual to demonstrate why

11 the individual’s driver’s license or vehicle reg12 istration should not be suspended until the war13 rant is removed by the State responsible for is14 suing the warrant; and

15 ‘‘(C) in any case in which a show cause

16 order has been issued as described in subpara17 graph (B), may grant a temporary license or

18 vehicle registration to the individual pending

19 the show cause hearing or the removal of the

20 warrant, whichever occurs first.’’.

21 SEC. 408. LIENS ON CERTIFICATES OF VEHICLE TITLE.

22 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

23 section 407 of this Act, is amended by inserting after

24 paragraph (27) the following:
68

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(28) Procedures under which the State shall

2 systematically place liens on vehicle titles for child

3 support arrearages determined under a court order

4 or an order of an administrative process established

5 under State law, using a method for updating the

6 value of the lien on a regular basis or allowing for

7 an expedited inquiry to and response from a govern8 mental payee for proof of the amount of arrears,

9 with an expedited method for the titleholder or the

10 individual owing the arrearage to contest the arrear11 age or to request a release upon fulfilling the sup12 port obligation, and under which such a lien has

13 precedence over all other encumbrances on a vehicle

14 title other than a purchase money security interest,

15 and that the individual owed the arrearage may exe16 cute on, seize, and sell the property in accordance

17 with State law.’’.

18 SEC. 409. ATTACHMENT OF BANK ACCOUNTS.

19 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

20 section 408 of this Act, is amended by inserting after

21 paragraph (28) the following:

22 ‘‘(29) Procedures under which—

23 ‘‘(A) amounts on deposit in a bank account

24 may be seized to satisfy child support arrear25 ages determined under a court order or an
69

•HR 1961 IH

1 order of an administrative process established

2 under State law, solely through an administra3 tive process, pending notice to and an expedited

4 opportunity to be heard from the account hold5 er or holders; and

6 ‘‘(B) if the account holder or holders fail

7 to successfully challenge the seizure (as deter8 mined under State law), the bank may be re9 quired to pay from the account to the entity

10 with the right to collect the arrearage the lesser

11 of—

12 ‘‘(i) the amount of the arrearage; or

13 ‘‘(ii) the amount on deposit in the ac14 count.’’.

15 SEC. 410. SEIZURE OF LOTTERY WINNINGS, SETTLEMENTS,

16 PAYOUTS, AWARDS, AND BEQUESTS, AND

17 SALE OF FORFEITED PROPERTY, TO PAY

18 CHILD SUPPORT ARREARAGES.

19 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

20 section 409 of this Act, is amended by inserting after

21 paragraph (29) the following:

22 ‘‘(30) Procedures, in addition to other income

23 withholding procedures, under which a lien is im24 posed against property with the following effect:
70

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(A) The distributor of the winnings from

2 a State lottery or State-sanctioned or tribal3 sanctioned gambling house or casino shall—

4 ‘‘(i) suspend payment of the winnings

5 from the person otherwise entitled to the

6 payment until an inquiry is made to and a

7 response is received from the State child

8 support enforcement agency as to whether

9 the person owes a child support arrearage;

10 and

11 ‘‘(ii) if there is such an arrearage,

12 withhold from the payment the lesser of

13 the amount of the payment or the amount

14 of the arrearage, and pay the amount with15 held to the agency for distribution.

16 ‘‘(B) The person required to make a pay17 ment under a policy of insurance or a settle18 ment of a claim made with respect to the policy

19 shall—

20 ‘‘(i) suspend the payment until an in21 quiry is made to and a response received

22 from the agency as to whether the person

23 otherwise entitled to the payment owes a

24 child support arrearage; and
71

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) if there is such an arrearage,

2 withhold from the payment the lesser of

3 the amount of the payment or the amount

4 of the arrearage, and pay the amount with5 held to the agency for distribution.

6 ‘‘(C) The payor of any amount pursuant to

7 an award, judgment, or settlement in any ac8 tion brought in Federal or State court shall—

9 ‘‘(i) suspend the payment of the

10 amount until an inquiry is made to and a

11 response is received from the agency as to

12 whether the person otherwise entitled to

13 the payment owes a child support arrear14 age; and

15 ‘‘(ii) if there is such an arrearage,

16 withhold from the payment the lesser of

17 the amount of the payment or the amount

18 of the arrearage, and pay the amount with19 held to the agency for distribution.

20 ‘‘(D) If the State seizes property forfeited

21 to the State by an individual by reason of a

22 criminal conviction, the State shall—

23 ‘‘(i) hold the property until an inquiry

24 is made to and a response is received from
72

•HR 1961 IH

1 the agency as to whether the individual

2 owes a child support arrearage; and

3 ‘‘(ii) if there is such an arrearage, sell

4 the property and, after satisfying the

5 claims of all other private or public claim6 ants to the property and deducting from

7 the proceeds of the sale the attendant costs

8 (such as for towing, storage, and the sale),

9 pay the lesser of the remaining proceeds or

10 the amount of the arrearage directly to the

11 agency for distribution.

12 ‘‘(E) Any person required to make a pay13 ment in respect of a decedent shall—

14 ‘‘(i) suspend the payment until an in15 quiry is made to and a response received

16 from the agency as to whether the person

17 otherwise entitled to the payment owes a

18 child support arrearage; and

19 ‘‘(ii) if there is such an arrearage,

20 withhold from the payment the lesser of

21 the amount of the payment or the amount

22 of the arrearage, and pay the amount with23 held to the agency for distribution.’’.
73

•HR 1961 IH

1 SEC. 411. FRAUDULENT TRANSFER PURSUIT.

2 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

3 section 410 of this Act, is amended by inserting after

4 paragraph (30) the following:

5 ‘‘(31) Procedures requiring that, in any case re6 lated to child support, any transfer of property by

7 an individual who owes a child support arrearage

8 shall be presumed to be made with the intent to

9 avoid payment of the arrearage, and may be rebut10 ted by evidence to the contrary.’’.

11 SEC. 412. FULL IRS COLLECTION.

12 (a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the

13 Congress that the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue

14 Services should instruct the field offices and agents of the

15 Internal Revenue Service to give a high priority to re16 quests for the use of full collection in delinquent child sup17 port cases, and to set uniform standards for full collection

18 to ensure its expeditious and effective implementation.

19 (b) SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE.—The Secretary of the

20 Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and

21 Human Services, shall by regulation simplify the full col22 lection process under section 6305 of the Internal Revenue

23 Code of 1986 and reduce the amount of child support ar24 rearage needed before an individual may apply for collec25 tion under such section.
74

•HR 1961 IH

1 SEC. 413. TAX REFUND OFFSET PROGRAM EXPANDED TO

2 COVER NON-AFDC POST-MINOR CHILDREN.

3 Section 464(c) (42 U.S.C. 664(c)) is amended—

4 (1) by striking ‘‘(1) Except as provided in para5 graph (2), as’’ and inserting ‘‘As’’;

6 (2) by inserting ‘‘(whether or not a minor)’’

7 after ‘‘a child’’ each place such term appears; and

8 (3) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3).

9 SEC. 414. ATTACHMENT OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE RETIRE10 MENT FUNDS.

11 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

12 section 411 of this Act, is amended by inserting after

13 paragraph (31) the following:

14 ‘‘(32) Procedures under which an individual

15 owed a child support arrearage (determined under a

16 court order or an order of an administrative process

17 established under State law) may, notwithstanding

18 section 401(a)(13) of the Internal Revenue Code of

19 1986, attach any interest in any public or private re20 tirement plan of the individual who owes the sup21 port, without the requirement of a separate court

22 order, and with notice and an expedited hearing pro23 vided if requested by the individual who owes the

24 support.’’.
75

•HR 1961 IH

1 SEC. 415. REPORTING OF CHILD SUPPORT ARREARAGES TO

2 CREDIT BUREAUS.

3 Section 466(a)(7)(A) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)(7)(A)) is

4 amended by striking ‘‘$1,000’’ and inserting ‘‘the amount

5 of the monthly support obligation’’.

6 SEC. 416. STATUTES OF LIMITATION.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C.

8 666(a)), as amended by section 414 of this Act, is amend9 ed by inserting after paragraph (32) the following:

10 ‘‘(33) Procedures which permit the enforcement

11 of any child support order until the child attains at

12 least 30 years of age.’’.

13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

14 this section shall apply to orders entered before, on, and

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act.

16 SEC. 417. INTEREST.

17 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

18 section 416(a) of this Act, is amended by inserting after

19 paragraph (33) the following:

20 ‘‘(34) Procedures under which the State child

21 support enforcement agency must assess and collect

22 interest on all child support judgments, at the rate

23 determined for interest on money judgments, in ad24 dition to any late payment fee imposed by the State

25 under section 454(21).’’.
76

•HR 1961 IH

1 SEC. 418. BANKRUPTCY.

2 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 101 of title 11, United

3 States Code, is amended by inserting after paragraph (12)

4 the following:

5 ‘‘(12a) ‘debt for child support’ means a debt to

6 a child for maintenance for or support of the child

7 within the meaning of section 523(a)(5).’’.

8 (b) EXCEPTION FROM AUTOMATIC STAY.—Section

9 362(b) of such title is amended—

10 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(2);

11 (2) by adding ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; and

12 (3) by adding at the end the following new

13 paragraph:

14 ‘‘(B) under subsection (a), of the commence15 ment or continuation of a civil action or administra16 tive proceeding against the debtor—

17 ‘‘(i) to establish parentage;

18 ‘‘(ii) to establish, review, adjust, or modify

19 a judgment or order creating a debt for child

20 support; or

21 ‘‘(iii) to enforce or collect on a judgment or

22 order issued in such an action or proceeding;’’.

23 (c) TREATMENT OF DEBT FOR CHILD SUPPORT IN

24 PROCEEDINGS UNDER CHAPTERS 11, 12, AND 13.—

25 (1) CHAPTER 11.—Section 1123(a) of such title

26 is amended—
77

•HR 1961 IH

1 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para2 graph (6);

3 (B) by striking the period at the end of

4 paragraph (7) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

5 (C) by adding at the end the following new

6 paragraph:

7 ‘‘(8) provide for the full payment when due of

8 debts for child support, unless the parent in custody

9 or guardian of the child agrees otherwise.’’.

10 (2) CHAPTER 12.—Section 1222(a) of such title

11 is amended—

12 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para13 graph (2);

14 (B) by striking the period at the end of

15 paragraph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

16 (C) by adding at the end the following new

17 paragraph:

18 ‘‘(4) provide for the full payment when due of

19 debts for child support, unless the parent in custody

20 or guardian of the child agrees otherwise.’’.

21 (3) CHAPTER 13.—Section 1322(a) of such title

22 is amended—

23 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para24 graph (2);
78

•HR 1961 IH

1 (B) by striking the period at the end of

2 paragraph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

3 (C) by adding at the end the following new

4 paragraph:

5 ‘‘(4) provide for the full payment when due of

6 debts for child support, unless the parent in custody

7 or guardian of the child agrees otherwise.’’.

8 (d) ASSERTION OF CLAIM FOR CHILD SUPPORT.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 5 of

10 such title is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing:

12 ‘‘§ 511. Assertion of claim for child support

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A claim for payment of a debt

14 for child support may be asserted by the filing of a claim

15 form that describes the debt.

16 ‘‘(b) FEE.—No fee shall be charged for the filing of

17 a claim described in subsection (a).

18 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR APPEARANCE.—A claim

19 described in subsection (a) may be made in any court by

20 a person appearing—

21 ‘‘(1) in proper person; or

22 ‘‘(2) through an attorney admitted to practice

23 in any district court, without the attorney’s being re24 quired to meet any admission requirements other
79

•HR 1961 IH

1 than those applicable in the district in which the at2 torney is admitted to practice.’’.

3 (2) BANKRUPTCY RULES.—Pursuant to section

4 2705 of title 28, United States Code, the Bank5 ruptcy Rules shall be amended as necessary to im6 plement section 511 of title 11, United States Code,

7 as added by paragraph (1) of this subsection; until

8 the Bankruptcy Rules are so amended, any provision

9 of the Bankruptcy Rules or the rules of any court

10 that is inconsistent with that section is superseded

11 by that section.

12 (e) CLARIFICATION OF THE NONDISCHARGEABILITY

13 OF STATE PUBLIC DEBTS AND ASSIGNED CHILD SUP14 PORT BASED ON THE PROVISION OF EXPENDITURES

15 UNDER PARTS A AND E OF TITLE IV OF THE SOCIAL

16 SECURITY ACT.—Section 523 of title 11, United States

17 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘(f) For the purposes of subsection (a)(5), a debt to

19 a child of the debtor for maintenance for or support of

20 the child includes State public debts and assigned child

21 support based on the provision of expenditures under

22 parts A and E of title IV of the Social Security Act (43

23 U.S.C. 401 et seq. and 470 et seq.).’’.
80

•HR 1961 IH

1 SEC. 419. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT COOPERATION IN EN2 FORCEMENT OF SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS OF

3 MEMBERS AND FORMER MEMBERS OF THE

4 ARMED FORCES.

5 (a) AVAILABILITY OF CURRENT LOCATOR INFORMA6 TION.—

7 (1) MAINTENANCE OF ADDRESS INFORMA8 TION.—Each worldwide personnel locator service of

9 the Armed Forces and each personnel locator service

10 of the Armed Forces maintained for a military in11 stallation shall include the residential address of

12 each member of the Armed Forces listed in such

13 service. Within 30 days after a change of duty sta14 tion or residential address of a member listed in a

15 locator service, the Secretary concerned shall update

16 the locator service to indicate the new residential ad17 dress of the member.

18 (2) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—The Sec19 retary of Defense shall prescribe regulations to make

20 information regarding the residential address of a

21 member of the Armed Forces available, on request,

22 to any authorized person for the purposes of part D

23 of title IV of the Social Security Act.

24 (3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub25 section:
81

•HR 1961 IH

1 (A) The term ‘‘authorized person’’ has the

2 meaning given that term in section 453(c) of

3 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 653(c)).

4 (B) The term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ has

5 the meaning given that term in section

6 101(a)(9) of title 10, United States Code.

7 (b) FACILITATING THE GRANTING OF LEAVE FOR

8 ATTENDANCE AT HEARINGS.—

9 (1) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The Secretary

10 concerned shall prescribe regulations to facilitate the

11 granting of a leave of absence to a member of the

12 Armed Forces under the jurisdiction of that Sec13 retary when necessary for the member to attend a

14 hearing of a court that is conducted in connection

15 with a civil action—

16 (A) to determine whether the member is a

17 natural parent of a child; or

18 (B) to determine an obligation of the mem19 ber to provide child support.

20 (2) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The regulations pre21 scribed under paragraph (1) may authorize a waiver

22 of the applicability of the regulations to a member

23 of the Armed Forces when—

24 (A) the member is serving in an area of

25 combat operations; or
82

•HR 1961 IH

1 (B) such a waiver is otherwise necessary in

2 the national security interest of the United

3 States.

4 (3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub5 section:

6 (A) The term ‘‘court’’ has the meaning

7 given that term in section 1408(a) of title 10,

8 United States Code.

9 (B) The term ‘‘child support’’ has the

10 meaning given such term in section 462 of the

11 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 662).

12 (C) The term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ has

13 the meaning given that term in section

14 101(a)(9) of title 10, United States Code.

15 (c) PAYMENT OF MILITARY RETIRED PAY IN COM16 PLIANCE WITH COURT ORDERS.—

17 (1) DATE OF CERTIFICATION OF COURT

18 ORDER.—Section 1408 of title 10, United States

19 Code, is amended—

20 (A) by redesignating subsection (i) as sub21 section (j); and

22 (B) by inserting after subsection (h) the

23 following new subsection:

24 ‘‘(i) CERTIFICATION DATE.—It is not necessary that

25 the date of a certification of the authenticity or complete-
83

•HR 1961 IH

1 ness of a copy of a court order for child support received

2 by the Secretary concerned for the purposes of this section

3 be recent in relation to the date of receipt.’’.

4 (2) PAYMENTS CONSISTENT WITH ASSIGN5 MENTS OF RIGHTS TO STATES.—

6 (A) AUTHORITY.—Subsection (d)(1) of

7 such section is amended by inserting after the

8 first sentence the following: ‘‘In the case of a

9 spouse or former spouse who, pursuant to sec10 tion 402(a)(26) of the Social Security Act (42

11 U.S.C. 602(26)), assigns to a State the rights

12 of the spouse or former spouse to receive sup13 port, the Secretary concerned may make the

14 child support payments referred to in the pre15 ceding sentence to that State in amounts con16 sistent with the assignment of rights.’’.

17 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Subsection

18 (c)(2) of such section is amended—

19 (i) by inserting after the first sentence

20 the following: ‘‘The second sentence of sub21 section (d)(1) shall not be construed to

22 create any such right, title, or interest.’’;

23 (ii) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(2)’’;

24 and
84

•HR 1961 IH

1 (iii) by designating the last sentence

2 as subparagraph (B) and conforming the

3 margins accordingly.

4 (3) ARREARAGES OWED BY MEMBERS OF THE

5 UNIFORMED SERVICES.—Part D of title IV (42

6 U.S.C. 651–669) is amended by inserting after sec7 tion 465 the following:

8 ‘‘SEC. 465A. PAYMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT ARREARAGES

9 OWED BY MEMBERS OF THE UNIFORMED

10 SERVICES.

11 ‘‘Any authority, requirement, or procedure provided

12 in this part or section 1408 of title 10, United States

13 Code, that applies to the payment of child support owed

14 by a member of the uniformed services (as defined in sec15 tion 101 of title 37, United States Code) shall apply to

16 the payment of child support arrearages as well as to

17 amounts of child support that are currently due.’’.

18 SEC. 420. STATES REQUIRED TO ENACT THE UNIFORM

19 INTERSTATE FAMILY SUPPORT ACT.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 466 (42 U.S.C. 666) is

21 amended by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(f) In order to satisfy section 454(20)(A), each

23 State must have in effect laws which—

24 ‘‘(1) adopt verbatim the officially approved ver25 sion of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act
85

•HR 1961 IH

1 adopted by the National Conference of Commis2 sioners on Uniform State Laws in August 1992; and

3 ‘‘(2) require the courts of the State to recognize

4 according to its terms an order issued by a court of

5 any other State adjudicating parentage of an indi6 vidual over whom the court of such other State has

7 exercised personal jurisdiction.’’.

8 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

9 subsection (a) shall apply to payments under part D of

10 title IV of the Social Security Act for calendar quarters

11 ending 2 or more years after the date of the enactment

12 of this Act.

13 SEC. 421. IRS RECONCILIATION PROCESS.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General and the

15 Secretary of the Treasury shall jointly conduct a study

16 of the feasibility of a procedure under which—

17 (1) past-due child support is collected from the

18 taxpayer owing such support by increasing the tax19 payer’s tax liability for a taxable year by the past20 due child support for such taxable year, and

21 (2) the Internal Revenue Service remits the col22 lected past-due child support to the individual or

23 governmental agency entitled to receive it.

24 (b) FORM.—As part of the study, the Secretary of

25 the Treasury shall develop an appropriate form which
86

•HR 1961 IH

1 could be filed with a taxpayer’s income tax return and

2 which shows—

3 (1) the child support required to be paid by the

4 taxpayer during the taxable year,

5 (2) the unpaid amount of such support as of

6 the time of filing the taxpayer’s income tax return

7 for such taxable year, and

8 (3) the name and address of the individual or

9 governmental agency entitled to receive any payment

10 of such unpaid amount.

11 (c) REPORT.—The report of such study shall be sub12 mitted to Congress not later than 1 year after the date

13 of the enactment of this Act.

14 SEC. 422. DENIAL OF PASSPORTS TO NONCUSTODIAL PAR15 ENTS SUBJECT TO STATE ARREST WARRANTS

16 IN CASES OF NONPAYMENT OF CHILD SUP17 PORT.

18 The Secretary of State is authorized to refuse a pass19 port or revoke, restrict, or limit a passport in any case

20 in which the Secretary of State determines or is informed

21 by competent authority that the applicant or passport

22 holder is a noncustodial parent who is the subject of an

23 outstanding State warrant of arrest for nonpayment of

24 child support, where the amount in controversy is not less

25 than $10,000.
87

•HR 1961 IH

1 SEC. 423. DENIAL OF FEDERAL BENEFITS, LOANS, GUARAN2 TEES, AND EMPLOYMENT TO CERTAIN PER3 SONS WITH LARGE CHILD SUPPORT ARREAR4 AGES.

5 (a) BENEFITS, LOANS, AND GUARANTEES.—Not6 withstanding any other provision of law, each agency or

7 instrumentality of the Federal Government may not,

8 under any program that the agency or instrumentality su9 pervises or administers, provide a benefit to, make a loan

10 to, or provide any guarantee for the benefit of, any per11 son—

12 (1) whose child support arrearages, determined

13 under a court order or an order of an administrative

14 process established under State law, exceed $1,000;

15 and

16 (2) who is not in compliance with a plan or an

17 agreement to repay the arrearages.

18 (b) EMPLOYMENT.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

20 provision of law, an individual shall be considered in21 eligible to accept employment in a position in the

22 Federal Government if—

23 (A) such individual has child support ar24 rearages, determined under a court order or an

25 order of an administrative process established

26 under State law, exceeding $1,000; and
88

•HR 1961 IH

1 (B) such individual is not in compliance

2 with a plan or agreement to repay the arrear3 ages.

4 (2) REGULATIONS.—Regulations to carry out

5 paragraph (1) shall—

6 (A) with respect to positions in the execu7 tive branch, be prescribed by the President (or

8 his designee);

9 (B) with respect to positions in the legisla10 tive branch, be prescribed jointly by the Presi11 dent pro tempore of the Senate and the Speak12 er of the House of Representatives (or their

13 designees); and

14 (C) with respect to positions in the judicial

15 branch, be prescribed by the Chief Justice of

16 the United States (or his designee).

17 (3) CHILD SUPPORT DEFINED.—For purposes

18 of this subsection, the term ‘‘child support’’ has the

19 meaning given such term in section 462 of the So20 cial Security Act.
89

•HR 1961 IH

1 SEC. 424. STATES REQUIRED TO ORDER COURTS TO ALLOW

2 ASSIGNMENT OF LIFE INSURANCE BENEFITS

3 TO SATISFY CHILD SUPPORT ARREARAGES.

4 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

5 section 417 of this Act, is amended by inserting after

6 paragraph (34) the following:

7 ‘‘(35) Procedures allowing State courts to—

8 ‘‘(A) order the issuer of a life insurance

9 policy to change the beneficiary provisions of

10 the policy to effect an assignment of the bene11 fits payable to a beneficiary under the policy, in

12 whole or in part, to a child to satisfy a child

13 support arrearage, determined under a court

14 order or an order of an administrative process

15 established under State law, owed by the bene16 ficiary with respect to the child; and

17 ‘‘(B) prohibit the sale, assignment, or

18 pledge as collateral of the policy, in whole or in

19 part, by the beneficiary of the policy.’’.

20 SEC. 425. INTERESTS IN JOINTLY HELD PROPERTY SUB21 JECT TO ASSIGNMENT TO SATISFY CHILD

22 SUPPORT ARREARAGES.

23 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

24 section 424 of this Act, is amended by inserting after

25 paragraph (35) the following:
90

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(36) Procedures allowing State courts to order

2 the assignment of an interest in jointly held property

3 to an individual owed a child support arrearage (de4 termined under a court order or an order of an ad5 ministrative process established under State law) by

6 a holder of an interest in the property, to the extent

7 of the arrearage.’’.

8 SEC. 426. INTERNATIONAL CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCE9 MENT.

10 (a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS THAT THE UNITED

11 STATES SHOULD RATIFY THE UNITED NATIONS CON12 VENTION OF 1956.—It is the sense of the Congress that

13 the United States should ratify the United Nations Con14 vention of 1956.

15 (b) TREATMENT OF INTERNATIONAL CHILD SUP16 PORT CASES AS INTERSTATE CASES.—Section 454 (42

17 U.S.C. 654), as amended by section 301 of this Act, is

18 amended—

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

20 (26);

21 (2) by striking the period at the end of para22 graph (27) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

23 (3) by inserting after paragraph (27) the fol24 lowing:
91

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(28) provide that the State must treat inter2 national child support cases in the same manner as

3 the State treats interstate child support cases.’’.

4 TITLE V—COLLECTION AND

5 DISTRIBUTION

6 SEC. 501. PRIORITIES IN DISTRIBUTION OF COLLECTED

7 CHILD SUPPORT.

8 (a) STATE DISTRIBUTION PLAN.—Section 457 (42

9 U.S.C. 657) is amended by adding at the end the follow10 ing:

11 ‘‘(e) Beginning on September 1, 1994, the amounts

12 that a State collects as child support (including interest)

13 pursuant to a plan approved under this part, other than

14 amounts so collected through a tax refund offset, shall

15 (subject to subsection (d)) be paid—

16 ‘‘(1) first to the individual owed the support or

17 (if the individual assigned to the State the payment

18 of the support) to the State, to the extent necessary

19 to satisfy the current month’s support obligation;

20 ‘‘(2) then to the individual owed the support, to

21 the extent necessary to satisfy any arrearage that

22 accrued after assistance with respect to the child

23 under this title ended;

24 ‘‘(3) then, at the option of the State—
92

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(A) to the individual owed the support, to

2 the extent necessary to satisfy any arrearage

3 that accrued before assistance was provided

4 with respect to the child under this title; or

5 ‘‘(B) to the State, to the extent necessary

6 to reimburse the State for assistance provided

7 with respect to the child under this title (with8 out interest); and

9 ‘‘(4) then to other States, to the extent nec10 essary to reimburse such other States for assistance

11 provided with respect to the child under this title

12 (without interest), in the order in which such assist13 ance was provided.’’.

14 (b) STUDY AND PILOT PROJECTS.—

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

16 the United States shall conduct studies and pilot

17 projects of systems under which States would be re18 quired to pay the child support collected pursuant to

19 a State plan approved under part D of title IV of

20 the Social Security Act to the individuals to whom

21 the support is owed before making any payment to

22 reimburse any State for assistance provided with re23 spect to the child under part A of such title.

24 (2) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—Within 3

25 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
93

•HR 1961 IH

1 Comptroller General shall submit to the Committee

2 on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives

3 and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a re4 port on each study and pilot project conducted pur5 suant to paragraph (1), including a cost-benefit

6 analysis and an analysis of the costs that would be

7 avoided under the program of aid to families with

8 dependent children under part A of title IV of the

9 Social Security Act, the program of medical assist10 ance under title XIX of such Act, and the food

11 stamp program under the Food Stamp Act of 1977,

12 if the various systems studied were implemented.

13 (3) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense

14 of the Congress that, if the report submitted pursu15 ant to paragraph (2) demonstrates that there would

16 be a net benefit to society if a system described in

17 paragraph (1) were implemented, then Federal law

18 should provide that States implement the system.

19 (c) REVISION OF FEDERAL INCOME TAX REFUND

20 OFFSET.—Section 6402 of the Internal Revenue Code of

21 1986 (relating to authority to make credits or refunds)

22 is amended—

23 (1) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘after any

24 other reductions allowed by law (but before’’ and in-
94

•HR 1961 IH

1 serting ‘‘before any other reductions allowed by law

2 (and before’’; and

3 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘with respect

4 to past-due support collected pursuant to an assign5 ment under section 402(a)(26) of the Social Security

6 Act’’.

7 (d) $50 DISREGARDED FOR ALL MEANS-TESTED

8 PROGRAMS.—Section 457(b)(1) (42 U.S.C. 657(b)(1)) is

9 amended by inserting ‘‘under this part or under any other

10 Federal program which determines eligibility for or the

11 amount of assistance based on the income or assets of the

12 applicant for or recipient of the assistance’’ after ‘‘during

13 such month’’.

14 (e) FILL-THE-GAP POLICIES ALLOWED.—Section

15 402(a)(28) (42 U.S.C. 602(a)(28)) is amended by striking

16 the open parenthesis and all that follows through the close

17 parenthesis.

18 SEC. 502. STATE CLAIMS AGAINST NONCUSTODIAL PARENT

19 LIMITED TO ASSISTANCE PROVIDED TO THE

20 CHILD.

21 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

22 section 425 of this Act, is amended by inserting after

23 paragraph (36) the following:

24 ‘‘(37)(A) Procedures under which any claims

25 the State may have against a noncustodial parent
95

•HR 1961 IH

1 for a child’s portion of the assistance provided under

2 a State plan approved under part A shall not exceed

3 the amount specified as child support under a court

4 or administrative order.

5 ‘‘(B) As used in subparagraph (A), the term

6 ‘child’s portion’ means the assistance that would

7 have been provided with respect to the child if the

8 needs of the caretaker relative of the child had not

9 been taken into account in making the determination

10 with respect to the child’s family under section

11 402(a)(7).’’.

12 SEC. 503. FEES FOR NON-AFDC CLIENTS.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 454(6) (42 U.S.C.

14 654(6)) is amended—

15 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘or recov16 ered’’ and all that follows through ‘‘program)’’;

17 (2) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘on the

18 parent who owes the child or spousal support obliga19 tion involved’’ after ‘‘imposed’’;

20 (3) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘individ21 ual who’’ and inserting ‘‘the noncustodial parent if

22 the child whose parentage is to be determined

23 through the tests’’; and

24 (4) in subparagraph (E), by striking all that

25 follows ‘‘may be collected’’ and inserting ‘‘from the
96

•HR 1961 IH

1 parent who owes the child or spousal support obliga2 tion involved, but only after all current and past-due

3 support and interest charges have been collected’’.

4 (b) PUBLICATION OF FEE SCHEDULES.—Section

5 454(10) (42 U.S.C. 654(10)) is amended by inserting ‘‘,

6 and shall publish guidelines and schedules of fees which

7 may be imposed under paragraph (6), and which shall be

8 reasonable’’ before the semicolon.

9 SEC. 504. COLLECTION AND DISBURSEMENT POINTS FOR

10 CHILD SUPPORT.

11 Section 454 (42 U.S.C. 654), as amended by section

12 427(b) of this Act, is amended—

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

14 (27);

15 (2) by striking the period at the end of para16 graph (28) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

17 (3) by inserting after paragraph (28) the fol18 lowing:

19 ‘‘(29) provide for only 1 location, or several

20 local or regional locations for the collection of, ac21 counting for, and disbursement of child support in

22 cases enforced under the State plan under this

23 part.’’.
97

•HR 1961 IH

1 SEC. 505. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS THAT STATES SHOULD

2 ENCOURAGE PARENTS TO USE THE STATE

3 CHILD SUPPORT AGENCY TO COLLECT AND

4 PROCESS CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS.

5 It is the sense of the Congress that States should en6 courage all parents to use the state child support agency

7 to process and distribute child support payments in order

8 to establish an official record of such payments.

9 TITLE VI—FEDERAL ROLE

10 SEC. 601. PLACEMENT AND ROLE OF THE OFFICE OF CHILD

11 SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT.

12 Section 452(a) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)), as amended by

13 section 401(b) of this Act, is amended—

14 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by

15 striking ‘‘, under the direction’’ and all that follows

16 through ‘‘and who’’ and inserting ‘‘which shall be

17 known as the Office of Child Support Enforcement,

18 shall be under the direction of an Assistant Sec19 retary appointed by the President with the advice

20 and consent of the Senate, and shall have its own

21 legal counsel. The Assistant Secretary shall report

22 directly to the Secretary and’’;

23 (2) in paragraph (10)—

24 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting

25 ‘‘using a methodology that reflects cost-avoid-
98

•HR 1961 IH

1 ance as well as cost-recovery’’ after ‘‘the States

2 and the Federal Government’’;

3 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (H)

4 and (I) as subparagraphs (I) and (J), respec5 tively; and

6 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (G)

7 the following:

8 ‘‘(H) the budgetary allocation of the $50

9 pass through equally between part A and this

10 part;’’;

11 (3) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

12 (13);

13 (4) by striking the period at the end of para14 graph (14) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

15 (5) by inserting after paragraph (14) the fol16 lowing:

17 ‘‘(15) initiate and actively pursue with other

18 Federal agencies, such as the Department of De19 fense, coordinated efforts on Federal legislation.’’.

20 SEC. 602. TRAINING.

21 (a) FEDERAL TRAINING ASSISTANCE.—Section

22 452(a)(7) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)(7)) is amended by inserting

23 ‘‘and training’’ after ‘‘technical assistance’’.
99

•HR 1961 IH

1 (b) STATE TRAINING PROGRAM.—Section 454 (42

2 U.S.C. 654), as amended by section 504 of this Act, is

3 amended—

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

5 (28);

6 (2) by striking the period at the end of para7 graph (29) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

8 (3) by inserting after paragraph (29) the fol9 lowing:

10 ‘‘(30) provide that the State will develop and

11 implement a training program under which training

12 is to be provided not less frequently than annually

13 to all personnel performing functions under the

14 State plan.’’.

15 (c) REPORT.—Section 452(a)(10) (42 U.S.C.

16 652(a)(10)), as amended by section 601(2) of this Act,

17 is amended by redesignating subparagraphs (I) and (J)

18 as subparagraphs (J) and (K), respectively, and by insert19 ing after subparagraph (H) the following:

20 ‘‘(I) the training activities at the Federal

21 and State levels, the training audit, and the

22 amounts expended on training;’’.

23 SEC. 603. STAFFING.

24 (a) STUDIES.—The Secretary of Health and Human

25 Services shall conduct and, not later than 1 year after the
100

•HR 1961 IH

1 date of the enactment of this Act, complete staffing stud2 ies for each State child support enforcement program, in3 cluding each agency and court involved in the child sup4 port process.

5 (b) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—Within 90 days

6 after the end of the 1-year period described in subsection

7 (a), the Secretary shall report to the Committee on Ways

8 and Means of the House of Representatives and the Com9 mittee on Finance of the Senate, and to each State, the

10 results of the studies required by subsection (a).

11 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of Health and

12 Human Services shall reduce by 2 percent the amount oth13 erwise payable to a State pursuant to section 455(a)(1)(A)

14 of the Social Security Act for any calendar quarter ending

15 2 or more years after the State receives a report transmit16 ted pursuant to subsection (b), if the Secretary determines

17 that, during the quarter, the State has not implemented

18 the staffing levels recommended in the report.

19 SEC. 604. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS TO TEST ALTER20 NATIVE APPROACHES TO INCENTIVE FUND21 ING FOR STATE CHILD SUPPORT PROGRAMS.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and

23 Human Services shall authorize 3 States to carry out dem24 onstration projects under which—
101

•HR 1961 IH

1 (1) the State is to implement the State plan ap2 proved under part D of title IV of the Social Secu3 rity Act so as to promote quality control and provide

4 incentives for enforcement of health care support;

5 (2) in lieu of applying subsections (b) and (c)

6 of section 458 of such Act to the States, the incen7 tive payment to a State for a fiscal year shall be—

8 (A) not less than 65 percent of the total

9 amount expended to carry out the plan during

10 the fiscal year if the performance of the State

11 in implementing the plan meets such minimum

12 performance standards as the Secretary shall

13 prescribe by regulation; and

14 (B) not more than 90 percent of such total

15 amount if the performance significantly exceeds

16 the standards; and

17 (3) a payment to a State under this subsection

18 is deemed a payment to the State under such section

19 458.

20 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary of Health and Human

21 Services and the Comptroller General of the United States

22 shall evaluate each demonstration project carried out

23 under subsection (a) and report to the Committee on Ways

24 and Means of the House of Representatives and the Com-
102

•HR 1961 IH

1 mittee on Finance of the Senate the results and their rec2 ommendations.

3 (c) HEALTH CARE SUPPORT INCLUDED IN INCEN4 TIVE PAYMENT FORMULA.—Section 458 (42 U.S.C. 658)

5 is amended by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(f) For purposes of this section, the term ‘support’

7 includes premiums paid for health insurance coverage pur8 suant to a support order.’’.

9 (d) MINIMUM STATE FUNDING OF CHILD SUPPORT

10 ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary of Health and Human Serv11 ices shall reduce by 2 percent the amount otherwise pay12 able to a State pursuant to section 455(a)(1)(A) of the

13 Social Security Act for any of the 5 fiscal years that begin

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act (in this sub15 section referred to as ‘‘investment years’’), if the Secretary

16 determines that, during the investment year, the State has

17 not expended on the program under the State plan ap18 proved under part D of title IV of such an amount equal

19 to the sum of—

20 (1) the amount the State expends on the pro21 gram during the fiscal year in which this Act be22 comes law (in this subsection referred to as the

23 ‘‘base year’’); plus
103

•HR 1961 IH

1 (2)(A) in the case of the 1st investment year,

2 60 percent of the amount paid to the State under

3 section 458 of such Act for the base year;

4 (B) in the case of the 2nd investment year, 70

5 percent of the amount so paid to the State;

6 (C) in the case of the 3rd investment year, 80

7 percent of the amount so paid to the State;

8 (D) in the case of the 4th investment year, 90

9 percent of the amount so paid to the State; and

10 (E) in the case of the 5th investment year, 100

11 percent of the amount so paid to the State.

12 (e) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the

13 Congress that States should not use amounts paid to the

14 States pursuant to part D of title IV of the Social Security

15 Act, which are reinvested in child support activities, to

16 supplant State funding of such activities.

17 SEC. 605. CHILD SUPPORT DEFINITION.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 452 (42 U.S.C. 652) is

19 amended by adding at the end the following:

20 ‘‘(j) For purposes of this part, the term ‘child sup21 port’ shall have the meaning given such term in section

22 462(b).’’.

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 462(b)

24 (42 U.S.C. 662(b)) is amended—
104

•HR 1961 IH

1 (1) by inserting ‘‘and lump sum’’ after ‘‘peri2 odic’’, and

3 (2) by inserting ‘‘child care,’’ after ‘‘clothing,’’.

4 SEC. 606. AUDITS.

5 (a) STUDY.—

6 (1) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of

7 Health and Human Services shall enter into a con8 tract for a study of the audit process of the Office

9 of Child Support Enforcement to develop criteria

10 and methodology for auditing the activities of State

11 child support enforcement agencies pursuant to part

12 D of title IV of the Social Security Act.

13 (2) DESIGN OF STUDY.—The study shall be de14 signed to—

15 (A) identify ways to improve the auditing

16 process, including by—

17 (i) reducing the resources required to

18 perform the audit;

19 (ii) simplifying procedures for States

20 to follow in obtaining samples;

21 (iii) studying the feasibility of sam22 pling cases for needed action rather than

23 requiring sampling plans for each audit

24 criterion; and
105

•HR 1961 IH

1 (iv) a more timely audit period of re2 view; and

3 (B) develop a penalty process which—

4 (i) focuses on improving the delivery

5 of child support services and not harming

6 families;

7 (ii) uses a penalty not tied to any re8 duction of funds payable to States under

9 part A of title IV of the Social Security

10 Act; and

11 (iii) should include the escrowing of

12 funds withheld as penalties for use by

13 States to improve their child support pro14 grams in a manner approved by the Sec15 retary of Health and Human Services.

16 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after comple17 tion of the study required by subsection (a), the Secretary

18 of Health and Human Services shall submit to the Com19 mittee on Ways and Means of the House of Representa20 tives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a report

21 on the results of the study.

22 (c) LIMITATION ON CASES INCLUDED IN AUDITS.—

23 Section 452(a)(4) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)(4)) is amended—

24 (1) by inserting ‘(A) after ‘‘(4);

25 (2) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end; and
106

•HR 1961 IH

1 (3) by adding after and below the end the fol2 lowing:

3 ‘‘(B) notwithstanding subparagraph (A), each

4 audit under subparagraph (A) shall be limited to

5 cases open on the date the audit begins and cases

6 closed within 180 days before such date, unless the

7 Secretary has determined, in accordance with regula8 tions, that there is a need for a longitudinal review

9 of case handling that includes cases that have been

10 closed for more than 180 days;’’.

11 SEC. 607. CHILD SUPPORT ASSURANCE DEMONSTRATION

12 PROJECTS.

13 (a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the

14 Congress that children should have a consistent source of

15 income to meet their education and medical needs.

16 (b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of

17 the Congress that the provision of public assistance to a

18 custodial parent for the support of a child with respect

19 to whom a noncustodial parent owes child support does

20 not absolve the noncustodial parent of the obligation to

21 provide such support.

22 (c) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the

23 Congress that the States must continue to vigorously pur24 sue efforts to establish parentage, and establish and en25 force child support obligations.
107

•HR 1961 IH

1 (d) CHILD SUPPORT ASSURANCE DEMONSTRATION

2 PROJECTS.—

3 (1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection

4 is to test the feasibility and utility of ensuring that

5 custodial parents owed child support have a consist6 ent source of income for the support of their chil7 dren, by authorizing States to conduct projects dem8 onstrating various methods for doing so.

9 (2) CONSIDERATION OF APPLICATIONS.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of

11 Health and Human Services (in this section re12 ferred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall consider ap13 plications to conduct demonstration projects

14 under this subsection received only from eligible

15 States.

16 (B) ELIGIBLE STATE DEFINED.—For pur17 poses of subparagraph (A), a State is an eligi18 ble State if—

19 (i) the child support collection ratio

20 for the State for the most recent fiscal

21 year for which such information is avail22 able exceeds the child support collection

23 ratio for the United States for the fiscal

24 year; or
108

•HR 1961 IH

1 (ii) AFDC support collection ratio for

2 the State for the most recent fiscal year

3 for which such information is available ex4 ceeds the AFDC support collection ratio

5 for the United States for the fiscal year.

6 (C) CHILD SUPPORT COLLECTION

7 RATIO.—As used in subparagraph (B), the term

8 ‘‘child support collection ratio’’ means, with re9 spect to a fiscal year—

10 (i) for a State—

11 (I) the total amount expended by

12 the State during the fiscal year for

13 the operation of the plan approved

14 under section 454 of the Social Secu15 rity Act; divided by

16 (II) the total amount of support

17 collected by the State during the fiscal

18 year in all cases under part D of title

19 IV of such Act; and

20 (ii) for the United States—

21 (I) the total amount expended by

22 the States during the fiscal year for

23 the operation of the plans approved

24 under such section; divided by
109

•HR 1961 IH

1 (II) the total amount of support

2 collected by the States during the fis3 cal year in all cases under such part.

4 (D) AFDC SUPPORT COLLECTION

5 RATIO.—As used in subparagraph (B), the term

6 ‘‘AFDC support collection ratio’’ means, with

7 respect to a fiscal year—

8 (i) for a State—

9 (I) the total amount expended by

10 the State during the fiscal year for

11 the operation of the plan approved

12 under section 454 of the Social Secu13 rity Act; divided by

14 (II) the total amount of support

15 collected by the State under the plan

16 during the fiscal year in cases in

17 which the support obligation involved

18 is assigned to the State pursuant to

19 section 402(a)(26) or section

20 471(a)(17) of such Act; and

21 (ii) for the United States—

22 (I) the total amount expended by

23 the States during the fiscal year for

24 the operation of the plans approved

25 under such section 454; divided by
110

•HR 1961 IH

1 (II) the total amount of support

2 collected by the States under the

3 plans during the fiscal year in cases in

4 which the support obligation involved

5 is assigned to a State pursuant to sec6 tion 402(a)(26) or section 471(a)(17)

7 of such Act.

8 (3) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Each appli9 cation of a State to conduct a demonstration project

10 under this subsection must describe a demonstration

11 project that meets the following requirements:

12 (A) PROJECT BENEFICIARIES.—A child

13 support assurance benefit is payable under the

14 project to the caretaker of a child if—

15 (i) the child is an eligible child; and

16 (ii) the caretaker has applied for serv17 ices under the State plan approved under

18 part D of title IV of the Social Security

19 Act.

20 (B) ELIGIBLE CHILDREN.—A child is an

21 eligible child if—

22 (i) the child resides in the State;

23 (ii) the child has a living noncustodial

24 parent;
111

•HR 1961 IH

1 (iii) a good faith effort has been made

2 to seek or enforce an order for such parent

3 to provide support for the child, or there is

4 good cause for not seeking or enforcing

5 such an order; and

6 (iv) any rights to support owed the

7 child have been assigned to the State, to

8 the extent of the child support assurance

9 benefits received with respect to the child

10 under the project.

11 (C) AMOUNT OF CHILD SUPPORT ASSUR12 ANCE BENEFIT.—The amount of the child sup13 port assurance benefit payable under the

14 project to the caretaker of 1 or more eligible

15 children is the amount by which—

16 (i) the child support assurance thresh17 old; exceeds

18 (ii) the dollar value of the child sup19 port (if any) received during the month by

20 the caretaker from the noncustodial parent

21 for the support of any eligible child.

22 (D) CHILD SUPPORT ASSURANCE THRESH23 OLD.—The child support assurance threshold is

1 24 ⁄12 of—
112

•HR 1961 IH

1 (i) $2,000 for the 1st eligible child;

2 plus

3 (ii) $1,000 for the 2nd eligible child

4 (if any); plus

5 (iii) $500 for each subsequent eligible

6 child (if any).

7 (4) METHODS TO BE TESTED.—In approving

8 applications to conduct demonstration projects under

9 this subsection, the Secretary shall ensure that the

10 applications approved under this subsection describe

11 projects which, in the aggregate, are designed to test

12 the following:

13 (A) ADMINISTRATIVE VERSUS OTHER

14 PROCESSING.—The feasibility of implementing

15 a statewide child support assurance benefit in a

16 State which processes child support and parent17 age cases administratively, as opposed to the

18 feasibility of implementing such a benefit in a

19 State which processes such cases only judicially

20 or quasi-judicially.

21 (B) ALLOWANCE OF GOOD CAUSE EXCEP22 TIONS.—The effects of prohibiting the provision

23 of a child support assurance benefit with re24 spect to a child unless an order for the support

25 of the child has been established and the care-
113

•HR 1961 IH

1 taker of the child has made a good faith effort

2 to enforce the order, as opposed to allowing

3 good cause exceptions to the prohibition.

4 (C) TIMING OF BENEFITS.—The effects of

5 providing child support assurance benefits im6 mediately upon the establishment of a child

7 support order, as opposed to providing such

8 benefits only after a period (determined by the

9 Secretary) of nonreceipt of child support. The

10 Secretary may select 1 or more such periods to

11 be tested in different demonstration projects.

12 (D) RELATIONSHIP OF BENEFITS TO

13 OTHER INCOME AND BENEFITS.—The effects of

14 reducing the amount payable with respect to a

15 child under the State plan approved under part

16 A of title IV of the Social Security Act by a

17 portion (determined by the Secretary) of the

18 child support assurance benefit provided by the

19 State with respect to the child, as opposed to

20 reducing the child support assurance benefit

21 provided by the State with respect to the child

22 by a portion (determined by the Secretary) of

23 the earned income of the family of the child.

24 The Secretary may select 1 or more such por-
114

•HR 1961 IH

1 tions of benefits or of earned income to be test2 ed in different demonstration projects.

3 (5) PRIORITY TO BE GIVEN TO PROJECTS THAT

4 INCLUDE WORK INCENTIVES.—In approving applica5 tions to conduct demonstration projects under this

6 subsection, the Secretary shall give priority among

7 otherwise equivalent applications to applications that

8 describe projects that include work incentives for

9 participants.

10 (6) APPROVAL OF CERTAIN APPLICATIONS.—

11 The Secretary shall approve not more than 5 appli12 cations to conduct demonstration projects under this

13 subsection which appear likely to contribute signifi14 cantly to the achievement of the purpose of this sub15 section.

16 (7) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—Each State whose

17 application to conduct a demonstration project under

18 this subsection has been approved by the Secretary

19 shall conduct the project in accordance with such

20 regulations as the Secretary may prescribe.

21 (8) FUNDING.—From the sums appropriated to

22 carry out this subsection, the Secretary shall pay to

23 each State whose application to conduct a dem24 onstration project under this subsection has been ap-
115

•HR 1961 IH

1 proved by the Secretary, for each month, an amount

2 equal to—

3 (A) 90 percent of the aggregate amount of

4 the child support assurance benefits paid by the

5 State during the month if, during the month,

6 the project has met such performance goals as

7 the Secretary has established for the project; or

8 (B) 80 percent of such aggregate amount,

9 otherwise.

10 (9) MODIFIED PRIORITY OF DISTRIBUTION OF

11 CHILD SUPPORT COLLECTED FOR CHILDREN WITH

12 RESPECT TO WHOM CHILD SUPPORT ASSURANCE

13 BENEFIT IS PAID.—In lieu of paragraph (1) of sec14 tion 457(e) of the Social Security Act, child support

15 collected from a noncustodial parent of a child with

16 respect to whom a child support assurance benefit is

17 paid under a demonstration project conducted under

18 this subsection shall (subject to section 457(d) of

19 such Act) be paid—

20 (A) first to the State, to the extent nec21 essary to reimburse the State for the portion of

22 the benefit not paid from funds provided under

23 paragraph (8) of this subsection; and

24 (B) then to the Federal Government, to

25 the extent necessary to reimburse the Federal
116

•HR 1961 IH

1 Government for the portion of the benefit paid

2 from funds provided under paragraph (8) of

3 this subsection.

4 (10) DURATION OF PROJECTS.—

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each State whose ap6 plication to conduct a demonstration project

7 under this subsection has been approved by the

8 Secretary shall conduct the project for not less

9 than 3 years and not more than 5 years.

10 (B) AUTHORITY TO TERMINATE

11 PROJECTS.—The Secretary may terminate a

12 demonstration project conducted under this

13 subsection if the Secretary determines that the

14 project is not being conducted consistent with

15 or satisfactorily under this subsection.

16 (11) EVALUATIONS.—Each State which con17 ducts a demonstration project under this subsection

18 shall prepare and submit to the Secretary an interim

19 and a final evaluation of the project with respect to

20 the impact of the project on—

21 (A) the economic and noneconomic well22 being of the participants in the project and of

23 the work force generally; and

24 (B) participation in and expenditures

25 under the program of the State under the State
117

•HR 1961 IH

1 plan approved under part A of title IV of the

2 Social Security Act.

3 (12) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—Within 1

4 year after the completion of all demonstration

5 projects conducted under this subsection, the Sec6 retary shall submit to the Committee on Ways and

7 Means of the House of Representatives and the

8 Committee on Finance of the Senate a report that

9 contains a consolidated evaluation of the projects.

10 SEC. 608. CHILDREN’S TRUST FUND.

11 (a) DESIGNATION OF CONTRIBUTIONS.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 61

13 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to

14 returns and records) is amended by adding at the

15 end thereof the following new part:

16 ‘‘PART IX—CONTRIBUTIONS TO CHILDREN’S

17 TRUST FUND

‘‘Sec. 6097. Amounts for Children’s Trust Fund.

18 ‘‘SEC. 6097. AMOUNTS FOR CHILDREN’S TRUST FUND.

19 ‘‘Each taxpayer may include with such taxpayer’s re20 turn of tax imposed by chapter 1 for any taxable year a

21 contribution by the taxpayer to the Children’s Trust

22 Fund.’’.

23 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of

24 parts for subchapter A of chapter 61 of the Internal
118

•HR 1961 IH

1 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the

2 end thereof the following new item:

‘‘Part IX—Contributions for Children’s Trust Fund.’’.

3 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made

4 by this subsection shall apply to taxable years begin5 ning after December 31, 1992.

6 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF CHILDREN’S TRUST

7 FUND.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 98

9 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to

10 the trust fund code) is amended by adding at the

11 end thereof the following new section:

12 ‘‘SEC. 9512. CHILDREN’S TRUST FUND.

13 ‘‘(a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is estab14 lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund

15 to be known as the ‘Children’s Trust Fund’, consisting

16 of such amounts as may be appropriated or credited to

17 the Trust Fund as provided in this section or section

18 9602(b).

19 ‘‘(b) TRANSFER TO CHILDREN’S TRUST FUND OF

20 AMOUNTS DESIGNATED.—There is hereby appropriated to

21 the Children’s Trust Fund amounts equivalent to the

22 amounts contributed to such Trust Fund under section

23 6097.

24 ‘‘(c) EXPENDITURES FROM TRUST FUND.—
119

•HR 1961 IH

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts in the Children’s

2 Trust Fund shall be available as provided by appro3 priation Acts for making expenditures for programs

4 regarding child support and the specific mandates

5 described in part D of title IV of the Social Security

6 Act, especially such mandates established by the

7 amendments made by the Interstate Child Support

8 Act of 1993.

9 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Amounts in

10 the Children’s Trust Fund shall be available to pay

11 the administrative expenses of the Department of

12 the Treasury directly allocable to—

13 ‘‘(A) modifying the individual income tax

14 return forms to carry out section 6097,

15 ‘‘(B) carrying out this chapter with respect

16 to such Trust Fund, and

17 ‘‘(C) processing amounts received under

18 section 6097 and transferring such amounts to

19 such Trust Fund.’’.

20 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec21 tions for subchapter A of chapter 98 of the Internal

22 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the

23 end thereof the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 9512. Children’s Trust Fund.’’.
120

•HR 1961 IH

1 SEC. 609. STUDY OF REASONS FOR NONPAYMENT OF CHILD

2 SUPPORT; REPORT.

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

4 States shall—

5 (1) conduct a study of the causes of delin6 quency in the payment of child support, including

7 the nonpayment of child support by noncustodial

8 parents and failure of custodial parents to cooperate

9 in the collection of child support; and

10 (2) if a sufficient number of studies of this

11 matter are available, review the studies.

12 (b) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—Within 1 year after

13 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller

14 General shall submit to the Committee on Ways and

15 Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee

16 on Finance of the Senate, and to the Office of Child Sup17 port Enforcement, a report that contains the results of

18 the study required by subsection (a), and a consolidated

19 summary of the studies described in subsection (a)(2).

20 SEC. 610. STUDY OF EFFECTIVENESS OF ADMINISTRATIVE

21 PROCESSES; REPORT.

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

23 States shall conduct a study of the effectiveness of the

24 processing of child support and parentage cases in States

25 that use administrative processes as compared with States

26 that use judicial or quasi-judicial processes.
121

•HR 1961 IH

1 (b) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—Within 1 year after

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller

3 General shall submit to the Committee on Ways and

4 Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee

5 on Finance of the Senate a report that contains the results

6 of the study required by subsection (a).

7 SEC. 611. PUBLICATION OF BEST CHILD SUPPORT PRAC8 TICES.

9 (a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the

10 Congress that the Office of Child Support Enforcement

11 should develop a mechanism to publicize the best practices

12 of States in the area of child support.

13 (b) COMPENDIUM OF STATE CHILD SUPPORT STAT14 UTES.—The Office of Child Support Enforcement shall

15 produce and update the compendium entitled ‘‘A Guide

16 To State Child Support And Paternity Laws’’, published

17 by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

18 SEC. 612. ESTABLISHMENT OF PERMANENT CHILD SUP19 PORT ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Child Support En21 forcement shall establish an advisory committee on child

22 support matters composed of Federal and State legisla23 tors, State child support officials, and representatives of

24 custodial and noncustodial parents.
122

•HR 1961 IH

1 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The advisory committee estab2 lished pursuant to subsection (a) shall—

3 (1) provide oversight of the implementation of

4 Federal laws and regulations affecting child support,

5 and the operation of Federal, State, and local child

6 support programs; and

7 (2) provide a forum through which child sup8 port problems experienced by parents, State agen9 cies, the courts, and the private bar may be identi10 fied, and from which recommendations on how to

11 solve such problems may be reported to the Sec12 retary of Health and Human Services and to the

13 Congress.

14 (c) PERMANENCY.—Section 14 of the Federal Advi15 sory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to

16 the advisory committee established pursuant to subsection

17 (a) of this section.

18 TITLE VII—STATE ROLE

19 SEC. 701. ADVOCATION OF CHILDREN’S ECONOMIC SECU20 RITY.

21 Section 454 (42 U.S.C. 654), as amended by section

22 602 of this Act, is amended—

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

24 (29);
123

•HR 1961 IH

1 (2) by striking the period at the end of para2 graph (30) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

3 (3) by inserting after paragraph (30) the fol4 lowing:

5 ‘‘(31) provide that the agency administering the

6 plan shall advocate to promote the greatest economic

7 security possible for children, consistent with the

8 ability of any individual who owes child support with

9 respect to the child to provide the support.’’.

10 SEC. 702. DUTIES OF STATE CHILD SUPPORT AGENCIES.

11 Section 454 (42 U.S.C. 654), as amended by section

12 701 of this Act, is amended—

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

14 (30);

15 (2) by striking the period at the end of para16 graph (31) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

17 (3) by inserting after paragraph (31) the fol18 lowing:

19 ‘‘(32) provide that the agency administering the

20 plan shall provide to each custodial parent—

21 ‘‘(A) a written description of the services

22 available under the plan, and a statement de23 scribing the priorities applied in distributing

24 collected child support and the rules governing
124

•HR 1961 IH

1 confidentiality of information in child support

2 matters;

3 ‘‘(B) a statement that at least 30 days be4 fore the agency consents to the dismissal of a

5 child support case with prejudice or a reduction

6 of arrearages, the agency must provide notice to

7 the custodial parent at the last known address

8 of the custodial parent;

9 ‘‘(C) written quarterly reports on the sta10 tus of any case involving the custodial parent;

11 ‘‘(D) a statement that the State is re12 quired to provide services under the plan to any

13 custodial parent who is eligible for aid under

14 the State plan approved under part A; and

15 ‘‘(E) a statement that any custodial parent

16 who applies for services under the plan is eligi17 ble for such services, and that any application

18 fee for such services is deferred pending deter19 mination of the eligibility of the custodial par20 ent for aid under the State plan approved under

21 part A.’’.

22 SEC. 703. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS REGARDING QUALITY

23 OF AND ACCESSIBILITY TO CHILD SUPPORT

24 SERVICES.

25 It is the sense of the Congress that—
125

•HR 1961 IH

1 (1) States should work closely with parents to

2 improve the quality of child support services; and

3 (2) State and local child support enforcement

4 agencies should have—

5 (A) offices in easily accessible locations

6 near public transportation;

7 (B) office hours that allow parents to meet

8 with attorneys and caseworkers without having

9 to take time off from work; and

10 (C) office environments conducive to pri11 vate discussion of legal and personal matters,

12 such as in individual interview rooms and child

13 care facilities.

14 SEC. 704. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS FOR CHANGE OF

15 PAYEE IN IV–D CASES.

16 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

17 section 502 of this Act, is amended by inserting after

18 paragraph (37) the following:

19 ‘‘(38) Procedures under which only administra20 tive procedures are required to change the payee

21 under a child support order in a case under this

22 part, if a statement by an official of the State child

23 support enforcement agency is included in the court

24 or administrative file documenting the change.’’.
126

•HR 1961 IH

1 SEC. 705. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS SUPPORTING USE OF

2 ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES IN CHILD

3 SUPPORT CASES.

4 It is the sense of the Congress that each State should

5 establish administrative procedures to process child sup6 port cases.

7 SEC. 706. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS SUPPORTING ESTAB8 LISHMENT OF STATE CHILD SUPPORT COUN9 CILS.

10 It is the sense of the Congress that each State should

11 establish a child support council, composed of members

12 from all over the State, to—

13 (1) review State laws on child support and pa14 ternity;

15 (2) recommend improvements in child support

16 and paternity programs and in such laws; and

17 (3) serve as a public forum for custodial and

18 noncustodial parents on matters related to child sup19 port and paternity.

20 TITLE VIII—JOBS FOR UNEM21 PLOYED NONCUSTODIAL PAR22 ENTS

23 SEC. 801. PARENTS FAIR SHARE DEMONSTRATION

24 PROJECTS.

25 (a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the

26 Congress that any program established by the Federal
127

•HR 1961 IH

1 Government to provide jobs for noncustodial parents

2 should be administered so as not to adversely affect any

3 Federal program for custodial parents, either directly or

4 through competition for available funds.

5 (b) EVALUATION OF PROJECTS; REPORT TO THE

6 CONGRESS; CONDITIONAL AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT AD7 DITIONAL AND MORE EXTENSIVE PROJECTS.—Upon re8 ceiving the evaluations required to be provided pursuant

9 to section 482(d)(3) of the Social Security Act, the Sec10 retary of Health and Human Services shall transmit the

11 evaluations to the Secretary of Labor who shall—

12 (1) study the evaluations;

13 (2) within 12 months after receipt of the eval14 uations, submit to the Committee on Ways and

15 Means of the House of Representatives and the

16 Committee on Finance of the Senate a consolidated

17 report on the activities evaluated; and

18 (3)(A) if the evaluations are sufficient to permit

19 the Secretary to make recommendations with respect

20 to the activities evaluated, include such rec21 ommendations in the report required by paragraph

22 (2) of this subsection; or

23 (B) if the evaluations are inconclusive, author24 ize States to provide services, under programs estab25 lished under section 402(a)(19) and part F of title
128

•HR 1961 IH

1 IV of such Act, on a voluntary or mandatory basis,

2 to noncustodial parents who are unemployed and un3 able to meet their child support obligations, of great4 er scope and for a greater duration than the services

5 provided under section 482(d)(3) of such Act, in ac6 cordance with regulations prescribed by the Sec7 retary of Labor.

8 TITLE IX—EFFECTIVE DATE

9 SEC. 901. EFFECTIVE DATE.

10 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, this Act and

11 the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on Jan12 uary 1, 1995.

Æ

HR 1961 IH——2

HR 1961 IH——3

HR 1961 IH——4

HR 1961 IH——5

HR 1961 IH——6

HR 1961 IH——7

HR 1961 IH——8

HR 1961 IH——9