I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2646

To direct that certain Federal financial benefits be provided only to citizens

and nationals of the United States.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 15, 1993

Mr. HUNTER (for himself and Mr. CUNNINGHAM) introduced the following

bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on Ways and Means,

Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, and Agriculture

A BILL

To direct that certain Federal financial benefits be provided

only to citizens and nationals of the United States.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Benefit Integ5 rity Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. PROVISION OF AID TO FAMILIES WITH DEPENDENT

7 CHILDREN ONLY TO CITIZENS AND NATION8 ALS OF THE UNITED STATES.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 402(a) of the Social Secu10 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 602(a)) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

2 (44);

3 (2) by striking the period at the end of para4 graph (45) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

5 (3) by inserting after paragraph (45) the fol6 lowing:

7 ‘‘(46) provide that—

8 ‘‘(A) aid under the State plan shall not be

9 payable to any family that applies therefor and

10 does not include a citizen or national of the

11 United States; and

12 ‘‘(B) the amount of aid payable under the

13 State plan to any family that is a recipient

14 thereof and does not include a citizen or na15 tional of the United States shall, notwithstand16 ing any other provision of this part, be reduced

17 each year (but not below zero) by a dollar

amount equal to 1 18 ⁄3 of the amount of such aid

19 as of the later of the effective date of this para20 graph or the first day the family does not in21 clude such a citizen or national.’’.

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

23 subsection (a) shall take effect at the end of the 1-year

24 period that begins with the date of the enactment of this

25 Act, and shall apply to payments under part A of title
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1 IV of the Social Security Act for calendar quarters ending

2 after such 1-year period, without regard to whether regu3 lations to implement such amendments are promulgated

4 by the end of such 1-year period.

5 SEC. 3. PROVISION OF SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME

6 BENEFITS ONLY TO CITIZENS AND NATION7 ALS OF THE UNITED STATES.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1614(a)(1) of the Social

9 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1382c(a)(1)) is amended by strik10 ing subparagraph (B)(i) and inserting the following:

11 ‘‘(B)(i) is a citizen or national of the United

12 States, or’’.

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1621 of

14 such Act (42 U.S.C. 1382j) is hereby repealed.

15 (c) PHASE-OUT OF BENEFITS CURRENTLY PAID TO

16 INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE NOT CITIZENS OR NATIONALS.—

17 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any individual

18 who, on the date of the enactment of this Act, is not a

19 citizen or national of the United States and is receiving

20 supplemental security income benefits under title XVI of

21 the Social Security Act shall, for purposes of such title,

22 be considered a citizen or national of the United States

23 during the 3-year period that begins with such date of en24 actment, except that the benefits to which the individual

shall be entitled under such title shall be reduced by 1 25 ⁄3
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1 from the level of such benefits as of such date of enact2 ment, each year during such 3-year period.

3 SEC. 4. USE OF ASSISTED HOUSING BY ALIENS.

4 Section 214 of the Housing and Community Develop5 ment Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 1436a) is amended to read

6 as follows:

7 ‘‘SEC. 214. RESTRICTION ON USE OF ASSISTED HOUSING.

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro9 vision of law, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel10 opment may not make financial assistance available for

11 the benefit of any individual after the expiration of the

12 3-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of

13 the Federal Benefit Integrity Act unless the individual is

14 a citizen or national of the United States.

15 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION OF NEW ASSISTANCE.—Notwith16 standing any other provision of law, the Secretary of

17 Housing and Urban Development may not make financial

18 assistance available for the benefit of any individual who

19 is not a citizen or national of the United States after the

20 expiration of the 1-year period beginning on the date of

21 the enactment of the Federal Benefit Integrity Act unless

22 such individual is receiving financial assistance on such

23 date.

24 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—For

25 purposes of this section, the term ‘financial assistance’
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1 means financial assistance made available pursuant to the

2 United States Housing Act of 1937, section 235 or 236

3 of the National Housing Act, or section 101 of the Hous4 ing and Urban Development Act of 1965.

5 ‘‘(d) DISCRETIONARY CONTINUATION OF FINANCIAL

6 ASSISTANCE.—If, following completion of the applicable

7 hearing process, financial assistance for any individual re8 ceiving such assistance on the date referred to in sub9 section (a) is to be terminated, the public housing agency

10 or other local governmental entity involved (in the case

11 of public housing or assistance under section 8 of the

12 United States Housing Act of 1937) or the Secretary of

13 Housing and Urban Development (in the case of any other

14 financial assistance) may, in its discretion, take one of the

15 following actions:

16 ‘‘(1) CONTINUED PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE.—

17 Permit the continued provision of financial assist18 ance, if necessary to avoid the division of a family

19 in which the head of household or spouse is a citizen

20 or national of the United States.

21 ‘‘(2) DEFERRED TERMINATION OF ASSIST22 ANCE.—Defer the termination of financial assist23 ance, if necessary to permit the orderly transition of

24 the individual and any family members involved to

25 other affordable housing, except that—
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1 ‘‘(A) any deferral under this paragraph

2 shall be for a 6-month period and may be re3 newed by the public housing agency or other

4 entity involved for an aggregate period of 3

5 years; and

6 ‘‘(B) at the beginning of each deferral pe7 riod, the public housing agency or other entity

8 involved shall inform the individual and family

9 members of their ineligibility for financial as10 sistance and offer them other assistance in find11 ing other affordable housing.

12 For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘family’ means

13 a head of household, any spouse, any parents of the head

14 of household, any parents of the spouse, and any children

15 of the head of household or spouse.

16 ‘‘(e) DECLARATION OF CITIZENSHIP.—Financial as17 sistance may not be provided for the benefit of an individ18 ual unless the following requirements are met:

19 ‘‘(1) STATEMENT.—There is a declaration in

20 writing by the individual (or, in the case of an indi21 vidual who is a child, by another on the individual’s

22 behalf), under penalty of perjury, stating that the

23 individual is a citizen or national of the United

24 States.
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1 ‘‘(2) DOCUMENTATION.—There is presented

2 such documentation as the Secretary determines

3 constitutes reasonable evidence indicating that the

4 individual is a citizen or national of the United

5 States.’’.

6 SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOOD STAMP ACT OF 1977.

7 (a) AMENDMENTS.—The Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7

8 U.S.C. 2011–2032) is amended—

9 (1) in section 5 by striking subsection (i),

10 (2) in the first sentence of section 6(f) by strik11 ing ‘‘(2) either’’ and all that follows through ‘‘house12 hold.’’, and inserting ‘‘(2) a citizen or national of the

13 United States.’’, and

14 (3) in section 11(e)(2) by striking ‘‘either citi15 zens or are aliens’’ and inserting ‘‘citizens or nation16 als of the United States’’.

17 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION OF AMEND18 MENTS.—

19 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take

20 effect 1 year after the date of the enactment of this

21 Act.

22 (2) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.—The

23 amendments made by subsection (a) shall not apply

24 with respect to certification periods beginning before

25 the effective date of this section.
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