I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1428
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a system through
which the Commissioner of Social Security and the Attorney General
respond to inquiries made by election officials concerning the citizenship
of voting registration applicants and to amend the Social Security Act
to permit States to require individuals registering to vote in elections
to provide the individual’s Social Security number.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 24, 1997
Mr. HORN (for himself, Mr. DREIER, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. CAL-
VERT, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. GALLEGLY,
Mr. LEWIS of California, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. PACKARD, Mr. RIGGS, Mr.
ROYCE, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. STUMP, Mr. TRAFICANT, and Mr. HUNTER)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on House Oversight and
Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish
a system through which the Commissioner of Social Se-
curity and the Attorney General respond to inquiries
made by election officials concerning the citizenship of
voting registration applicants and to amend the Social
Security Act to permit States to require individuals reg-
istering to vote in elections to provide the individual’s
Social Security number.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Voter Eligibility Ver-
ification Act’’.
SEC. 2. VOTER ELIGIBILITY CONFIRMATION SYSTEM.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101, note) is amended by in-
serting after the chapter heading for chapter 1 the follow-
ing:
‘‘VOTER ELIGIBILITY CONFIRMATION SYSTEM
‘‘SEC. 401. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General,
in consultation with the Commissioner of Social Security,
shall establish a confirmation system through which
they—
‘‘(1) respond to inquiries made to verify the
citizenship of an individual who has submitted a
voter registration application, by Federal, State, and
local officials (including voting registrars) with re-
sponsibility for determining an individual’s qualifica-
tion to vote in a Federal, State, or local election; and
‘‘(2) maintain a record of the inquiries that
were made and of verifications provided (or not pro-
vided).
‘‘(b) INITIAL RESPONSE.—The confirmation system
shall provide for a confirmation or a tentative noncon-
firmation of an individual’s citizenship by the Commis-
sioner of Social Security as soon as practicable after an
initial inquiry to the Commissioner.
‘‘(c) SECONDARY VERIFICATION PROCESS IN CASE
OF TENTATIVE NONCONFIRMATION.—In cases of ten-
tative nonconfirmation, the Attorney General shall specify,
in consultation with the Commissioner of Social Security
and the Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturaliza-
tion Service, an available secondary verification process to
confirm the validity of information provided and to provide
a final confirmation or nonconfirmation as soon as prac-
ticable after the date of the tentative nonconfirmation.
‘‘(d) DESIGN
AND OPERATION
OF SYSTEM.—The
confirmation system shall be designed and operated—
‘‘(1) to be used on a voluntary basis, as a sup-
plementary information source, by Federal, State,
and local election officials for the purpose of assess-
ing the eligibility of voter registration applicants,
and administering voter registration, through citi-
zenship verification;
‘‘(2) to respond to an inquiry concerning citi-
zenship only in a case where determining whether an
individual is a citizen is—
‘‘(A) necessary for determining whether
the individual is eligible to vote in an election
for Federal, State, or local office; and
‘‘(B) part of a program or activity to pro-
tect the integrity of the electoral process that is
uniform, nondiscriminatory, and in compliance
with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.
1973 et seq.);
‘‘(3) to maximize its reliability and ease of use,
consistent with insulating and protecting the privacy
and security of the underlying information;
‘‘(4) to permit inquiries to be made to the sys-
tem through a toll-free telephone line or other toll-
free electronic media;
‘‘(5) to respond to all inquiries made by author-
ized persons and to register all times when the sys-
tem is not responding to inquiries because of a mal-
function;
‘‘(6) with appropriate administrative, technical,
and physical safeguards to prevent unauthorized dis-
closure of personal information; and
‘‘(7) to have reasonable safeguards against the
system’s resulting in unlawful discriminatory prac-
tices based on national origin or citizenship status,
including the selective or unauthorized use of the
system.
‘‘(e) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE COMMISSIONER OF
SOCIAL SECURITY.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As part of the confirmation
system, the Commissioner of Social Security shall
establish a reliable, secure method, which compares
the name and social security account number pro-
vided in an inquiry against such information main-
tained by the Commissioner in order to confirm (or
not confirm) the validity of the information provided
regarding an individual whose identity and citizen-
ship must be confirmed, the correspondence of the
name and number, and whether the individual is a
citizen of the United States. The Commissioner shall
not disclose or release social security information
(other than such confirmation or nonconfirmation).
‘‘(2) PROVISION
OF
ALIEN
IDENTIFICATION
NUMBER.—In cases of tentative nonconfirmation of
an individual’s citizenship by the Commissioner of
Social Security after an initial inquiry to the Com-
missioner, the Commissioner, as part of the con-
firmation system, shall provide to the person making
the inquiry any information the Commissioner main-
tains regarding an alien identification or authoriza-
tion number for the individual established by the Im-
migration and Naturalization Service. The Attorney
General, in consultation with the Commissioner,
shall specify the information to be provided under
this paragraph.
‘‘(f) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE COMMISSIONER OF
THE IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE.—As
part of the confirmation system, the Commissioner of the
Immigration and Naturalization Service shall establish a
reliable, secure method, which compares the name and
alien identification or authorization number described in
subsection (e)(2) which are provided in an inquiry against
such information maintained by the Commissioner in
order to confirm (or not confirm) the validity of the infor-
mation provided, the correspondence of the name and
number, and whether the individual is a citizen of the
United States.
‘‘(g) UPDATING INFORMATION.—The Commissioners
of Social Security and the Immigration and Naturalization
Service shall update their information in a manner that
promotes the maximum accuracy and shall provide a proc-
ess for the prompt correction of erroneous information, in-
cluding instances in which it is brought to their attention
in the secondary verification process described in sub-
section (c).
‘‘(h) LIMITATION ON USE OF THE CONFIRMATION
SYSTEM AND ANY RELATED SYSTEMS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, nothing in this section shall be con-
strued to permit or allow any department, bureau,
or other agency of the United States Government to
utilize any information, data base, or other records
assembled under this section for any other purpose
other than as provided for under this section.
‘‘(2) NO
NATIONAL
IDENTIFICATION
CARD.—
Nothing in this section shall be construed to author-
ize, directly or indirectly, the issuance or use of na-
tional identification cards or the establishment of a
national identification card.
‘‘(3) NO NEW DATA BASES.—Nothing in this
section shall be construed to authorize, directly or
indirectly, the Attorney General and the Commis-
sioner of Social Security to create any joint com-
puter data base that is not in existence on the date
of the enactment of the Voter Eligibility Verification
Act.
‘‘(i) ACTIONS BY VOTING OFFICIALS UNABLE TO
CONFIRM CITIZENSHIP.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In a case where an official
who is authorized to receive information through use
of the confirmation system is unable, after comple-
tion of the secondary verification process, to confirm
the citizenship of an individual, the official—
‘‘(A) shall so notify the individual in writ-
ing; and
‘‘(B) shall inform the individual in writing
of the individual’s right to use—
‘‘(i) the process provided under sub-
section (g) for the prompt correction of er-
roneous information in the confirmation
system; or
‘‘(ii) any other process for establishing
eligibility to vote provided under State or
Federal law.
‘‘(2) REGISTRATION APPLICANTS.—In the case
of an individual who is an applicant for voter reg-
istration, and who receives a notice from an official
under paragraph (1), the official may, subject to,
and in a manner consistent with, State law, reject
the application, or provisionally accept the applica-
tion, pending the official’s receipt of adequate con-
firmation of the citizenship of the individual.
‘‘(3) VOTER REMOVAL PROGRAMS.—In the case
of an individual who is registered to vote, and who
receives a notice from an official under paragraph