an attorney or a public or licensed private adoption 
agency about placing her child for adoption, or in 
which a public or licensed private adoption agency is 
working to place a child for adoption. 
‘‘(7) PROCEEDING.—The term ‘proceeding’ 
means a proceeding relating to a child that a pos-
sible father has or may have fathered regarding a 
planned or pending adoption of the child, the entry 
of the child into State custody, or the termination of 
a possible father’s rights to the child. 
‘‘(8) POSSIBLE
FATHER.—The term ‘possible 
father’ or ‘putative father’ means a man who has 
had sexual relations with a woman to whom he is 
not married and is therefore presumed to know that 
such woman may be pregnant as a result of such re-
lations. 
‘‘(9) SEARCH.—The term ‘search’ means a re-
quest for information regarding the existence of all 
possible fathers related to a child that is the subject 
of a proceeding. 
‘‘(10) STATE
RESPONSIBLE
FATHER
REG-
ISTRY.—The term ‘State Responsible Father Reg-
istry’ means, with respect to a State, the registry es-
tablished or modified and maintained under section 
443 for that State. 
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‘‘(11) PARTICIPATING STATE.—The term ‘par-
ticipating State’ means a State that has entered into 
an agreement with the Secretary under section 442. 
‘‘SEC. 441. NATIONAL RESPONSIBLE FATHER REGISTRY. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND MAINTENANCE.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than the date 
that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this 
subpart, the Secretary shall establish and maintain 
an automated National Responsible Father Registry 
that contains the information described in section 
443(c) and that provides a mechanism for men to 
register such information directly with the National 
Responsible Father Registry. 
‘‘(2) DATA
ENTRY
AND
DELETION
REQUIRE-
MENTS.— 
‘‘(A) DATA
ENTRY.—Information trans-
mitted by a State or a possible father under 
section 443(d)(2) shall be entered into the Na-
tional Responsible Father Registry not later 
than the date that is 2 business days after the 
date on which such information is received. 
‘‘(B) RESPONSIBLE
FATHER
REGISTRA-
TION.—The Secretary shall establish procedures 
under which a possible father may submit the 
information described in section 443(c) directly 
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to the Secretary for the purpose of including 
such information in the National Responsible 
Father Registry. Such procedures shall— 
‘‘(i) require the possible father to 
verify by submission of a sworn statement 
or such other means as the Secretary de-
termines appropriate that the information 
submitted is his own personal information 
and that it is true and correct to the best 
of his knowledge; 
‘‘(ii) provide that no fee shall be 
charged to the possible father for reg-
istering in the National Responsible Father 
Registry; and 
‘‘(iii) allow possible fathers to submit 
registrations by mail or electronic means. 
‘‘(C) APPLICATION
OF
FEDERAL
PEN-
ALTIES FOR SUBMISSION OF FALSE INFORMA-
TION.—Any person who knowingly submits 
false information to the National Responsible 
Father Registry directly or indirectly through 
transmission of information submitted to a 
State Responsible Father Registry shall be sub-
ject to penalties in accordance with the provi-
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sions of section 1001 of title 18, United States 
Code. 
‘‘(D) DELETION
OF
DATA.—Information 
entered into the National Responsible Father 
Registry shall remain in the registry for not 
less than 20 years from the date of entry. 
‘‘(3) ACCESS
TO
INFORMATION
IN
THE
NA-
TIONAL RESPONSIBLE FATHER REGISTRY.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), access to the information contained 
in the National Responsible Father Registry is 
limited to an eligible party. 
‘‘(B) 
LIMITED
ACCESS
FOR
REG-
ISTRANTS.—Each possible father who registers 
in the National Responsible Father Registry 
may file a search request with the Secretary for 
the limited purpose of confirming that the in-
formation he provided is contained in the Na-
tional Registry. 
‘‘(4) SEARCH REQUESTS.— 
‘‘(A) BY AN ELIGIBLE PARTY.—The Sec-
retary shall accept a request from an eligible 
party to search the National Responsible Fa-
ther Registry only if the request has been 
verified for authenticity. 
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‘‘(B) BY A REGISTRANT.—The Secretary 
shall accept a request from a possible father 
who has registered in the National Responsible 
Father Registry to search the National Respon-
sible Father Registry only if the request has 
been verified for authenticity. 
‘‘(C) FEE.—The Secretary is authorized to 
charge a reasonable fee for a search conducted 
under this section. 
‘‘(5) LIMITATION ON DISCLOSURE OF INFORMA-
TION.—No information contained in the National 
Responsible Father Registry shall be disclosed to 
any person if the disclosure of the information would 
contravene a national security interest of the United 
States or if the disclosure would compromise the 
confidentiality of census data. 
‘‘(6) METHODS FOR REQUESTING A SEARCH OF 
THE NATIONAL DATABASE.—An eligible party may 
request a search under this section either electroni-
cally or through the mail. 
‘‘(7) CERTIFICATE OF SEARCH.— 
‘‘(A) ISSUANCE.—Within 2 business days 
of receipt of a search request, the Secretary 
shall issue by mail or electronic means a certifi-
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cate of search to the person who requested the 
search. 
‘‘(B) CONTENTS
OF
ELIGIBLE
PARTY 
SEARCH.—The certificate of search on behalf of 
an eligible party shall contain— 
‘‘(i) the names and most recent con-
tact information for all possible fathers 
who are registered in the National Respon-
sible Father Registry or registered in any 
participating State Responsible Father 
Registry; 
‘‘(ii) the latest date through which 
data in the National Responsible Father 
Registry has been updated; and 
‘‘(iii) the list of the State Responsible 
Father Registries whose data is included in 
the search database and the date through 
which the data from each participating 
State was last updated. 
‘‘(C) 
CONTENTS
OF
REGISTRANT 
SEARCH.—The certificate of search on behalf of 
a possible father who has registered in the Na-
tional Responsible Father Registry shall only 
contain the information provided to the Sec-
retary by the registrant himself or provided by 
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