I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1616
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for the granting
of United States citizenship, through the issuance of a certificate of
citizenship, to any person who, after obtaining the status of an alien
lawfully admitted for permanent residence, completes 3 years of honor-
able service on active duty in the Armed Forces, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 26, 2001
Mr. KELLER (for himself and Mr. DIAZ-BALART) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide
for the granting of United States citizenship, through
the issuance of a certificate of citizenship, to any person
who, after obtaining the status of an alien lawfully ad-
mitted for permanent residence, completes 3 years of
honorable service on active duty in the Armed Forces,
and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Veterans’ Citizenship
Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. CITIZENSHIP FOR LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENT
ALIENS COMPLETING 3 YEARS OF HONOR-
ABLE SERVICE IN THE ARMED FORCES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 328 of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1439) is amended to read
as follows:
‘‘CITIZENSHIP THROUGH SERVICE IN THE ARMED FORCES
OF THE UNITED STATES
‘‘SEC. 328. (a) A person described in subsection (b)
may apply for naturalization under this section without
regard to any other requirement of this title. Such an ap-
plication may be filed abroad. The Attorney General shall
approve an application for naturalization under this sec-
tion, and shall issue a certificate of citizenship to the per-
son filing the application, upon proof that the require-
ments of subsection (b) have been met.
‘‘(b)(1) A person described in this subsection is a per-
son who, after acquiring the status of an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence, serves on active duty
in the Armed Forces of the United States and either—
‘‘(A) completes not less than 3 years of such
service characterized by the Secretary concerned as
honorable service; or
‘‘(B) is discharged from the Armed Forces due
to disability associated with wounds received while
on active duty that resulted in the award of the Pur-
ple Heart.
‘‘(2) The Attorney General shall accept as sufficient
documentation of service referred to in paragraph
(1)(A)—
‘‘(A) duly authenticated copies of the records of
the executive department having custody of the
records of the person’s service, showing the period of
such service and the characterization of such service;
or
‘‘(B) in the case of a person separated from ac-
tive duty in the Armed Forces before submitting an
application under this section, the person’s official
certificate of separation from active duty (known as
a ‘DD 214 Form’), showing the period or periods
that the person served on active duty and showing
the characterization of the person’s service on active
duty.
‘‘(c) The Attorney General shall present a certificate
of citizenship issued under this section as follows:
‘‘(1) For a person who is a member of the
Armed Forces of the United States serving on active
duty, the Attorney General shall expeditiously for-
ward the certificate to the Secretary concerned for
presentation to the person in such manner as the
Secretary may direct.
‘‘(2) For a person not covered by paragraph
(1), the Attorney General shall present the certifi-
cate to the person.’’.
‘‘(d) For purposes of this section, the term ‘Secretary
concerned’ has the meaning given that term in section 101
of title 10, United States Code.’’.
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