means financial assistance made available pursuant to the
United States Housing Act of 1937, section 235 or 236
of the National Housing Act, or section 101 of the Hous-
ing and Urban Development Act of 1965.
‘‘(d) DISCRETIONARY CONTINUATION OF FINANCIAL
ASSISTANCE.—If, following completion of the applicable
hearing process, financial assistance for any individual re-
ceiving such assistance on the date referred to in sub-
section (a) is to be terminated, the public housing agency
or other local governmental entity involved (in the case
of public housing or assistance under section 8 of the
United States Housing Act of 1937) or the Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development (in the case of any other
financial assistance) may, in its discretion, take one of the
following actions:
‘‘(1) CONTINUED PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE.—
Permit the continued provision of financial assist-
ance, if necessary to avoid the division of a family
in which the head of household or spouse is a citizen
or national of the United States.
‘‘(2) DEFERRED
TERMINATION
OF
ASSIST-
ANCE.—Defer the termination of financial assist-
ance, if necessary to permit the orderly transition of
the individual and any family members involved to
other affordable housing, except that—
‘‘(A) any deferral under this paragraph
shall be for a 6-month period and may be re-
newed by the public housing agency or other
entity involved for an aggregate period of 3
years; and
‘‘(B) at the beginning of each deferral pe-
riod, the public housing agency or other entity
involved shall inform the individual and family
members of their ineligibility for financial as-
sistance and offer them other assistance in find-
ing other affordable housing.
For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘family’ means
a head of household, any spouse, any parents of the head
of household, any parents of the spouse, and any children
of the head of household or spouse.
‘‘(e) DECLARATION OF CITIZENSHIP.—Financial as-
sistance may not be provided for the benefit of an individ-
ual unless the following requirements are met:
‘‘(1) STATEMENT.—There is a declaration in
writing by the individual (or, in the case of an indi-
vidual who is a child, by another on the individual’s
behalf), under penalty of perjury, stating that the
individual is a citizen or national of the United
States.
‘‘(2) DOCUMENTATION.—There is presented
such documentation as the Secretary determines
constitutes reasonable evidence indicating that the
individual is a citizen or national of the United
States.’’.
SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOOD STAMP ACT OF 1977.
(a) AMENDMENTS.—The Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7
U.S.C. 2011–2032) is amended—
(1) in section 5 by striking subsection (i),
(2) in the first sentence of section 6(f) by strik-
ing ‘‘(2) either’’ and all that follows through ‘‘house-
hold.’’, and inserting ‘‘(2) a citizen or national of the
United States.’’, and
(3) in section 11(e)(2) by striking ‘‘either citi-
zens or are aliens’’ and inserting ‘‘citizens or nation-
als of the United States’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION
OF AMEND-
MENTS.—
(1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take
effect 1 year after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
(2) 
APPLICATION
OF
AMENDMENTS.—The
amendments made by subsection (a) shall not apply
with respect to certification periods beginning before
the effective date of this section.