I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4282 
To amend part D of title IV of the Social Security Act to ensure that 
the United States can comply fully with the obligations of the Hague 
Convention of 23 November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child 
Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 28, 2012 
Mr. BERG (for himself, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, Mr. LEWIS 
of Georgia, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. PRICE of Georgia, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. 
CROWLEY, Mr. PAULSEN, Mrs. BLACK, Mr. REED, and Mr. RANGEL) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways 
and Means, and in addition to the Committees on the Budget and the 
Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend part D of title IV of the Social Security Act 
to ensure that the United States can comply fully with 
the obligations of the Hague Convention of 23 November 
2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support 
and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘International Child Support Recovery Improvement Act 
of 2012’’. 
(b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly 
provided in this Act, wherever in this Act an amendment 
is expressed in terms of an amendment to a section or 
other provision, the amendment shall be considered to be 
made to a section or other provision of the Social Security 
Act. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO ENSURE ACCESS TO CHILD SUP-
PORT SERVICES FOR INTERNATIONAL CHILD 
SUPPORT CASES. 
(a) AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF HHS TO 
ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH MULTILATERAL CHILD SUP-
PORT CONVENTIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 452 (42 U.S.C. 652) 
is amended— 
(A) by redesignating the second subsection 
(l) (as added by section 7306 of the Deficit Re-
duction Act of 2005) as subsection (m); and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(n) The Secretary shall use the authorities otherwise 
provided by law to ensure the compliance of the United 
States with any multilateral child support convention to 
which the United States is a party.’’. 
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(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
453(k)(3) (42 U.S.C. 653(k)(3)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘452(l)’’ and inserting ‘‘452(m)’’. 
(b) ACCESS TO THE FEDERAL PARENT LOCATOR 
SERVICE.—Section 453(c) (42 U.S.C. 653(c)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(3); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) an entity designated as a Central Author-
ity for child support enforcement in a foreign recip-
rocating country or a foreign treaty country for pur-
poses specified in section 459A(c)(2).’’. 
(c) STATE OPTION TO REQUIRE INDIVIDUALS IN 
FOREIGN COUNTRIES TO APPLY THROUGH THEIR COUN-
TRY’S APPROPRIATE CENTRAL AUTHORITY.—Section 454 
(42 U.S.C. 654) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (4)(A)(ii), by inserting before 
the semicolon ‘‘(except that, if the individual apply-
ing for the services resides in a foreign reciprocating 
country or foreign treaty country, the State may opt 
to require the individual to request the services 
through the Central Authority for child support en-
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which the 2007 Family Maintenance Convention is 
in force. 
‘‘(3) 2007 FAMILY
MAINTENANCE
CONVEN-
TION.—The term ‘2007 Family Maintenance Con-
vention’ means the Hague Convention of 23 Novem-
ber 2007 on the International Recovery of Child 
Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance.’’; 
(2) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
by striking ‘‘foreign countries that are the sub-
ject of a declaration under this section’’ and in-
serting ‘‘foreign reciprocating countries or for-
eign treaty countries’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and 
foreign treaty countries’’ after ‘‘foreign recipro-
cating countries’’; and 
(3) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘the subject of 
a declaration pursuant to subsection (a)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘foreign reciprocating countries or foreign treaty 
countries’’. 
(e) COLLECTION OF PAST-DUE SUPPORT FROM FED-
ERAL TAX REFUNDS.—Section 464(a)(2)(A) (42 U.S.C. 
664(a)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘under section 
454(4)(A)(ii)’’ and inserting ‘‘under paragraph (4)(A)(ii) 
or (32) of section 454’’. 
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(f) STATE LAW REQUIREMENT CONCERNING THE 
UNIFORM
INTERSTATE
FAMILY
SUPPORT
ACT 
(UIFSA).— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 466(f) (42 U.S.C. 
666(f)) is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘on and after January 1, 
1998,’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘and as in effect on Au-
gust 22, 1996,’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘adopted as of such date’’ 
and inserting ‘‘adopted as of September 30, 
2008’’. 
(2) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT
TO
TITLE
28, 
UNITED STATES CODE.—Section 1738B of title 28, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(A) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘indi-
vidual contestant’’ and inserting ‘‘individual 
contestant or the parties have consented in a 
record or open court that the tribunal of the 
State may continue to exercise jurisdiction to 
modify its order,’’; 
(B) in subsection (e)(2)(A), by striking 
‘‘individual contestant’’ and inserting ‘‘indi-
vidual contestant and the parties have not con-
sented in a record or open court that the tri-
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bunal of the other State may continue to exer-
cise jurisdiction to modify its order’’; and 
(C) in subsection (b)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘ ‘child’ means—’’ and 
inserting ‘‘(1) The term ‘child’ means’’; 
(ii) 
by 
striking 
‘‘ ‘child’s 
State’ 
means’’ and inserting ‘‘(2) The term 
‘child’s State’ means’’; 
(iii) by striking ‘‘ ‘child’s home State’ 
means’’ and inserting ‘‘(3) The term 
‘child’s home State’ means’’; 
(iv) by striking ‘‘ ‘child support’ 
means’’ and inserting ‘‘(4) The term ‘child 
support’ means’’; 
(v) by striking ‘‘ ‘child support order’ 
means’’ and inserting ‘‘(5) The term ‘child 
support order’ means’’; 
(vi) by striking ‘‘ ‘contestant’ means’’ 
and inserting ‘‘(6) The term ‘contestant’ 
means’’; 
(vii) by striking ‘‘ ‘court’ means’’ and 
inserting ‘‘(7) The term ‘court’ means’’; 
(viii) 
by 
striking 
‘‘ ‘modification’ 
means’’ and inserting ‘‘(8) The term 
‘modification’ means’’; and 
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(ix) by striking ‘‘ ‘State’ means’’ and 
inserting ‘‘(9) The term ‘State’ means’’. 
(3) EFFECTIVE
DATE; GRACE
PERIOD
FOR 
STATE LAW CHANGES.— 
(A) PARAGRAPH (1).—(i) The amendments 
made by paragraph (1) shall take effect with 
respect to a State on the later of— 
(I) October 1, 2013; or 
(II) the effective date of laws enacted 
by the legislature of the State imple-
menting such paragraph, but in no event 
later than the first day of the first cal-
endar quarter beginning after the close of 
the first regular session of the State legis-
lature that begins after the date of the en-
actment of this Act. 
(ii) For purposes of clause (i), in the case 
of a State that has a 2-year legislative session, 
each year of the session shall be deemed to be 
a separate regular session of the State legisla-
ture. 
(B) PARAGRAPH (2).—(i) The amendments 
made by subparagraphs (A) and (B) of para-
graph (2) shall take effect on the date on which 
the Hague Convention of 23 November 2007 on 
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the International Recovery of Child Support 
and Other Forms of Family Maintenance enters 
into force for the United States. 
(ii) The amendments made by subpara-
graph (C) of paragraph (2) shall take effect on 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 3. DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDIZATION FOR IM-
PROVED INTEROPERABILITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 452 (42 U.S.C. 652), as 
amended by section 2(a)(1) of this Act, is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(o) DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDIZATION FOR IM-
PROVED INTEROPERABILITY.— 
‘‘(1) DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDS.— 
‘‘(A) DESIGNATION.—The Secretary, in 
consultation with an interagency work group 
which shall be established by the Office of Man-
agement and Budget, and considering State 
and tribal perspectives, shall, by rule, designate 
a data exchange standard for any category of 
information required to be reported under this 
part. 
‘‘(B) DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDS MUST 
BE NONPROPRIETARY AND INTEROPERABLE.— 
The data exchange standard designated under 
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subparagraph (A) shall, to the extent prac-
ticable, be nonproprietary and interoperable. 
‘‘(C) OTHER
REQUIREMENTS.—In desig-
nating data exchange standards under this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall, to the extent prac-
ticable, incorporate— 
‘‘(i) interoperable standards developed 
and maintained by an international vol-
untary consensus standards body, as de-
fined by the Office of Management and 
Budget, such as the International Organi-
zation for Standardization; 
‘‘(ii) interoperable standards devel-
oped and maintained by intergovernmental 
partnerships, such as the National Infor-
mation Exchange Model; and 
‘‘(iii) interoperable standards devel-
oped and maintained by Federal entities 
with authority over contracting and finan-
cial assistance, such as the Federal Acqui-
sition Regulatory Council. 
‘‘(2) DATA
EXCHANGE
STANDARDS
FOR
RE-
PORTING.— 
‘‘(A) DESIGNATION.—The Secretary, in 
consultation with an interagency work group es-
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tablished by the Office of Management and 
Budget, and considering State and tribal per-
spectives, shall, by rule, designate data ex-
change standards to govern the data reporting 
required under this part. 
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The data exchange 
standards required by subparagraph (A) shall, 
to the extent practicable— 
‘‘(i) incorporate a widely-accepted, 
nonproprietary, searchable, computer-read-
able format; 
‘‘(ii) be consistent with and implement 
applicable accounting principles; and 
‘‘(iii) be capable of being continually 
upgraded as necessary. 
‘‘(C) 
INCORPORATION
OF
NONPROPRI-
ETARY STANDARDS.—In designating reporting 
standards under this paragraph, the Secretary 
shall, to the extent practicable, incorporate ex-
isting nonproprietary standards, such as the 
eXtensible Markup Language.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 
(1) DATA
EXCHANGE
STANDARDS.—The Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services shall issue a 
proposed rule under section 452(o)(1) of the Social 
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Security Act within 12 months after the date of the 
enactment of this section, and shall issue a final rule 
under such section 452(o)(1), after public comment, 
within 24 months after such date of enactment. 
(2) DATA
REPORTING
STANDARDS.—The re-
porting standards required under section 452(o)(2) 
of such Act shall become effective with respect to re-
ports required in the first reporting period, after the 
effective date of the final rule referred to in para-
graph (1) of this subsection, for which the authority 
for data collection and reporting is established or re-
newed under the Paperwork Reduction Act. 
SEC. 4. EFFICIENT USE OF THE NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF 
NEW 
HIRES 
DATABASE 
FOR 
FEDERALLY 
SPONSORED RESEARCH ASSESSING THE EF-
FECTIVENESS OF FEDERAL POLICIES AND 
PROGRAMS IN ACHIEVING POSITIVE LABOR 
MARKET OUTCOMES. 
Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (i)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘24’’ 
and inserting ‘‘48’’; and 
(2) in subsection (j), by striking paragraph (5) 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(5) RESEARCH.— 
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B) of this paragraph, the Secretary may 
provide access to data in each component of the 
Federal Parent Locator Service maintained 
under this section and to information reported 
by employers pursuant to section 453A(b), 
for— 
‘‘(i) research undertaken by a State or 
Federal agency (including through grant or 
contract) for purposes found by the Sec-
retary to be likely to contribute to achiev-
ing the purposes of part A or this part; or 
‘‘(ii) an evaluation or statistical anal-
ysis undertaken to assess the effectiveness 
of a Federal program in achieving positive 
labor market outcomes (including through 
grant or contract), by— 
‘‘(I) the Department of Health 
and Human Services; 
‘‘(II) the Social Security Admin-
istration; 
‘‘(III) the Department of Labor; 
‘‘(IV) the Department of Edu-
cation; 
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‘‘(V) the Department of Housing 
and Urban Development; 
‘‘(VI) the Department of Justice; 
‘‘(VII) the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs; 
‘‘(VIII) the Bureau of the Cen-
sus; 
‘‘(IX) the Department of Agri-
culture; or 
‘‘(X) the National Science Foun-
dation. 
‘‘(B) PERSONAL
IDENTIFIERS.—Data or 
information provided under this paragraph may 
include a personal identifier only if, in addition 
to meeting the requirements of subsections (l) 
and (m)— 
‘‘(i) the State or Federal agency con-
ducting the research described in subpara-
graph (A)(i), or the Federal department or 
agency undertaking the evaluation or sta-
tistical analysis described in subparagraph 
(A)(ii), as applicable, enters into an agree-
ment with the Secretary regarding the se-
curity and use of the data or information; 
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‘‘(ii) the agreement includes such re-
strictions or conditions with respect to the 
use, safeguarding, disclosure, or redisclo-
sure of the data or information (including 
by contractors or grantees) as the Sec-
retary deems appropriate; 
‘‘(iii) the data or information is used 
exclusively for the purposes defined in the 
agreement; and 
‘‘(iv) the Secretary determines that 
the provision of data or information under 
this paragraph is the minimum amount 
needed to conduct the research, evaluation, 
or statistical analysis, as applicable, and 
will not interfere with the effective oper-
ation of the program under this part. 
‘‘(C) PENALTIES FOR UNAUTHORIZED DIS-
CLOSURE OF DATA.—Any individual who will-
fully discloses a personal identifier (such as a 
name or social security number) provided under 
this paragraph, in any manner to an entity not 
entitled to receive the data or information, shall 
be guilty of a class E felony under title 18, 
United States Code. Any penalty imposed under 
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