[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 851 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 851

     To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize the 
  Immigration and Naturalization Service to accept volunteer services.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 4, 1993

 Mr. Moorhead introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize the 
  Immigration and Naturalization Service to accept volunteer services.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Immigration Service Volunteer 
Assistance Act''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZING USING OF VOLUNTEERS.

    (a) In General.--Title I of the Immigration and Nationality Act is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:

                          ``use of volunteers

    ``Sec. 107. (a) Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United 
States Code, the Commissioner may recruit, train, and accept, without 
regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, the services 
of individuals without compensation as volunteers for the Service. Such 
volunteers may be used to assist the Service, in a voluntary support 
role--
            ``(1) in search and rescue missions and similar 
        humanitarian missions in border areas;
            ``(2) in a chaplain program (including counseling, 
        officiating at funerals and weddings, and visiting employees 
        off-duty because of illness or injury);
            ``(3) in providing language interpreter services (for 
        languages other than Spanish);
            ``(4) in observing activities in border areas and in 
        reporting observations (such as movements of large groups of 
        people) to the Service; and
            ``(5) in such non-critical, non-operational support 
        functions of the Service as the Attorney General determines 
        could be adequately and appropriately performed by volunteers.
The Commissioner shall not use volunteers under this section to 
displace personnel of the Service.
    ``(b) The Commissioner is authorized to provide for incidental 
expenses, such as transportation, uniforms, and subsistence, of such 
volunteers.
    ``(c)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a 
volunteer shall not be deemed a Federal employee and shall not be 
subject to the provisions of law relating to Federal employment, 
including those relative to hours of work, rates of compensation, 
leave, unemployment compensation, and Federal employee benefits. 
Volunteers are not authorized to arrest, detain, or interrogate 
individuals.
    ``(2) For the purpose of the tort claim provisions of title 28, 
United States Code, a volunteer under this section shall be considered 
a Federal employee.
    ``(3) For purposes of subchapter I of chapter 81 of title 5, United 
States Code, relating to compensation to Federal employees for work 
injuries, volunteers under this section shall be deemed employees of 
the United States within the meaning of the term `employees' as defined 
in section 8101 of such title, and the provisions of that subchapter 
shall apply.
    ``(d) There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
section $100,000 for each fiscal year (beginning with fiscal year 
1994).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of such Act is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 106 the 
following new item:

``Sec. 107. Use of volunteers.''.

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