[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 399 Introduced in House (IH)]

  1st Session
                                H. R. 399

   To prohibit the provision of financial assistance by the Federal 
  Government to any person who is more than 60 days delinquent in the 
                payment of any child support obligation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 9, 1997

Mr. Bilirakis (for himself, Mr. Canady of Florida, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. 
McHugh, Mr. King, and Mr. Gillmor) introduced the following bill; which 
    was referred to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To prohibit the provision of financial assistance the Federal 
  Government to any person who is more than 60 days delinquent in the 
                payment of any child support obligation.

    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 ``Subsidy Termination for Overdue 
Payments Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS 
              REQUIRED AS A CONDITION OF RECEIVING FEDERAL FINANCIAL 
              ASSISTANCE.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c), an 
agency or instrumentality of the Federal Government may not provide 
financial assistance to an applicant therefor unless the agency or 
instrumentality has obtained from the applicant a certification that 
the applicant is--
            (1) not more than 60 days delinquent in the payment of any 
        child support obligation imposed by a court or an order of an 
        administrative process established under State law; or
            (2) if so delinquent, in compliance with a plan or 
        agreement entered into between the applicant and the person to 
        whom the payment is to be made or a State providing services to 
        the person with respect to the collection of the support.
    (b) Exemption for Financial Assistance That Is Subject to 
Garnishment for Failure To Pay Child Support.--Subsection (a) shall not 
apply to an amount of financial assistance to be provided to an 
applicant to the extent that the amount is subject to garnishment by 
reason of the failure of the applicant to pay a child support 
obligation.
    (c) Good Cause Exception.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to an 
applicant for financial assistance with respect to any period for which 
the applicant has good cause (as determined by the agency or 
instrumentality involved) for having failed to pay a child support 
obligation described in subsection (a)(1), or having failed to enter 
into or comply with a plan or agreement described in subsection (a)(2).
    (d) Regulations.--Within 6 months after the date of the enactment 
of this section, each agency or instrumentality of the Federal 
Government that provides financial assistance shall prescribe such 
regulations as may be necessary to comply with this section.
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