[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 574 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 574

   To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for less 
  restrictive standards for naturalization as a citizen of the United 
               States for certain categories of persons.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 4, 1997

  Mrs. Mink of Hawaii (for herself, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Pastor, Mr. 
Serrano, Mr. Stark, Mr. Towns, Mr. Faleomavaega, Mr. Dellums, Mr. Frank 
 of Massachusetts, Mrs. Meek of Florida, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Gutierrez, 
  Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Kennedy of Rhode Island, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Ms. 
  Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Torres, Ms. McKinney, Mr. Olver, and Mr. 
  Jefferson) 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 less 
  restrictive standards for naturalization as a citizen of the United 
               States for certain categories of persons.

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

SECTION 1. LESS RESTRICTIVE STANDARDS FOR NATURALIZATION AS A CITIZEN 
              OF THE UNITED STATES FOR CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF PERSONS.

    The Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 322 the following:

 ``naturalization of persons who have resided in the united states for 
20 years, are eligible to receive social security benefits, are united 
           states veterans, or have attained 70 years of age

    ``Sec. 323. (a) The requirements in sections 312 and 316 shall not 
apply to the following persons applying for naturalization as a citizen 
of the United States:
            ``(1) A person who has resided in the United States as a 
        lawful permanent resident for at least 20 years.
            ``(2) A person who is a lawful permanent resident of the 
        United States and who has been accredited by the Social 
        Security Administration with 40 quarters of coverage under 
        title II of the Social Security Act.
            ``(3) A person who is a lawful permanent resident of the 
        United States and who is a veteran, as defined in section 
        101(2) of title 38, United States Code.
            ``(4) A person who is at least 70 years old and has resided 
        in the United States as a lawful permanent resident for at 
        least 5 years.
    ``(b) A person described in subsection (a) shall not be eligible 
for naturalization as a citizen of the United States unless the person 
is--
            ``(1) of good moral character;
            ``(2) attached to the principles of the Constitution of the 
        United States; and
            ``(3) well disposed to the good order and happiness of the 
        United States.
    ``(c) A person who has been convicted of a crime punishable by 
imprisonment for more than 12 months shall not be eligible under this 
section for naturalization as a citizen of the United States.
    ``(d) Section 310(b)(1)(B) shall not apply with respect to a person 
naturalized as a citizen of the United States pursuant to subsection 
(a) of this section.
    ``(e) An applicant for naturalization under this subsection may be 
administered the oath of allegiance under section 337(a) by any 
district court of the United States, without regard to the residence of 
the applicant.''.

SEC. 2. CLERICAL AMENDMENT.

    The table of contents of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
section 322 the following:

``Sec. 323. Naturalization of persons who have resided in the United 
                            States for 20 years, are eligible to 
                            receive social security benefits, are 
                            United States veterans, or have attained 70 
                            years of age.''.
                                 <all>