[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3123 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3123

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to exempt certain elderly 
persons from demonstrating an understanding of the English language and 
the history, principles, and form of government of the United States as 
 a requirement for naturalization, and to permit certain other elderly 
persons to take the history and government examination in a language of 
                             their choice.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 17, 2003

 Mr. Nadler (for himself, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. 
Serrano, Mr. Dooley of California, Mr. Case, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Frank 
 of Massachusetts, Mr. Delahunt, Mr. Green of Texas, Ms. McCollum, Mr. 
    Berman, Mr. Tierney, Mr. Weiner, and Mr. Engel) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to exempt certain elderly 
persons from demonstrating an understanding of the English language and 
the history, principles, and form of government of the United States as 
 a requirement for naturalization, and to permit certain other elderly 
persons to take the history and government examination in a language of 
                             their choice.

    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 ``Senior Citizenship Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FULFILLMENT BY ELDERLY PERSONS OF REQUIREMENT FOR 
              NATURALIZATION RELATING TO KNOWLEDGE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

    Section 312(b)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1423(b)(2)) is amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 
        ``334, either--'' and inserting ``334--'';
            (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``, or'' at the end 
        and inserting a semicolon;
            (3) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; or''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(C) is over sixty-five years of age and has been living 
        in the United States for periods totaling at least five years 
        subsequent to a lawful admission for permanent residence.''.

SEC. 3. FULFILLMENT BY ELDERLY PERSONS OF REQUIREMENT FOR 
              NATURALIZATION RELATING TO KNOWLEDGE OF GOVERNMENT OF THE 
              UNITED STATES.

    Section 312(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1423(b)(3)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(3)'' and inserting ``(3)(A)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(B) In the case of a person who, on the date of the filing of the 
person's application for naturalization, as provided in section 334, is 
over sixty-five years of age and has been living in the United States 
for periods totaling at least five years subsequent to a lawful 
admission for permanent residence, the Attorney General shall permit 
the person to fulfill the requirement of subsection (a)(2) through an 
examination in a language other than English selected by the person.
    ``(C) In the case of a person who, on the date of the filing of the 
person's application for naturalization, as provided in section 334, is 
over seventy-five years of age and has been living in the United States 
for periods totaling at least five years subsequent to a lawful 
admission for permanent residence, the requirement of subsection (a)(2) 
shall not apply.''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date of 
the enactment of this Act and shall apply to applications for 
naturalization pending on or after such date.
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