[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2097 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2097

   To assist members of the Armed Forces in obtaining United States 
                  citizenship, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 14, 2005

 Ms. Mikulski introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To assist members of the Armed Forces in obtaining United States 
                  citizenship, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Kendell Frederick Citizenship 
Assistance Act''.

SEC. 2. WAIVER OF REQUIREMENT FOR FINGERPRINTS FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 
              FORCES.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law or any regulation, the 
Secretary of Homeland Security shall use the fingerprints provided by 
an individual at the time the individual enlists in the Armed Forces to 
satisfy any requirement for fingerprints as part of an application for 
naturalization if the individual--
            (1) may be naturalized as provided in section 328 or 329 of 
        the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1439 or 1440);
            (2) was fingerprinted in accordance with the requirements 
        of the Department of Defense at the time the individual 
        enlisted in the Armed Forces; and
            (3) submits an application for naturalization not later 
        than 12 months after the date the individual enlisted in the 
        Armed Forces.

SEC. 3. PROVISION OF INFORMATION ON NATURALIZATION.

    (a) Members of the Armed Forces.--
            (1) Citizenship advocate.--The Secretary of Defense shall 
        establish the position of Citizenship Advocate at each Military 
        Entry Processing Station to provide information on the 
        naturalization process for members of the Armed Forces to such 
        members. An individual appointed as a Citizenship Advocate may 
        be a civilian.
            (2) Written materials.--The Secretary of Defense shall 
        ensure that written information describing the naturalization 
        process for members of the Armed Forces is provided to each 
        individual who is not a citizen of the United States at the 
        time that the individual enlists in the Armed Forces.
    (b) Other Information.--Not later than 30 days after the date that 
a modification to the law or regulations related to the naturalization 
process becomes effective, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
update the appropriate application form for naturalization, the 
instructions and guidebook for obtaining naturalization, and the 
Internet website maintained by the Secretary of Homeland Security to 
reflect such modification.

SEC. 4. STUDY AND REPORT.

    (a) Study.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
conduct a study on the implementation of this Act by Secretary of 
Homeland Security and the Secretary of Defense, including studying any 
technology that may be used to improve the efficiency of the 
naturalization process for members of the Armed Forces.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit to Congress a report on the study required by subsection 
(a). The report shall include any recommendations of the Comptroller 
General for improving the implementation of this Act by the Secretary 
of Homeland Security or the Secretary of Defense.
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