[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3947 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3947

To permit the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant citizenship to an 
alien who serves on active duty in the Armed Forces, to assist such an 
       alien in applying for citizenship, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 27, 2006

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To permit the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant citizenship to an 
alien who serves on active duty in the Armed Forces, to assist such an 
       alien in applying for 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 ``Soldiers to Citizens Act''.

SEC. 2. CITIZENSHIP FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

    Section 329 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1440) 
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by striking ``subsection (a)'' and 
        inserting ``subsection (a) or (d)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, except for 
provisions relating to revocation of citizenship under subsection (c), 
an individual who is not a citizen of the United States shall not be 
denied the opportunity to apply for membership in the United States 
Armed Forces. Such an individual who becomes an active duty member of 
the United States Armed Forces shall, consistent with this section and 
with the approval of the individual's chain of command, be granted 
United States citizenship after performing at least 2 years of 
honorable and satisfactory service on active duty. Not later than 90 
days after such requirements are met with respect to an individual, 
such individual shall be granted United States citizenship.
    ``(e) An alien described in subsection (d) shall be naturalized 
without regard to the requirements of this title or any other 
requirements, processes, or procedures of the Secretary of Homeland 
Security, if the alien--
            ``(1) files an application for naturalization in accordance 
        with such procedures to carry out this section as may be 
        established by regulation by the Secretary of Homeland Security 
        or the Secretary of Defense;
            ``(2) demonstrates to the alien's military chain of command 
        proficiency in the English language, good moral character, and 
        knowledge of the Federal Government and United States history, 
        consistent with the requirements contained in this Act; and
            ``(3) takes the oath required under section 337 of this Act 
        and participates in an oath administration ceremony in 
        accordance with this Act.''.

SEC. 3. 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 pursuant to section 328 or 329 of 
        the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1439 and 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. 4. PROVISION OF INFORMATION ON NATURALIZATION TO MEMBERS OF THE 
              ARMED FORCES.

    The Secretary of Homeland Security shall--
            (1) establish a dedicated toll-free telephone service 
        available only to members of the Armed Forces and the families 
        of such members to provide information related to 
        naturalization pursuant to section 328 or 329 of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1439 and 1440), 
        including the status of an application for such naturalization;
            (2) ensure that the telephone service required by paragraph 
        (1) is operated by employees of the Department of Homeland 
        Security who--
                    (A) have received specialized training on the 
                naturalization process for members of the Armed Forces 
                and the families of such members; and
                    (B) are physically located in the same unit as the 
                military processing unit that adjudicates applications 
                for naturalization pursuant to such section 328 or 329; 
                and
            (3) implement a quality control program to monitor, on a 
        regular basis, the accuracy and quality of information provided 
        by the employees who operate the telephone service required by 
        paragraph (1), including the breadth of the knowledge related 
        to the naturalization process of such employees.
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